Ecuador earthquake aftermath: Christians urged to pray, donate funds to help victims

CB Condez Friday, April 22, 2016

Red Cross members and rescue team search for victims at a collapsed building in Pedernales, after an earthquake struck off Ecuador's Pacific coast. April 20, 2016. | Reuters / Henry Romero

Ecuador was hit with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, with an aftershock measured at 6.1 magnitude felt on Wednesday and another one at 6.0 magnitude on Thursday. The devastation has left a lot of people without food, and Christians are asked to pray and, if they can, to provide funds to help.

"Christians anywhere can pray," Rosa Contreras Hart, Latin American Area Director for Christian Aid Mission, told The Christian Post. "Sometimes we forget that prayer is a believer's greatest and most powerful weapon."

She said that Christians can pray for those who are trapped to be rescued and for families to be reunitied. She also said that there are many Christian organizations providing aid, and if anyone wishes to give, they are welcome to do so. They, for one, are providing assistance to ministries to dispatch supplies.

"Christian Aid Mission is raising funds to send 100 percent of gifts donated to the three ministries we have been assisting for many years so they can provide supplies as soon as possible," she said.

Compassion International of Colorado Springs is also sending aid, according to CP, as well as Evangelist Franklin Graham's Samaritan Purse. The latter sent 40 tons of relief goods on Wednesday, plus a response team with 30 members and an emergency field hospital, and plans to deliver more supplies and equipment on Friday and Sunday.

President Rafael Correa has declared a state of emergency on April 16, and said in his recent update on April 22 that they felt three aftershocks -- two of which were quite strong -- while they were at Bahia. Thus far, at least 570 have died and more than 7,000 have been injured. The government, reported CNBC, has set up shelters in stadiums and airports to accommodate more than 25,000 people who were displaced by the disaster.

"We're trying to survive. We need food," 65-year-old lawyer Galo Garcia told CNBC while he queued for water from a truck in San Jacinto village. "There's nothing in the shops. We're eating the vegetables we grow."