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Activities
 Humanitarian
Work
USA,
July 1998 |
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Master Helps The Victims Of The Great Forest Fire
By Florida News Group, USA Since
the end of May, a persistent drought has sparked a chain of wildfires
that has been raging through forests in northeastern Florida lasting
more than forty days. The blaze has destroyed nearly four hundred and
eighty thousand acres of woodlands and has burned down many homes. Several
major traffic routes have been closed and the smell of charred timber
fills the air. Known damage is estimated at almost US$400 million. More
than five thousand firefighters from forty-four US states have rushed
to Florida to help contain the fires, but the abnormally scarce rainfall
this year has made their job even more difficult.
Upon hearing of this disaster, the compassionate Master immediately sent a representative on July 7 to give an initial cash contribution of US$10,000 to the Red Cross Society in central Florida, together with mineral water and other daily necessities for the relief of the fire victims. The Red Cross expressed its appreciation for Master's selfless love and for the valuable contribution, and passed on the gratitude of all victims and firefighters that benefitted therefrom. It was the greatest hope of the local people that God would send them a timely rain to hold off and extinguish the great fire. Only then could they rebuild their homes, and the firefighters who had been battling hard with the fire would have a chance to catch their breath. God answered theirprayers; a torrential rain descended following Master's quiet arrival in Florida, and continued while She was there, sweeping aside the originally dry weather. Thanks to Master's blessing, the fire has been extinguished and now there is continuous rainfall every day to dispel the burnt and dry air replacing it with clean and fresh atmosphere. After visiting the Red Cross HQ in central Florida, we prepared more basic necessities and visited the Salvation Army HQ at Daytona on July 11, as per Master's telephone instruction to continue helping and comforting the victims. Their Superintendent Mr. Phelps gratefully accepted the relief materials charged with Master's love, and then took us to visit a Victim Shelter at Flagler, one of the most seriously affected areas. The Shelter was situated in a primary school in Bunnell. Upon our arrival there, their staff arranged for us to meet Mr. Berry a Federal Emergency Management Assistant, who was deeply impressed by Master's great compassion in sending fellow practitioners to help the victims whom they had never seen. He pointed out that although people were strangers before the disaster, once the mishap happened, everyone contributed all their effort to help each other and those in desperate need, as though other's suffering was their own. One outstanding example was the selfless sacrifice of the firefighters and other disaster fighters who temporarily forgot their families and friends to control the fire day and night. Their selfless action was driven by the most pure compassion and love latent in all human beings. When we told him that we could go to the affect area to deliver basic necessities and extend Master's love to those in need, Mr. Berry was extremely delighted and immediately arranged staff to bring us to the most effected areas. On
the road to the disaster sites, we could see banners and posters put
up by the local people conveying their hearty feelings: "Thank
you very much, firefighters, police and all those who are helping us.
May God bless you all!" They wanted to express their deep gratitude
to all the people who fought sohard to protect their homes and lives,
and reduce the damages to the minimal. The people were really touched
by those who ignored their exhaustion and struggled with the blazing
forests under the scourging sun.
In recent years,
a chain of natural and human disasters has destroyed many homes and
broke many hearts. This brought us to the realization that to reduce
the agonies and suffering in this world, we must begin from ourselves;
meditate diligently and pray for world peace so that the world will
improve from the root.
<Letter Of Appreciation>
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