Emergency Response in Asia and Western Asia

Typhoon Koinu () pummels Taiwan with record winds. Strong gusts of magnitude 17 devastated the entire island and caused severe disasters. The Mustard Seed Mission Disaster Prevention and Relief Center has been conducting disaster reviews on Orchid Island for four days starting from October 7th and providing timely needs. After reviews, we have found a family that has urgent special needs for a baby.  The Mustard Seed Mission assists in airlifting supplies to Orchid Island during urgent days and distributes emergency relief funds of NT$10,000 to each family that it serves.

The typhoon caused serious damage to the village houses, The Mustard Seed Mission launched a fundraiser for Orchid Island's post-disaster reconstruction, established an Orchid Island Helping Network, and called on the public to help the affected residents rebuild their homes and resume their daily lives.

The Mustard Seed Mission Disaster Prevention and Relief Center went to Orchid Island to investigate and provide assistance. The typhoon severely damaged local buildings and vehicles.

Wu Bing-han, director of the Disaster Prevention and Relief Center, said that the roofs of residents' houses and water towers were blown off, and the water tower even flew halfway up the mountain. People have to go up the mountain to carry water. An old man said: "I have never encountered such a typhoon. 90% of the fishing boats have capsized." Most families on the island do not have electricity, and it rains intermittently. They are also worried that the next typhoon may come.

The families served by The Mustard Seed Mission suffered from house's broken windows and leaking roofs due to the typhoon.

The Mustard Seed Mission's social workers have been involved in local rescue work for several days, providing timely assistance and care, understanding the disaster situation, and planning the follow-up assistance work.

The Langdao tribe was seriously damaged due to the telegraph poles being blown down. It will be the last tribe to have power restored on Orchid Island. In Langdao tribe, one of the families served by The Mustard Seed Mission's children sponsorship program has urgent special needs for a baby. After coordination, the supplies were airlifted to Orchid Island for the baby's needs. The Mustard Seed Mission will also issue an emergency relief fund of NT$10,000 to each family that engages in the children sponsorship program to meet the urgent needs of life.

The Mustard Seed Mission Disaster Prevention and Relief Center's staff went to visit affected families (left) and farmers whose chicken houses were damaged by the typhoon (right).

"The most important thing at the moment is to restore residents' homes and lives as soon as possible." Li Zhao-jia, CEO of The Mustard Seed Mission said that The Mustard Seed Mission has been deeply involved in Orchid Island for many years. In addition to the current family services, there are also churches cultivated and established by the founder of The Mustard Seed Mission in the early years, as well as there are many recipients who used to live in Orchid Island who received vocational training from The Mustard Seed Mission have deep feeling to the island.

This year, The Mustard Seed Mission encourages indigenous youth to raise laying hens through natural farming methods, which not only supplies local needs but also hopes to promote economic and industrial development. However, in this typhoon, the roofs of the chicken coops and farmers' houses were blown away.

The Mustard Seed Mission has established a helping network on Orchid Island. In addition to connecting cooperative companies and other resources for support, the indigenous youths from Jianshi Township, Hsinchu, and Haiduan Township, Taitung, which The Mustard Seed Mission has trained, have also formed a volunteer team to rebuild the chicken coops and homes.

The Orchid Island post-disaster recovery requires funding for building repairs, disaster preparedness food storage hubs, emergency rescue equipment setting, community industry recovery, etc., and is in urgent need of public support!