January 14, 2010 - Earthquake Update

PRAISE BE TO GOD WHO IS SO GOOD ALL OF THE TIME!!!  And we praise Him for you, our friends, who have been so lavish with your love, concern and prayers.  Thank you so much!!

We just received word from our in-country coordinator, Ronald Jonas, that he and our field missionary, Roody Joseph, and our daughter, Darline, are all together in the city of Leogane (20 miles west of Port-au-Prince) and that the buildings had collapsed but they themselves are "OK".  We are not exactly sure what "OK" means - no injuries, minor ones, etc., but we gratefully accept word that they are "OK"!!!!!! 

Blessedly, it is not expected to rain for the next for days and the tempuatures remain tropical, so shelter is not a "must have", at least for now.  So their immediate challenges will be helping others as much as possible and securing food and water.

We invite you to join us in rejoicing and praising God for holding our loved ones safely through this tragedy and also in our new prayer that He will move the U.S. government officials to grant emergency visas to Ronald, Roody and Darline.  Allowing them to come home will reduce by three the number of people relief workers need to provides for -- they have families, they only need to be released to come home to us.  We will let you know if we need help contacting government officials on their behalf -- there is always strength in numbers!

We have still received no word about Pastor Joseph or our teenagers, but we are resting our hope for them on two things: (1) that we now know Ronald, Roody and Darline are safe and (2) that Leogane is a more rural area than the city of Port-au-Prince, so there are much lower buildings and less concrete so there is less chance of injuries due to building collapse.  PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR JOSEPH, OUR TEENS, THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF PASTOR'S CHURCH AND SCHOOL AND THE MEMBERS OF PASTOR'S CONGREGATION.  Pastor is not a young man and I know he is exerting every ounce of his effort toward helping those who need help.  We hold him up for strength, encouragement and courage during these coming months of recovery.

Thank you, again, SO VERY MUCH for your love.  Thank you SO MUCH to those of you have have prayed, lent your computer expertise and time, helped with telephone calls, and made donations to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti. It is our hope that this event will spur massive participation in the prayer tour Roody has so diligently planned for Feb 28 - Mar 7 as the Haitian people turn their faces to God in light of their new circumstances!!!!  IT'S ALL FOR HIS GLORY!!!

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