News 29, Aid the Flood Victims in the USA Special Report

Helping the Flood Victims
in the Midwestern USA

by Fellow Initiate Lee, Boston, MA, USA

Severe Flooding Of The Mississippi River

Those who have spent all their lives along the Mississippi River never imagined there could ever be such a flood. Two months of continuous rain had caused severe damage to eight states. Among them, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois were the most critical. Six towns in Missouri had no drinking water for nearly fifteen days. The water purification plant in Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, was also flooded and resulted in the severance of drinking water for nearly three weeks. A quarter of a million residents relied on water supplied from out of town for survival. Tens of thousands of houses and buildings were flooded. Thirty some thousand people became homeless. At least one and half million acres of farm land were submerged. The disaster area covered two thousand square miles. Preliminary estimates had placed damages as high as ten billion US dollars.

The American Indians call the Mississippi River The Father of All Rivers. It is the lifeline of agriculture in the region, with nearly one hundred tributaries, irrigating over thirty states, covering almost half of the United States. It is also the linchpin of cattle and horse ranching. Some say that it’s due to the massive slaughter of these animals that has resulted in the numerous floods of the past.

Situation Improved By Master’s Blessings

After hearing about the flood, Master immediately sent instructions by fax to all fellow initiates in the U.S.A. to help the victims of the flood as fast as they could. Within a very short time, the tasks forces from Los Angles, Boston, Houston, and the disaster states, such as Illinois, had been organized with the assistance of the New Jersey Meditation Center.

Mean while, local meditation centers asked all initiates to pray to the inner Master during meditation to give the best help to the victims of the flood. Group meditations were organized to make offerings of the merit of the meditation to all victims. Weather experts forecasted more rain for the following week. The dangers of the flood worsening were great, especially in the city of St. Louis in Missouri, where the river banks threatened to bust. There was little chance of the St. Louis banks resisting disaster from a river swollen with yet more rain. However, weather conditions amazed the experts to took an unexpected turn for the better, and water levels started to recede. All initiates knew that this was due to Master’s blessing and the merits of group meditations!

Donations And Cleaning Equipment Were Urgently Needed

The local government in each state already had moved the victims to safety. The religious and charitable organizations had set up relief centers to give away necessities from all places in the country, such as clothes, blankets, food, drinks, water, etc… and to help take care of the victims. The charitable organizations, especially the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, made available in time all the necessities that the victims needed. President Clinton asked Congress for three billion dollars of relief. Later it was increased to 5.8 billion. Even so, it wasn’t enough. Most of the money would be spend on rebuilding the roads, bridges, and other public structures. Individual victims would receive very little government assistance, since the state government had no budgets for such disasters. They relied mostly on private donations through religious and other charitable organizations for help.

Through American friends, we learned that the most severely damaged states were Wisconsin, Illinois, and Louisiana. Master instructed the fellow initiates to start helping these three states. We immediately contacted the people in charge of relief work in these three states to gain a better understanding of the situation. First we visited Mr. William Clare of Wisconsin. We were told that the situation was under control in Wisconsin. Then, we visited Mr. Allen Grosboll, the chief assistant to the governor of Illinois. Here many relief task forces were formed from the members of the charitable organizations. All donations for these two states mostly went to the Red Cross. All relief materials and cleaning equipment were distributed by the Salvation Army.

Finally, we went to Louisiana to meet with Mr. Ben Jeffers, the chief assistant to the governor. According to the analysis of their geographers, Louisiana would not become flooded because the river has a large plain. We were puzzled. Then, he introduced us to the most comprehensive relief organization in the entire U.S.A. -- Committee of Emergency Preparedness State of Louisiana. After listening to their briefing, we finally understood that Master sent us here because She knew we had no experience in this type of work, and we had learnt to become experts in this matter here. During last year’s Hurricane Andrew, Louisiana was the most severely damaged state. After this lesson, the most comprehensive disaster relief centers were established. At their suggestion, we reported to Master and we decided to concentrate our efforts to help Missouri and Iowa, which were at the worst stage of flooding.

Master’s Wondrous Arrangement

With Master’s blessing, our fellow initiates had an inspiration to visit a cleaning equipment company in Ohio. Within one short hour, we had ordered all we needed, including a truck trailer. It’s inconceivable. As we were figuring out the expenses for this trailer load of cleaning equipment, we were told that some of the suppliers were willing to give us special discounts and some even wanted to make donations. After all was settled, we saved about half of the cost. When we were ready to go, the trucking company heard that this was for relief purpose, they were also willing to make a special discount. This was another one of Master’s wonders.

Our next job was to put Master’s pictures on every one of the relief items to give the recipients an opportunity to have a glance at Master. With the enthusiastic support of our fellow initiates from states nearby Ohio, Master’s pictures were soon pasted onto all items, which were turned over to the Salvation Army’s national relief distribution center on time. Through the assistance of the Salvation Army’s, all relief materials, charged with Master’s loving blessings, had soon been distributed to the needy victims of the flood.

Master Always Helps In The Most Practical Way

Since the federal relief fund had not come through, and there were already enough relief supplies from charity organizations, financial aid was most urgently needed. Therefore, Master instructed fellow practitioners to deliver cash donations to the most needy disaster areas. Fellow practitioners first flew to Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri State, and handed over ten thousand US dollars to Mr. Greg Johnston, the chief assistant to the governor of Missouri. He was delighted and most grateful for Master’s love and concern, delivered by fellow practitioners, from thousands of miles away. He also read with interest Master’s sample booklet and News magazine, saying that he would recommend them to his colleagues.

Fellow initiates then rushed to Iowa and presented ten thousand US dollars to Ms. Karin Ramsay, the coordinator of Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa, an organization recommended by the state government. They also visited the chief assistant to the governor of Iowa state, Mr. Robert Furleigh. Mr. Furleigh was amazed that, even so far away, the Supreme Master Ching Hai could care so much for the victims in the USA, and that She had instructed fellow practitioners to bring the donations with love and the message of the Truth. The Salvation Army of Illinois cabled the fellow practitioners in Illinois requesting donations of cleaning equipment. As per Master’s instructions, cleaning equipment worth thousands of dollars was purchased and will be delivered to the hands of the victims in Illinois soon.

A Series Of Relief Tasks Were Smoothly Accomplished

A series of tasks were successfully accomplished through Master’s blessings and delicate arrangement. It’s quite inconceivable, and many initiates were deeply touched. For example, during the second plane trip of a fellow initiate’s journey for the relief work. It was only minutes before the plane was due to take off when the fellow initiate rushed into the airport, he suddenly had an inspiration and thought of Master, then the person at the counter agreed to open the door of the plane to let him board. For the sake of taking on our fellow initiates, the plane was delayed quite a few minutes. On his return trip, there were no seats available. However, after he had arrived at the airport, he was booked on the best seat! Such wondrous arrangements by Master are really beyond one’s expectation! Deep down, all initiates knew that as long as they were working Master and thinking of Master wholeheartedly, Master would give Her blessings and help. One of the participating initiates in the relief work dreamed that Master was treating him and other initiates to a dinner party. He clearly saw the vision of Master putting many blessed foods on his plate. He was so thrilled with joy. Master reminds us many times: When you work for this world, you boss will pay you a salary. If you work for the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, you definitely will receive much more.

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