You Voted for it: Helping Pakistan Heal

Last week Viva posted a poll asking our readers who they think should aid Pakistani flood victims. Because we allowed you to pick more than one option, the results sound funny:

66% thought wealthy governments should respond to the flood;

53% said international non-governmental organisations should be providing aid;

80% thought the global church has a responsibility to help;

and 73% voted that local agencies should respond.

It's interesting to note that in no case did 100% of people agree on an answer: not everybody thinks rich governments have the responsibility; and we don't all agree that the global church should respond either. Maybe this helps explain why the international response to the disaster has been so slow.

At Viva, we believe that the response to any disaster - be it a monstrous flood in Pakistan or the industry of child sexual exploitation - requires a concerted response from governments (wealthy and local), international NGOs, local projects, and the global and local church. In fact, we can't see how any problem facing children at risk can ever be solved without such widespread collaboration.

In the case of these floods, governments are required (including local governments) to keep law and order. It’s in the best interests of every country to keep the people of Pakistan safe and healthy, especially given how close they are to densely-populated India, China and Iran. Wealthy governments should be jumping at the chance to support Pakistan monetarily right now, and the governments of poor countries should be showing solidarity.

International disaster-response NGOs don’t usually need to be asked to help; it’s the reason they exist. In that sense they necessarily have the responsibility to help. While Viva doesn’t provide disaster aid, many of our larger partners do… and they’ve been hard at work bringing relief to Pakistan’s flooded people from the beginning of this calamity.

In our opinion, the global church is the institution with the greatest responsibility to care for those who need help. As God’s representatives to the world, Christians are called to love our neighbours, care for widows and orphans, fight for justice, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and visit the sick. All of these things need doing right now in Pakistan. Whether it’s congregations taking up offerings for aid to Pakistan, or churches sending teams of specialised aid workers from within their congregations, or even local Pakistani churches offering asylum and support to people in their communities who have lost everything… the global church must be involved in bringing Pakistanis back to their feet and revealing God’s love to them.

Local agencies in Pakistan are the ones least prepared to respond to this disaster, yet they’re also the ones that will deal with it in the long term. Orphanages, feeding centres and local clinics will literally be inundated with children (and adults) in the coming months and years as the devastation takes root and its full effect is felt. They’ll need to be prepared to deal with trauma, raise their own funds, and organise their staff to allow for equal work distribution and sufficient time for rest. Workers will have to be trained in child protection as children without families to keep them safe are at higher risk.

That’s where Viva can help. By making it possible for these local agencies to work together with local and international churches and international NGOs, we can turn these little agencies into centres of Christian care for Pakistan’s children at risk. By providing the training these projects and churches need to protect children and develop good governance, we’re giving them what they need to continue helping heal Pakistan long after the floodwaters subside.

In fact, it’s what we’re already doing. Our network in Pakistan has already been at work advocating on behalf of vulnerable children and engaging churches and project workers in prayer together. As they share resources and information, they’ll be better prepared to deal with the flow of vulnerable children to Pakistan’s cities.