by Scott Ott
(2005-01-22) -- Allegations surfaced this week that Christian groups delivering food, water and medicine to survivors of the South Asian tsunami may be "keeping the best stuff to themselves," according to a spokesman for the United Nations.
"The people of Indonesia and Sri Lanka are grateful for the material and medical help," said the unnamed U.N. source, "but they have also noticed the attitude of these Christian aid workers and volunteers. As one victim in Banda Aceh told me, 'It's like they know something we don't that makes them very happy. I think it's cruel to keep it a secret.'"
The U.N. plans an investigation of Christian aid groups and volunteer teams from American churches to find out if, indeed, what they're withholding is of greater value than what they're giving.
"If these Christians are keeping some sort of good news to themselves," said the U.N. staffer, "this is a very serious charge and could bring harsh U.N. sanctions."
One man, who lost his whole family to the tsunami, said, "I want the food and water, but I need whatever it is that would bring people halfway around the world to help strangers, and do it with such joy and hope. You can't live on bread alone."
One Christian church member from Houston, Texas, who has spent the past two weeks caring for orphaned children in a Sri Lankan relief camp, admitted to a reporter, "I do have something that you can't get from a bottle or a box, which has sustained me through tragedy, but I was told it was impolite and perhaps even illegal to share it with the children."
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