Earthquake Update

Things are slowly but surely coming back to normal here in Lima. We have had over 400 aftershocks, 18 of which have been over 5.0 in magnitude. The tiny tremors seem to almost never end. The grocery store shelves are lacking in many basic supplies. We assume these supplies are being purchased to send to the destroyed areas.

Things are much more serious to our south. The roads are nearly destroyed and aid is slow to arrive. Looters and armed bandits are robbing many of the vehicles attempting to deliver food and supplies. We were asked to take our van to Ica to carry supplies. After prayerful consideration we don't feel like the situation is stable enough at this time to venture into this disaster center. The churches here in Lima are gathering money and supplies to send to the churches further south. We'll continue to evaluate ways that we can help.

Please keep Peru in your prayers. Many of our fellow Christians are suffering tremendously at this time. A Baptist camp located ocean front near Ica was basically destroyed by a tidal wave after the quake. Several churches have suffered severe damage and will probably need to be rebuilt. We are very thankful that all of our Baptist Mid-Missions co-workers are safe and suffered no real damage to their homes or churches.

Traffic is forced to cross the river because this bridge was damaged due to the quake.

This is the Pan American Highway south of Lima. The horrible road conditions have made the delivery of aid difficult.

News Coverage

We had the interesting experience of being interviewed for the local Roanoke, VA news today. We did our best to mention the Gospel, the Lord and missions in the interview. Most of that did not make it to the newscast, but we were happy that they included some!

Here is a link with a video of the news story. Click on the link that is located near the top left corner above our picture:

Click here to view interview on video

Earthquake!

Dear Friends and Family,

As most of you have heard Peru was rocked by a massive earthquake last evening. The quake was a magnitude 7.9. At this point there are more than 330 fatalities and more than a thousand have been injured. The worst hit area was Ica, a city south of Lima. The first quake struck at 6:41 p.m. just as we were heading out the door for church. We usually stay in our apartment for tremors, but this one started so strong that we ran down the steps and to the nearby park. The quake lasted for over two minutes and was shaking violently the entire time We have to admit it was a terrifying experience. People were screaming and crying in the streets. Our neighbors were praying and shouting, “God help us!” Elizabeth was especially scared. It didn’t help that the neighborhood dogs were all howling and running in circles. The sky was filled with huge flashes of light as transformers exploded. The lights flickered on and off during the entire two minutes. It was easy to sense God’s power when we felt the ground rolling like waves under our feet. We praise the Lord that our apartment appears to be undamaged. We see not one crack on the inside and only a couple of tiny cracks outside. I suppose the landlord was honest when she said the building was constructed with tremors in mind. Our bookshelf nearly turned over and books were spilled out. All of the picture frames were dangling and swinging when we came in later. Nick-knacks were scattered about and fallen on the floor. Thankfully nothing was broken. Last night was a tough night for us all. We had tremors almost non-stop the entire night. (We actually have had a tremor while writing this email!) It was hard to not jump out of bed and head outside. During a few of the stronger shakes we heard the neighbors run outside again.

This morning we had time to talk with Daniel and Julie. They are also fine with no damage. Daniel commented that “old time preachers and evangelists” often say they pray for earthquakes. Some great revivals have started right after earthquakes have struck. We are NOT asking you to pray for more earthquakes! It is in experience that we hope to never have again, but we trust can be used now for God’s glory. We’ll head out today and see what witnessing opportunities come our way. Please pray for us today and over the next several days. Every time we hear a plane, a truck or a strange noise we almost jump up to run. I think we are all a little tired from the events of yesterday. Pray especially for Elizabeth, she doesn’t want to leave our side. Olivia probably wondered why we drug her outside in the night to just stand around with the neighbors! Thanks to the dozens of people that have written. We appreciate all of you so very much. Thank you for your prayers and kind support. We continue to have unstable phone communications. Our internet phone is not working. We’ll do our best to stay in touch in the days ahead.

PoeKids Update:

Take a moment and visit our girls BLOG page. We've updated it with a few recent pictures and a video of Olivia enjoying her Birthday cupcake.

Click Here to Visit their BLOG!

We've Finished the First Quarter

It is almost hard to believe that it has been one year ago today that we returned to Peru. What an exciting year we've had. It is a blessing to look back and reflect on the past twelve months. We can remember when we first started knocking on doors in Vina Alta. We had no place to meet, no co-workers, no contacts. Now we have the successful beginnings of a new church. God has done some great things here in Peru and it is exciting to play a part.

Now we find ourselves evaluating the past months. What could we do better? How can we help the ministry to grow? What are we going to do next? It is hard to believe that 25 percent of our second term in Peru is already over! May God continue to bless the coming years as He has this first year.