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Flood Update
We are grateful for the many prayers for those affected by the catastrophic floods. We are also thankful for all of you who have contributed to our disaster relief fund. Here is a list of the main projects we have been working on from the beginning:
- Financial support for all the Baptist churches sheltering displaced people. That includes buying mattresses, water, food, hygiene items, a wheelchair, and medicine.
- Financial help for churches making warm meals that were delivered to shelters.
- Financial support for pastors on the ground since the beginning taking water and food baskets to stranded families, as well as to those hosting displaced people.
- Financial help for our seminary secretary, a student, four alumni, and two church planters whose houses were flooded – to help them rebuild, renovate, and buy appliances and furniture.
- Cleaning kits, for several churches in affected areas, that include power washers, rubber boots, gloves, brooms, brushes, and steel wool.
- A large tent to house multiple people receiving hot meals from a local YWAM team.
- School kits that include a backpack with school supplies for the entire student population of a grade K–9 school that was flooded. These will be delivered during a program on their first day back to school after the floods on August 5, where we will also have the opportunity to share the Gospel.
- A library resource kit for all the pastors and church planters who lost all their books in the floods. This is an ongoing project that is still being developed.
- The purchase of pre-fabricated houses (around $5,000 USD each) for at least two families who are members of a Baptist church plant living in extreme poverty (this photo is of one of the homes we will replace).
These projects do not include the emergency help that was given to individuals in dire need. As funds permit, we continue to ask the Lord to lead us to the people who most need these funds.
Seminary News
On August 12, our new semester gets going. It will start with an intensive class on Christian Leadership taught by yours truly. Then our regular semester classes start. At the end of the semester, we are excited to host Rev. Dr. Dana Goodnough and his wife for two weeks as he once again teaches Pastoral Ministry.
Church News
Our distribution center has been moved to our church plant, which was in the middle of the flood zone. It took two weeks to move everything, but now it is in the best place as people go back to their homes to start all the clean-up, renovations, and rebuilding. Our church planter, Ricardo, and his family are still living at our church, as their home was severely damaged. This has caused a bit of tension as some of the people are eager for things to get “back to normal.” However, it will take a long time before the people whose homes were buried in flood waters for over a month will feel like things are normal again.