CREST responded to the IDP crisis in north west Pakistan by partnering with local NGOs to provide cooking utensils and food packages to meet the top 2 needs of families in Charsadda and Haripur.  On June 25 and 26, a total of 75 sets of cooking utensils and 200 packs of food was distributed among the lDPs in Haripur and Camp No. 1 and Camp No. 2 in Charsadda. 

Full report

Jogjakarta,  INDONESIA (2006)
Earthquake Relief 
On 26th May 2006, an earthquake measuring 6.3 Richter scale hit Bantul near the city of Yogyakarta. More than 6,200 people perished, 30,000 were injured and more than 105,000 homes destroyed.

CREST Involvement
CREST continues to ready mission trips to the affected areas providing
- medical relief work
- trauma counselling, spiritual healing
- infrastructual reconstruction and rehabilitation
- provision of food, clothing and other physical needs
- provision of insulation material and warm clothing to face the harsh winter

Teams Sent Out
15th - 22nd October 2005, Recce team sent
5th - 12th Nov 2005, Medical Team
26th Nov - 3rd Dec 2005, Medical Team
26th Nov - 10th Dec 2005, Medical Team
3rd Dec - 10th Dec 2005, Childrens Ministry
3rd Dec - 11th Dec 2005, Medical Team
4th - 11th Feb 2006, Medical Team (heading out soon!)

Testimonies
To be updated

Map of Affected Area

South Asian Tsunami (2004)
Tsunami Relief

On Sunday, 26th December 2004, at about 8am local time, an earthquake measuring about 8.9 on the Ricther scale, struck the Island of Sumatera and some smaller islands off its West Coast. It also unleashed a Tsunami that devastated the shores of these islands as well as other neighbouring countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Seychelles, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

300,000 people perished and many more were made homeless, orphaned and displaced. Millions of hearts worldwide were touched by the suffering of the victims and donations as well as aid poured in from everywhere. CREST continues to send to send teams out to Sri Lanka and Indonesia since Dec 2005.

CREST Involvement
CREST readies mission trips to the affected areas below providing
- medical and dental relief work
- trauma counselling, spiritual healing
- infrastructual reconstruction and rehabilitation
- provision of food, clothing and other physical needs
- education in healthcare, midwifery, nursing and public health
- follow-up and long-term development programs.

Teams Sent Out
- 29th - 31st Dec 2004, Penang, Malaysia
- 5th - 10th Jan 2005, Phuket, Thailand (Clean up, distribution of supplies)
- 27th Jan - 1st Feb 2005, Medan, Indonesia
- 13th - 20th Feb 2005, Medan and Nias, Indonesia
- 2nd - 5th Mar 2005, Medan and Aceh, Indonesia
- 11th - 18th April 2005, Aceh, Indonesia
- 11th - 20th April 2005, Nias, Indonesia
- 25th Apr - 2nd May 2005, Aceh, Indonesia
- 25th Apr - 3rd May 2005, Batticoloa, Sri Lanka
- 5th - 11th July 2005, Aceh Indonesia
- 4th - 10th Aug 2005, Nias, Indonesia (Recee Trip)
- 19th - 27th Sept 2005, Sri Lanka

Testimonies
To be updated

Map of Affected Area

PAKISTAN (2001-2004)
Afghan Refugee Camp

Millions of refugees from Afghanistan have fled the country as a result of more than twenty years of war, three years of drought, and the recent escalation of hostilities as a result of the September 11th 2001 attack on the USA.

Millions more are displaced within Afghanistan, unable to leave their country and unable to obtain humanitarian assistance. The United Nations organization has called this "the greatest humanitarian crisis of the decade". 
Many of the refugees have fled their homes with nothing more than the clothes on their back. A number of them do not have any shelter at all and face blistering 50-plus degree Celsius heat in the summer and minus-zero degree Celsius cold in the winter. There are others who live in flimsy tents that provide little protection against the elements. The luckier ones have been provided mud houses by relief organizations like the Christian group Shelter Now International, but these lucky ones are few because of the lack of funds.
In these camps, the refugees have no bathing facilities, little food, and are afflicted with numerous diseases, especially infectious ones. The efforts of medical organizations to help the refugees are insufficient in the light of the sheer enormity of the refugee numbers.

CREST Involvement
School Rehabilitation :
Partnering with Crosslink Development International (CDI), to rehabilitate schools in Shebreghan and Mazar-e-Sharif districts. This involved rebuilding and repairing school buildings and supplying schools with desks and chairs, blackboards, books, writing materials, etc. Along with that, teaching English, children's ministry, conducting medical clinics, providing a soup kitchen and drilling and installing a well was done in each school.

Teams Sent Out
Medical Team sent 19th - 29th November 2001
Team sent 28th May - 11th June 2002
Team sent 11th - 25th June 2002
Team sent 25th June - 9th July 2002- Construction of Bathhouses for Afghan refugee camp Shamshatoo
CREST first sent team into Shamshatoo Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan (a camp with about 70,000 refugees) for 2 weeks with "Greater Love" (An American team) to wash and de-louse the hair of hundreds of children. They also scrubbed off the scabs and drained the pus off from the skin of hundreds of children with impetigo, a horrible skin infection. After realising the extent of the problem there, CREST went on to sponsor the contruction of the first bathhouse and first month's maintenance cost. The bathhouse has 50 cubicles and separate sections for women and men equipped with a wash area for washing of clothes. It costs US$5,000/- to build a bathhouse comprising 50 cubicles, and US$1,000/- per month to maintain each bathhouse. The maintenance costs include the costs of staff, water, soap, and other related expenses.

Testimonies
Team 2, 11 - 25 June 2002, Team Leader Reflections

Map of Affected Area

Bam, IRAN (2003)
Earthquake Relief
A major earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale hit Iran on 26 December 2003 on its south-eastern province of Kerman at 05:28 (local time). The area most affected was the ancient city of Bam where more than 43,000 people were killed, an estimated 30,000 injured and up to 75,000 left homeless, according to official estimates.

CREST Involvement
Food relief

Teams Sent Out

Testimonies
To be updated

Map of Affected Area

Related Articles

Photo Report

Gujarat, INDIA (2001)
Earthquake Relief
26th January 2001 - An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit Gujarat, India, leaving an estimated 200,000 people dead. Entire villages in districts like Bhuj, Rapar, Bhachau, Rapar, Anjar, Morbi-Maliya, Patan, Banaskantha and Mehsana, that once housed thousands of people, have hundreds dead and in some not a single building standing. Some 500,000 people are estimated to be homeless.

CREST Involvement
Medical teams

Teams Sent Out
4th - 14th February 2001
11th - 22nd February 2001
27th February - 10th March 2001

Testimonies
To be updated

Map of Affected Area

Related Articles
The Star, 27 January 2001, Quake shakes Indian subcontinent, over 1,500 killed.
The Star, 27 January 2001, Quake felt in Pakistan Nepal and Bangladesh.
The Star, 28 January 2001, Rescue ops too late for many victims
The Star, 28 January 2001, 15,000 and rising. Rescue ops too late for many victims.
The Star, 28 January 2001, Govts and relief agencies promise aid
The Star, 28 January 2001, Deathtrap for 350 Indian children.
The Star, 29 January 2001, Hope dims as toll mounts to 20,000
The Star, 29 January 2001, Gujarat hit by more than 250 aftershocks
The Star, 29 January 2001, Estimates vary on death toll
The Star, 29 January 2001, Officials accused of faltering in rescue ops

Photo Report

CAMBODIA (2000-2004)
Flood Relief
In August 1999, more than 3 million people (700,121 families) were hit by floods triggered by torrential rains.  The worst in 30 years, the floods caused significant damage to more than 21 provinces with a death toll of 300 primarily due to drowning. Nearly 1 million people were reported to be out of food for 6 months until the floodwaters subsided

CREST Involvement
Immediately after we return from Bangladesh, we went to Cambodia. We partnered with Asian Outreach to purchase 85 tons of rice and distributed it to 1850 families. 
Each family who received rice was first given a coupon with the family name; the number of persons in the family and how many kilograms of rice they would receive written on it. At the back of the coupon, Asian Outreach printed a single note telling the family that Christians from different countries were concerned about them at this time and had contributed the funds to buy the rice. It also said that we did this because God loves them and we love them. Moreover, we are praying for them and they could also pray to God at this time and God will surely hear them and answer their prayers.
The local authorities and officials were very impressed with the whole project and also with the concern of the Christians.
At the distribution, the Health Care officer in charge of the district publicly told the thousands of people gathered to collect the rice bags, that this was the work of Christians. He told them to make sure they read the note at the back of the coupon. 
After we returned from Cambodia, we raised more funds to send to Asian Outreach Cambodia for a 2nd distribution.

Teams Sent Out
28th Feb - 6th Mar 2000, Team to Phnom Penh
19th - 20th Oct 2000, Total of 84,050kg of Rice was distributed to 1638 families (8500 people)
9th - 11th Jan 2001, Emergency Relief & Disaster Commission Cambodia
17th - 23rd Sept 2001, Baray District, Province of Kompong Thom, Kingdom of Cambodia
22nd - 29th Nov 2002, Trip to set up medical clinic & food distribution
6th - 13th Sept 2003
19 - 26th Nov 2004

Testimonies
To be updated

Map of Affected Area

Related Articles

Photo Report

Together, the whole area represents the largest pig farming area in South East Asia.
The epidemic spread quickly and in two to three months, many people lost their lives. Many of those who died were pig handlers and farm owners. At its peak in February 1999, more that 104 lives were taken and many more hospitalised and in coma. It was considered a disaster of sorts in Malaysia. The worst thing about it all was that the health authorities initially did not know what actually caused the deaths or how the disease was spread. It was not until February/March 1999 that they finally nailed it down to a strain of the JE virus. They named it the "Nipah Virus". 

CREST Involvement
In the midst of the spread of this dreadful disease, CREST began a ministry of caring for a small group of 45 affected families evacuated from Bukit Pelanduk and housed temporarily at the old Port Dickson General Hospital. They were mainly pig farm workers who did not have their own alternative housing or could not afford renting it. About 6 out of the 45 families were Chinese and the rest were Indian. 
We brought food, clothing, household items, furniture and helped in school uniforms, schools fees, etc. The families told us that had we not come, they might have starved. We continued to help families affected by the epidemic until it was safe for them to return to Bukit Pelanduk. We also brought fun and games to the children and continued practical aid to affected families.

Testimonies
To be updated

Map of Affected Area

Related Articles

CREST Involvement
Over a period of 6 weeks between August and October 1999, CREST networked with World Relief and Singaporean volunteers to set up a free medical clinic and to establish the infrastructure for a model tent-city in Derinci near the epicenter of the earthquake.
The Mayor of Derinci was so pleased with the effort that he went on record in the local Turkish papers to praise the impartial help given to the earthquake victims and said that ours was the best tent-city in the entire earthquake region. 
In any given disaster, children form the largest and most vulnerable part of people in need. Besides attending to patients in the medical clinic, CREST members looked after and played with these children, thus relieving their parents who were struggling to maintain the routines of life. Despite the lack of interpreters, CREST members were able to connect with and care for these children through the language of love and play. 

Testimonies
To be updated

CREST Efforts
CREST, in partnership with Joyful Harvest, brought more than one ton of medicines to Honduras. Two fogging machines were also given to deal with mosquitoes breeding in the stagnant pools of flood waters. These donated items were gladly received by a local surgeon, Dr Leon. Unknown to the team, Dr Leon (our Honduran contact) had a dream of running free mobile community health clinics for villagers who were unable to reach the urban centers. The medicines that were given not only enabled him to kick-start the programme but to continue it after we left. 
The Honduran villagers were touched by the love and care shown. One said "Our own people cannot help us. Yet you came here half-way around the world from a country we do not know to help us." 

Testimonies
To be updated

Map of Affected Area

Thailand/Myanmese Border (1998-2003)
Karen Refugees
The Karens are a tribe of people originially living in the eastern and south-eastern part of Burma bordering Thailand and numbering between 2 to 3 million. Ever since the 2nd World War, the Karens have been fighting a running battle with the Burmese military who have forced tens of thousands of them into slave labour to buikld roads and recently to clear jungle to construct a gas pipeline from the

Andaman Sea. They have to work using human strength with only hand tools and often using only their barehands - no tractors or machinery. Whole villages have been forced to relocate to the site of the road or gas pipeline contruction to work there with absolutely no supply of any shelter. food or wages. The atrocities against the Karen people are too terrible to even imagine. Those who resist the Burmese militry or ho have no more strength to carry on working are summarily executed in front of the people. Whole villages have been completely burnt down or destroyed and women have been raped, then cut to pieces and eaten by Burmese soldiers and in some cases force-fed to their husbands before they are also killed.
The Karen refugees are those who have somehow managed to escape in the dark through dense jungle, over days and sometimes months of zig-zagging trails over mountain and across rivers into Thailand. Along the way, many fleeing Karens have been captured and tortured and killed or have had their limbs bloan off by land mines. Those in official refugee camps in Thailand now number about 120,000. Tens of thousands are either still in captivity o constantly on the run in Burma or avoiding both Burmese and Thai military just inside of Thailand along the border.
In refugee camps, the refugees are supplied rice, salt, fish paste (Belachan), cooking oil and yellow beans by the BBC (Burmese Border Consortium of Christian, Catholic and Non Christian NGO's). That's all they eat. They are not allowed to farm, or out of their camps. There is not electricity and they have very basic sanitation and wells.
 

CREST Participation

CREST has brought the Karen refugees food, medicines, dentistry, blankets, mosquito nets, straw mats, reading glasses, children ministry and teaching, lots of prayer and encouragement. They have also left lots of medicines and some basic medic instructions with their medics. In one camp where new refugees had arrived and there were no toilets, CREST also left money for construction of toilets and helped pay for construction of a simple pump and watter supply. Minor surgeries were also conducted by the medical team and abstraction of teeth by the dentist on board the mission.
CREST members interact with camp children and the adults to encourage them and to let them know the Karens are not a forgotten people in their crisis. CREST has continuing work with the Karen refugees, bringing teams from different churches to the refugees each time. CREST has also begun a child sponsorship programme for the orphans in one of the Karen Refugee camps.

Teams Sent Out

The teams that went out for the Karen Refugees are as follows:
28th May - 6th June 1999, to Phadeng, Palau, Da Kang, Bu Wei, Tham Hin/Bonti Vill, Bonti/Kanchanapuri
12th - 24th Nov 1999, Teach & do relief work, children ministry
6th - 9th Jan 2000, Umpien Mai, Project Christmas Jacket
7th - 24th Feb 2000, Sharing the Karens at the "world of the window" summit conference committee
14th - 23rd Feb, Karen Trip to Umpiem Mai
29th mar - 5th Apr 2000, Karen Trip, C
5th - 11th Jul 2000, Karen trop with Charis Christian Centre , Umpiem Mai
6th - 10th Oct 2000, Karen Trip, Chumpon Camp with Gereja Rivers of Water
8th - 12th Nov 2000, In Umpiem Mai Resort
9th - 18th Dec 2001
1st - 5th May 2002

Testimonies
Report by Team Doctor, Mission 28 May 1999

Map of Affected Area