“I will… put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 37:6
As Myanmar’s third COVID wave ravages the country, a deadly oxygen shortage is emerging. Hospitals are putting up signs that no more oxygen is available, yet desperate families are still lining up for hours with nowhere else to go. The crumbling economy only tragically sharpens the desperation; it’s become common for one person to stand in line for oxygen while a family member stands in line at the ATM for funds to buy the oxygen. Both may stand for hours and walk away empty-handed.
The worsening health crisis is cruelly exacerbated by self-serving human actions. Medical workers are accusing the military junta of hoarding and denying lifesaving oxygen supplies to private clinics, which are mostly staffed by doctors who have left military hospitals as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Reports have also emerged of the junta banning the purchase of supplies from oxygen producers and preventing charities from giving oxygen to those in need. Rural families, who often rely on city-dwellers for information, have gotten scammed by city people who promised to help them get access to oxygen but disappeared after getting paid.
A medical charity in Mandalay estimates that less than a third of those who need oxygen in Myanmar right now can get adequate access. Medical organizations and ministries are toiling to get oxygen concentrators and other direly needed medical equipment imported into the country. A few possible suppliers have emerged, but the need is overwhelming.
Prayer Requests
- Pray that the Lord would provide abundantly for Myanmar in this crisis, supplying oxygen and medical equipment to those giving care and thwarting those who take advantage of others.
- Pray that God, whose very breath is our life, would breathe upon those who are dying and give them life in His name.
