After the Tsunami - A Wave of God's Blessing

When the 30-foot tidal wave hit Kanyakumari on the Southern tip of India on the morning of Boxing Day 2004, hundreds of people lost their lives, but fortunately for many of the villagers of Kovalam, they were attending church on higher ground and were not overcome by the Tsunami.

When the 30-foot tidal wave hit Kanyakumari on the Southern tip of India on the morning of Boxing Day 2004, hundreds of people lost their lives, but fortunately for many of the villagers of Kovalam, they were attending church on higher ground and were not overcome by the Tsunami.

The Lord clearly saved their lives, but their homes were completely destroyed. Now through the generosity of GOD TV's partners, five families have moved into brand new homes, complete with a living room, bedroom, kitchen, toilet and shower.

"God truly looks after his people," said GOD TV's director of special Projects, Johnny Woodrow, who was in Kanyakumari to attend the special ribbon-cutting and dedication service, "These poor families had nothing, but now they have one of the best designed houses in the region.

"It was such a privilege to give each family the keys and documents for their new home on behalf of our wonderful partners," said Johnny, "and they were so blessed. I was welcomed with the traditional greeting of a necklace of sea shells and some of our partners had driven many hours to join us. We had a great time of prayer and sharing with them."

During the ceremony Johnny was able to present the Gospel to the large crowd, including council officials, who had gathered from the village for the occasion. He told them that while the authorities had maybe not registered some of the homes that had been washed away, and therefore the people did not qualify for government aid, they could be sure that if they accepted Jesus, their names would be registered in the Lamb's Book of Life.

GOD TV's regional director for Asia, Thomas Robinson explained that the new houses had been built away from the sea shore so that the families could have greater peace of mind following the ordeal of having their homes completely washed away. "God forbid that another tidal wave should ever hit this area, but each home is built with special foundations and a flight of stairs leading up to the flat roof to afford extra height and safety in the event of flooding."

Thomas also shared more of the amazing story of how God had intervened in Kovalam: "Many people in this village are Christians and were in church when the Tsunami hit and they believe God protected them from certain death as less lives were lost in Kovalam than elsewhere. Being fisherfolk they would have ordinarily been at sea, but even the children who would normally have been playing on the beach were in Sunday School that day.

"We were so blessed when we heard this testimony of God's mercy and are so grateful to the Lord and our partners that we have been able to help some of these precious families get back on their feet. It is amazing to see how the Lord is restoring all they have lost. Our God is faithful indeed and the families who are benefiting from the new homes have no doubt that it is the Lord who is lifting them up."

This handover of the first five homes marks the completion of the first phase of the project which has been co-ordinated on GOD TV's behalf by Father Joseph Justus, a local priest. The ministry is now planning to build more homes out of our Tsunami fund as there are still many homeless people and our heart is to help accommodate them.