HCJB World Radio is gearing up to send a relief team from Ecuador to Indonesia to join local partners in helping survivors of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the area Saturday, May 27.

"We have decided to go ahead with the decision to move forward with a medical team from Ecuador with support on the ground coming from our partner," said Curt Cole, the mission's vice president of international ministries. The decision to send a team came after the mission's local partners requested a medical assistance team.

A medical team in Ecuador, home to the mission's two hospitals and a community development outreach, is being formed to serve in Indonesia for about two weeks. The relief arm of HCJB World Radio's Indonesian partner has already sent in five large tents for refugees and is asking for more relief supplies.

Tentative plans are for the Ecuador team to leave Quito on Monday, June 5. The team will comprise two missionary family physicians, an Ecuadorian physician, nurses and possibly a surgeon and anesthesiologist.

"We're going to a slightly different area than we've been to in the past," said Steve, a physician who joined HCJB World Radio's relief team that helped tsunami/earthquake survivors in Nias Island, Indonesia, a year ago and one of two teams that aided earthquake victims in Pakistan last fall.

"This time we're going to an area that seems more heavily populated than the last two experiences we had," he said. "That means concentrated injuries and concentrated wounded whereas in Indonesia the last time the patients were spread out over a large area."

Sheila Leech, director of HCJB World Radio's Healthcare Division, said it's a "very exciting experience to walk into an unknown situation, knowing that you're in the center of His will, not being presumptuous, and also to walk alongside . . . people that we've never met before going through a very traumatic situation. It's an incredible privilege."

Steve added that it's a "good opportunity to explain love . . . on a deeper level too if we get a chance to share that. We are interested in medicine as well and being able to minister to the needs of the people."

Leech urged people worldwide to pray as the team members prepare for the trip. "Pray for supernatural strength and energy. The team is going to have a very long journey to get there. Indonesia is about as far away from Quito as you can get.

"It's going to be tiring," she added. "Our team will need superhuman strength because when they hit the ground in Indonesia they're going to be working. They need strength, they need health, and they need His hand of protection upon them. Pray also for team unity and wisdom for the team leaders and that we would be able to maintain good communications with them during this time."

The BBC reported Wednesday that relief efforts are forging ahead after the disaster left more than 5,800 confirmed dead, tens of thousands injured and some 200,000 homeless. Meanwhile, the BBC reported that activity at the nearby erupting volcano, Mount Merapi, is said to have increased, threatening further destruction.

Large quantities of aid have started flowing into affected areas, and the U.N. spoke of "enormous progress" being made. But many survivors spent a fourth night without shelter or supplies, as congested roads hampered access to more remote areas.

The U.N. has set up a coordination centre close to a local airport to bring order to the flow of goods. More international medical teams have flown in to help treat the injured, including personnel from the U.S., Japan and a 40-strong team and 5 tonnes of medical supplies from China.

Sources: HCJB World Radio, BBC