Still on furlough in the U.S., I've been tracking from a distance the news about flooding in Thailand.  Flooding is not uncommon there but this year it is uncommonly bad.  It is reported that this is the "worst ever seen" and some people are calling it the hundred year flood (Watch Video of Bangkok Flooding in 1942)

The latest figures report that over 820,000 families (2.6 million people) are affected, 244 have been killed, huge areas of farmland damaged, and over 180 key roads cut off.  The main highway going north out of Bangkok is cut off in Ayuthaya, just 1.5 hours north of the capital.  Trains fair no better.

Lots of people whom we know have been affected by this, having to evacuate their homes to higher ground.  Personally, we are hoping that our household possessions will still be usable when we return to Thailand in a few months time. They are stored in two locations, in Lopburi and Ayuthaya (perhaps the hardest hit province).  I'd rather not lose all my books, and I know that my 5 year old son has been looking forward to being reunited with the toys that are in storage back in Thailand.  Of course, our household goods are a trivial matter compared to people lives, and their livelihoods.

There is a lot of press on the floods in Thailand, and I have included links to an article and some videos below, together with some photos.  After you scroll down and have a look, come back and...

PRAY

1. Pray for the flooding to stop
2. Pray for Central Thailand to turn to God and believe.
3. Pray about snakes in the water and people getting hurt and getting killed in the flood waters
4. Pray about the disease this brings – malaria, dengue fever, skin fungus, and other things
5. Pray about the sanitation problems this is creating 

If you want to HELP WITH FLOOD RELIEF in Thailand you can GIVE through OMF INTERNATIONAL with a DESIGNATION TO: P68044 TH-RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT PROJECT. They have immediate needs with many in temporary shelters and there will be lots of repairs needed when the water recedes.

"Traffic on a section of the Asian Highway in Ayutthaya is paralysed after the road was submerged by overflow from the Lop Buri River yesterday." - READ FULL STORY

Thailand Floods Threaten Bangkok (AlJazeera English)

Flooding in Central Thailand 2011

รายงานน้ำท่วมนครสวรรค์ (News Report of Flooding in Nakon Sawan)

Flooding in Lopburi 2011 (via Erwin Kint)

The following six pictures are of Manoram Christian Centre & Clinic (formerly Manoram Christian Hospital) in Central Thailand, started by OMF missionaries over 50 years ago.