A fire hit 16 families’ homes in Andhra Pradesh, India, on Christmas Day. Pastor Sudhakar of the Indian Christian Bethel Baptist Gospel Fellowship contacted Wesley Chatla, a church planter with the Fellowship, with the news. Chatla writes: 

fire inline 2It was heartbreaking when I heard the news from Pastor Sudhakar. On Christmas Day, a short circuit in one of the houses caused a fire to break out. It spread rapidly, as all the houses are huts with thatched roofs and palm leaves. The first question I asked was, “Any  lives lost?” Fortunately, by the grace of God, all are safe. The 16 families (52 people) lost everything, even cattle, which is a source of income.

fire inlineA picture is worth a thousand words. The loss is beyond the families’ reach. They are presently staying in the church, and some immediate food relief is provided for the time being. They are in great need of rehabilitation. Government promised partial support, but nobody knows when the support will be coming.

Please pray for their needs, as they have to rebuild their houses and buy the needed furniture, clothes, utensils, etc., to get back to normal life.

My prayer and desire is to support these families with basic needs like rice bags, cooking utensils, blankets, towels, and buckets. Each package costs $150, so $2,400 is needed in total. In addition, these families don’t have even toilets to use at present; our desire is to also build toilets for each family at $650 each.

Please pray for these families’ comfort during this time.