ArchivedCVCF missionaries :: UPDATES!!!UPDATES!!!
JANUARY 6
Plain text = Travis
Bold text = Charman
Italilcized text = Tim
To my family back home:
We drove into Palayar last night and couldn't believe our eyes. Boat after boat lying on their sides or smashed into pieces. And we were still a mile from the ocean. On both sides of the road were fields of thorns and marsh sprinkled with pieces of houses or furniture and clothing hanging from the thorns. Slowly moving groups of families were walking in the opposite direction hoping to find a place to sleep for the evening. Almost too much to bear. Upon reaching this village, we opened the car door to terrible cawing of thousands of crows. It was eerie. There was a large crane lifting a 20-ton boat out of a house (see this boat in picture #3), while people milled around, seemingly unaware that anything was happening. Without moving more than 30 feet, we met a man.
T. Veerappan was fishing when the tsunami hit. After the first wave struck, he received a phone call from his brother saying that his village was in danger. He raced his ship back to shore, only to find that the shoreline had moved, so he jumped off of his boat and began swimming as hard as he could. He reached the place where his house should have been before the second wave struck. Both house and family were missing. He then began running for his life when the second wave struck. After the waters finally receded he made his way back to the village and found that his wife had been violently thrown into a tree, and although naked, had survived the wall of water. His 4 year old son was miraculously saved by an older man who had pushed 23 children into the second story of his house to save their lives. However, his 8-month old child was found five days later, and half a mile away...Overwhelmed with mourning and fear, he was now trying to gather enough sticks to build his family a shelter. This is the common story throughout this town. The pain and suffering is unbelievable, God have mercy.
Standing and looking at these people is unreal, from the hollow look in their eyes, to the empty beach where two weeks prior stood two-hundred houses. There is only one option; try and scrape together whatever you can find and begin again. We found one woman lying in the sun next to a pile of sticks and a torn blue tarp. When I asked her what the pile would be used for, she told me that she didn’t know, but it was on her property and was all that she now owned.
With so much suffering, you can be overwhelmed at where to start. Just start where you are. I looked up and saw this woman standing among the rubble and staring off into the sky, so Tim took a photo of her. Her name is Lachimi and she was looking at her house. Her and her four children had been able to outrun the waves, but she was struck by floating debris and I am sure has a broken rib. Her pain has kept her immobile and unable to scavenge for her belongings that are surely strewn for miles. Her husband (who was on a fishing boat during the tsunami) stood off at a distance blankly staring at the same rubble. We invited them to come to the church this Sunday, and what they don’t know is that we are going to help them rebuild a coconut leaf house and they will be receiving clothing, rice, pots and pans, a stove to cook with and most of all HOPE!
While we are not able to reach everybody, thanks to your generous gifts, we are helping at least 1000 families just like Lachimi’s. A 1000 that is not a small number. A 1000 people who won’t be cold tonight, 1000 people who won’t be hungry tonight, 1000 people who have hope that they will be able to survive the next 6 months. Thank you Jesus! 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. There is a marked difference between the Christians and non-Christians. We have stood upon the rubble of both groups, and while there was sadness in the Christians, there was still hope. But with the Hindus, there is a bitter sense of hopelessness (almost suicidal). Please pray that we will be able to share the hope of the gospel with these people. You will not believe this but even as I was typing this e-mail, a Hindu man has walked several miles to the church and given his life to Jesus. He said that his gods have given him no peace and he wants the Lord. His name is Pakri and he lost his mother and 5-year old daughter in the disaster. What pain! Many tears were shed by those in the room as he shared his story and we prayed for him. I’m sure that he has lost his home and fishing boat as well, but it was all eclipsed by his child. However, he walked away with hope!!! Boy how people need hope!
We have been traveling around three of the major cities making the needed purchases, and have begun distributing them. Baby powder for infants with no parents, shelter and water for hundreds at the church each evening, work gloves and masks to those who are sifting through the rubble. Even as I am typing, Tim and Doug are in another small village telling them that supplies are coming. I cannot thank you enough.
The Lord has been giving the guys encouragement Tim Payne emailed thiswife this morning this little excerpt from a little girl that he had met last year.
you won't believe who came running up to me when I got to Pastor Mohans church last night. Yep it was her alright. Jais... What a blessing from the Lord. She is only there because of the funeral of all of her cousins who were lost in the tsunami. It wasn't her moms sister that was killed it was all 3 of her kids. Much to share about the details of her life. I havent met her dad yet but I sure want to. It is up to God.
This is one of the orphan children earlier reported as going back to their village and they were worried that they had been killed. The is so wonderful He has not only taken care of his little children but used them to encourage the guys. Please don’t forget to continue to pray for rest, their health, and their willingness to go in our place to help the hurting people. God Bless You. Charman
Here are the links to the photo albums concerning India.
INDIA '04
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/an3pv/alb ... /my_photos
INDIA 2005
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/an3pv/alb ... /my_photos
INDIA, HINDU FESTIVAL
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/an3pv/alb ... /my_photos
INDIA, MISC. PHOTOS
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/an3pv/alb ... /my_photos
JANUARY 8
Perhaps today, more than ever before, we walked in the footsteps of Jesus. We have wept with mourning parents, we have rejoiced at miraculous stories of survival and we have watched as those who have nothing are given a second chance at life.
The villages we visited are not unfamiliar to us. One year ago we stood in these same streets and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ; some gave their lives to the Lord, some didn’t. We are standing in the same places but it is not the same. Everything looks very very different. One such place, Chinna Kottai Medu, is a small village of about 70 fishing families (approximately 300 people). It was leveled. I will not share the horror stories, so many, but I will share that this village is better off today than it was yesterday. Tim and Doug went yesterday to survey the damage, and had returned with tears and passionate prayers. Today we drove away with joy and praise.
Two truckloads arrived at the church last night full of suitcases, pots, pans, blankets, flashlights, cups, plates and food around 9:30 PM. All of us pitched in to unload the crates and then about 15 women as well as a few men began tearing into the packages and filling the suitcases with the necessities of life. I know that you are probably thinking, Suitcases? But let me tell you, these are desperately needed. They have no house to put their clothes in, no boat to put their net in, no shelf to put their plate on. This suitcase has turned out to be one of the best gifts on our list. It is their new portable house. Anyway, they loaded these suitcases until 2 AM to prepare for our 7 AM departure. When we finally pulled in it was worth every effort! The sorrow and mourning immediately began to lift off of the villagers who had been sleeping in the sand. For me it was the most powerful experience to date. I was introduced to Ravi, a 30 year old man who (along with his wife) had watched his three children ripped from their hands and pulled into the sea, one at a time. I prayed with him and told him that God is caring for his children right now in heaven, and that sorrow is only felt on earth. Then the doors swung open to the back of the truck and the line formed. I told them that their cries had reached the shores of Oregon as well as the gates of Heaven, and that God had sent us to them. I then read Psalm 91:15-16 He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him, and let him behold My salvation. And Psalms 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit. I also read portions of Isaiah 61:1-3. Then we prayed and asked Jesus to help the village. After this, the same volunteer women from last night (on 3 hours sleep) each stood in a line with an item that was too big for the suitcases, and handed them to the people as they passed by. All I could hear was Yesu Neysey Keyrar, (Jesus Loves You), Yesu Neysey Keyrar over and over again the women would tell people that God loves them. Thank you God for letting us be here! The very first woman who walked down the line, openly wept. She could not believe that anyone cared. She had wondered if life was worth living at all, and yet here were dozens of people telling her that they loved her along with Jesus. I realize that these are only plastic water buckets and stainless steel plates, but to the destitute, they are a ray of hope. One man came up to Doug three times to tell him that the whole village was so thankful. There was one government clean up worker in a dirty army green shirt with a hole in it, who sat back and watched the love of God through His people and cried. Afterwards we were able to give him some items as well (a surgical mask, a body bath, and a pair of rubber boots). He was working in open toed sandals and was having to wade through terrible muck. He immediately dawned his new gear and tearfully thanked us. What a feeling it is to be able to give Thank you! Within 10 minutes, the village was alive with people cooking in new pots and offering us food. I thanked them for the offer but told them that God wanted them to eat this rice today.
Then off to the next village where we teamed up with Action Aid who was giving away rice. They told us that they had also attempted to bring in items similar to ours, but had been delayed by government officials in the state capital and were unsure if they would get them back. God has kept us safe from such things. Thank you Jesus!!
People made their way through the line and then walked over to Tim, Doug, and me to receive prayer; a child suffering night terrors, a grandmother now raising her three grandchildren The same time we were praying for them, there was an all-night prayer vigil occurring in Camas for us. You prayed for us, and we prayed for them. Thank you! God’s grace was there, and tonight they will sleep with a full stomach, a blanket and comfort from God.
All in all, we are emotionally exhausted and yet so thankful for the spiritual and physical blessings that we have been able to give to these tsunami survivors. We are also thankful for the Indian brothers and sisters who have made this happen. They don’t seem to care about sleep, but only that others are hungry and cold. Most of all we are thankful to Jesus Christ who takes ashes and makes beauty, mourning and makes joy, heaviness and makes praise (Isaiah 61:1-3).
Today was worth living!
Travis, Tim and Doug
JANUARY 9
Since it was Sunday, we had a much slower day today. After service we were able to visit three more villages. At the first one, there was already help from the military and some civilian aid groups, but the other two were completely overlooked.
One village had lost 58 people out of 300 and were now living in a concrete compound about 1 mile away. They are in desperate need of help because they will be put out of their temporary housing tomorrow and transported back to their village. As far a I can tell, there is only a small handful of houses still standing. We will be delivering needed goods to them on Tuesday. Right now three Indian brothers are taking a 5-7 hour bus ride to Chennai to obtain the gifts.
We also ran across another type of need. The government has focused upon the fishing villages (which were definitely the most impacted) but has overlooked the coastal rice paddies that are now rendered useless by the salt water that flooded them. As we entered into the last village of the night, we saw a government "tsunami relief" truck loaded with rice driving toward us with several hundred people running after it. The truck had come to deliver rice (nowhere near enough) and when the people saw that it was a limited quanity, a riot broke out and the government relief workers decided it wasn't worth the effort and so drove away. I couldn't believe it. It was heartless. So we entered this same village and told them that we would help them get rice and dahl to eat. A large crowd quickly formed and were clinging to our fingers and shoulders telling us that all of their rice paddies were ruined and that they will not have a crop for months.
Here is an interesting note, these two villages had heavily persecuted the pastor and the Christians (physically). In fact, one of the elders of the second village had murdered three people for a price five years ago. Things were now different, a door has opened up for the gospel, rather than violently chasing the pastor away they were openly welcoming him. Praise God that a door has opened to share the gospel with the same people who were beating them. Only God can return blessing for cursing.
Other than that, we will be purchasing items for Tuesdays distribution and handing out water filters to a few villages tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers.
In Jesus Name
Travis
Oh one other thing, many people were at church from the villages that we are helping and they were sharing that nothing like this has ever been done in their village before and that everyone is so greatful. Thank you Jesus!
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