Low-key compassion

Muslim radicals are handing out Qurans with the bags of rice and sugar they distribute to tsunami victims. Christian aid groups have also rushed in, quietly promising salvation in this predominantly Islamic region but fearful their presence could spark sectarian violence.

Across the Indian Ocean basin, dozens of faith-based groups have joined relief efforts after last month's tsunami, which killed more than 155,000 in 11 countries and left millions homeless.

Locally, churches are sending money to denominational clearinghouses and world relief organizations as it is collected in offering plates during Sunday worship services.

Christy Richardson, a member of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, was moved by stories of a Sri Lankan-born Christian missionary whose orphanage was destroyed by the tsunamis.

Church leader Jim Hicks said the congregation has agreed to send some of its collections to the orphanage's rebuilding fund.

"We've said there are a great number of places to contribute," he said. The church has chosen four -- Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Church Missionary Society World Relief, the Samaritan Home Relief and matching funds through Thrivent Financial for its members -- as their primary aid collections.

Local members of the Seventh-Day Adventist congregation are working through the Adventist Development and Relief Agency to send aid to tsunami victims. Collections can be sent to the church who will forward them to the international group.

The Aventist group is working in Thailand to provide protective gear for workers retrieving and transporting bodies. In Sri Lanka the work is to help in medical aid and offer food as well as water purifying units.

Religious groups sending help to tsunami survivors include everyone from al-Qaida-linked militants to evangelical Christians, and their presence is most profound in Indonesia, where the needs are greatest.

The heavy Muslim influence in Aceh province -- one of the few Indonesian regions that has instituted Islamic law -- has defined how the groups operate. While Muslims are bragging about their religious credentials, Christian groups are mostly invisible and instruct workers not to display their church names or wear crosses.

"We prefer to address the physical needs first," said William Suhanda, an Indonesian whose Christian group, "Light of Love For Aceh," is helping distribute food in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, and wants to bring 50 children to a Christian orphanage in Jakarta, the national capital.

"We also want to expose them to Christian values," he said. "It is so they can see the other side, that we're about the love of Christ. But this is not the place to carry a Bible."

Warning on message

But evangelists like Wisconsin native Mark Kosinski say it's impossible to separate relief activities from sharing the Gospel. He acknowledged he was warned to tone down his message but says he has "a job to do."

"These people need food but they also need Jesus," said Kosinski, who arrived this week from Malaysia. "God is trying to awaken people and help them realize that salvation is in Christ."

One Virginia-based ministry considered airlifting 300 orphans waiting at the Banda Aceh and Medan airports to a Christian children's home in Jakarta. WorldHelp started raising money for the operation until it learned that the government banned non-Muslims from adopting Acehnese orphans.

The collection of religious groups in this conservative Muslim city, which has only five churches, has raised the possibility of sectarian violence but has also led to some unusual partnerships.

The Islamic Defenders Front -- known for trashing Western pubs in Jakarta -- spent much of this week removing corpses from collapsed homes alongside an Indonesian Christian group. Mormons have teamed up with Islamic relief operations to send aid to the region.

"Everyone wants to help in this catastrophe and prejudices are put aside," said Mans Nyberg of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Still, the dozens of refugee camps have in some ways become the battleground for religious groups. Muslims especially appear to have filled a void left by the government and quickly set up medical clinics and opened schools and are providing much of the food and medicines for tens of thousands of refugees.

"We need religion. We need to remember our God," said Sari Andina, a 23-year-old teacher whose camp features a mosque.

The most prominent Muslim group is the Justice and Welfare Party, a political party that has become popular with its message of morality and clean government. Nearly 2,000 volunteers arrived days after the disaster.

For party members like Jamy, the Dec. 26 tsunami was a warning for Muslims. He and other volunteers say that another disaster is inevitable unless people start living according to the teaching of the Quran.

"We tell them this came from God and we have to be strong," said Jamy, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. "Maybe now people will realize what they have done and start going to the mosque." The task is more complex for Christians since thousands of churches have been bombed and burned.

"Any time you have a strong Muslim community and concerns about Christianization, there is going to be conflict," said Eddy Rubble, a North Carolina Christian volunteer.

Features editor Laura Johnston contributed to this report.