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1 Kings 19, 11-14a
There was first a windstorm, wild wind which rent the mountains and broke the rocks into pieces before Yahweh, but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the storm, an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, the murmur of a gentle breeze. When Elijah perceived it, he covered his face with his cloak, went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then he heard a voice addressing him again, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I am burning with jealous love for Yahweh, the God of hosts."

I start with this text from the first book of Kings because many people ask where was God in the tragedy of Southeast of Asia, a day after Christmas. I believe that God was not in the tragedy but moving hearts and hands in haste to help the victims. The solidarity around the world showed that God is really present in this world, gentle and tender as a touch, strong as an arm sustaining the other, savior offering helping hands to save, warm in embrace, weeping with those who weep. God, as Elijah discovered, is present in tenderness and not in violence, present in friendly actions and not in useless criticism.

The Carmelite Family took part in this manifestation of God. Around the world religious and lay people, men and women, adults, children and aged persons shared their hearts and their gifts to help the victims in solidarity with the Carmelite Communities in Indonesia and India. Presently the amount of donations comes to over € 220.000 ($ 290,225 USD). We thank all donors very much! We are sure that this generosity will be converted into grace for you. We also know that many other communities are still collecting donations and will keep collecting in the future for we know that our brothers and sisters, victims of the Tsunami, will need help for a long time.

Aceh http://www.warnews.it/index.php/content/category/105/34/

Aceh is an autonomous province of Indonesia, which is in the extreme north of the island of Sumatra.
This province is place of a long war between rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian army.
Even if this is a war that might be of little concern and interest, yet it exists since 1976, almost uninterrupted, which makes it one of the longest conflicts actually going on. The dead, according to the more trustful agencies, are around 12.000, although other agencies, mainly those close to GAM, talk of 50 to 90 thousand dead.

Since the day after the Tsunami we have made contact with our Carmelite friars in Asia to tell them about our concern and prayers, also to ask how we could help them. We knew that the Carmelites in Indonesia were from the very beginning close to their suffering people, without discrimination of faith. – The island of Sumatra has lived for several years with conflicts between Islamic groups and other religious groups. The Free Aceh Movement, known locally as GAM, an armed separatist group, have troubled many humanitarian initiatives as they do not agree with those who are not Muslim (Newsweek Jan. 15, 2005). – The Carmelite friars created a Commission in order to direct the donations to the different groups of people in the affected regions, some of them are working as volunteers in the Aceh area.

We need to remember that after the great coverage given by the mass media to the facts and the international solidarity efforts to help victims of the 26 December tsunami in south East Asia, now they seldom give any news. So our brothers and sisters may be forgotten in their needs and poor condition. The homeless are estimated to be around 5 million people. In Banda Aceh, North Sumatra, alone the most affected area, those dead are over 166.000, more than 6.000 people have disappeared and more than 800.000 are homeless. – The truth is that these families, orphaned children who have suffered such serious material and psychological damage will need ongoing care. According to the updated news on the Internet, we know that they still need sanitary facilities and medicines (Malaria starts to plague the refugees, most of them suffer with diarrhoeas and upper respiratory infections!), also baby food, women’s undergarments, etc. The money of the Carmelite donors will help the Carmelite Emergency Commission of Indonesia to provide many of those needs.

U.N. officials foresee more than five years and many billion dollars to rebuild tsunami-ravaged Aceh, they also said recently that about 790,000 tsunami survivors in Aceh are still unable to feed themselves and will need food rations for many more months.

Many Carmelite groups are still organizing campaigns that are very necessary, according to the latest news. It is important to end this brief information to the Carmelite Family with a special request of Fr. Berthold Pareira from Indonesia, asking for spiritual help and prayers for the suffering survivors who have lost all and feel lack of hope, also for the volunteers in the field. So let us pray for those who need our intercession and spiritual support.

We remember that the Indonesian Carmelite Committee for Aceh-Sumut Catastrophe which is constituted by Carmelite Friars and coordinated by Fr. Yulius Sudharnoto O.Carm, aim to raise funds to help the victims of the earthquake and the tsunami in Banda Aceh and to distribute the donations to humanitarian groups acknowledged by the Church in Indonesia as trustful, working together in projects approved by the Episcopal Conference of Indonesia collaborating with other humanitarian groups, Muslims, other faiths and lay groups. The postal address is the Indonesia Carmelite Committee for Aceh-Sumut Catastrophe. / Provinsialat Indonesia / Jl. Talang 3, Malang 65112, Indonesia. Fax +62-341-566376 / Tel +62-341-574929. The donations may be sent to Indonesia. For further information contact Fr. Yulius Sudharnoto, O.Carm., by email jiusnoto@yahoo.com, or the Carmelite General Curia, Fr. James Des Lauriers, O.Carm., General Bursar of the Carmelite Order, email econ.gen@ocarm.org or jdelaurier@ocarm.org.

Fr. Antonio Silvio da Costa Junior, O.Carm.
Executive Secretary
Carmelite International Commission for Justice and Peace
Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani
Via Giovanni Lanza 138
00184 – Roma (RM) – Italia
tel: +39 06 4620181
fax: +39 06 46201847
email: cijpoc@ocarm.org

For further information see also:
After the Tsunami disaster, reconstruction
Carmelite fund for the Tsunami in Aceh and Nias