Aftermath of Thomas

Dear Friends,

Thank you for praying. By God's grace Port-au-Prince was spared the strong winds and torrential rains that were forecasted. We praise Him for His hand of protection there.

Unfortunately the Plateau wasn't so fortunate. This morning as Manis took stock of the extent of the damage, young and old alike said they have never witnessed winds so strong - and this is not the first hurricane they have seen. Most of the houses were stripped of their mud, leaving gaping holes in the sides. But more seriously, people lost their livelihoods - their gardens.

Though we did get rain, by God's grace, it was not enough to swell the ravine and wipe out the gardens and the soil, as happened during Ike and Hannah. But this time the wind destroyed almost as much. Almost everything that had begun to grow in the gardens was destroyed. Plantains and unripened corn and millet stalks lay on the ground... the fruit, too young to be eaten, is of no use.

Please continue to pray. The people here are so used to setbacks and difficulties, they just shake their heads sadly and prepare to start over. I know God is in control and we are never out of His gracious grip, but it is hard to fight discouragement. Our own garden that was destroyed in the last hurricanes was finally beginning to bear fruit again. It was just beautiful. Now it has once again been flattened. If I feel such discouragement, when I don't depend on it for food and income, how must so many others feel as they see their months and years of work, their hope for feeding their family and sending their children to school - destroyed.

Though we don't understand why or how, we pray and trust that God will use this, as He does all circumstances, to bring glory to Himself. Please pray with us.

This almond tree was planted almost 5 years ago.

Another almond tree, bent over by the wind.

The men try to save the trees by propping them up. We don't know yet if it will work.

Plantain garden just one week ago...

The same garden this morning.

Uprooted Plantain trees.

A truck load of plantains and bananas was lost in just one garden.

Most of the papaya trees were blown over.

Kicked While Down?

Dear Friends,

Most of you have probably seen on the news already that Hurricane Thomas is due to hit Haiti early tomorrow morning. The thought of a hurricane hitting the many "tent cities" is frightening when people you know and love are in those tents; it is terrifying when you are in them yourself. Such is the case of many of our students in Port-au-Prince.

This tent city is on top of hill that used to be a military fort. It is the center of the slum area where most of our students come from. Can you imagine being in one of these "tents" when torrential rains and 50-80mph winds hit?

This is the family of one of our students who is currently living in one of those tents. With donations given through Extreme Response we are working on helping families like this one rebuild their homes. If Hurricane Thomas hits as hard as forecasted, families who are still trying to rebuild their lives will be kicked down once again.

PLEASE PRAY!!!

Pray for protection for the families under those tents, especially the young children.
Pray that if God wills He will spare Haiti from the hurricane, and if not that He will use this to draw more people to Himself
Pray that we will have wisdom to know how to respond.