Our visit to Villa Alta Gracia with pastor Fredy and his family on Wednesday was a success.  We held a mobile clinic in an area where people had lost their homes and in some cases their lives, too.  The police and civil defense were out and keeping people from going into areas where they where still digging bodies out of the mud one week after the floods.  We took a tour through a river that had washed out a couple bridges and the road was temporarily made out of rocks and dirt piled up.  The van barely made it through and at one point the police told us that we wouldn’t make, but we did! 

To see the devastation the floods caused was very sad. Whole communities were washed out.  Huge aqueducts and pipes carrying clean water to thousands in Santo Domingo were strewn about like toys. Thousands of trees were downed and stripped of their bark as they made their way down the river.  We saw huge rocks caught in the branches of trees 10-15 feet above the riverbed.  In one instance, we two buildings next to each other one was a church the other a business. The church was left untouched; the other building was leaning off its foundation.  It made me think of the passage by Jesus “if any man builds his house on the rock, his house will survive the flood.”  People were just sitting in front of there washed out homes doing laundry or kids playing in the mud as if nothing happened.  I guess life has to go on no matter how difficult it is even after a deadly flood like the one caused by Tropical Storm Noel two weeks ago.     

Our medicine and equipment boxes are full and the medi-van is gassed up. We're rolling out at 5AM to go to the flood disaster areas in the south with pastor Fredy. We were scheduled to go on Monday but because Fredy had to go somewhwere else it was postponed until tomorrow. 

This is a terrible disaster that will take years to recover from.  We are going to do the best we can for these hurting people. 

One good thing I heard is that president Fernandez is not allowing houses to be rebuilt in the flood prone areas- smart guy.

Pray for us as we seek to make a difference in the lives of a couple hundred peoples lives tomorrow.

This picture makes it clear about how bad this flood was.  at least 100 communties have not been reached yet. Bodies are covered by mud and debris and may never be recovered.   

Today we enjoyed some beautiful sunshine again finally.   Worked on getting the printing done for church, and went over the message The Secret to Satisfaction.  There is such a hunger in the hearts of people to be satisfied everywhere you go. But, they are looking for it in all the wrong places.   A place like Sosua is world reknown for it's open prostitution, drug dealing, drinking, etc.  In the midst of this, the last thing people think they need God.  But, He is the answer to this thirsting and hunger for genuine relationships, freedom from guilt, happiness and inner peace that we all have.  So, we are located right in the middle of town and the toursist will be back in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to who God will send our way this season.  We'll be ready for them.  At the top - thought you might like to see a sample of one of the signs we put up around town.  

The Dominican is reeling from the past few days of rain and flooding. The death toll is almost 100 and it may be awhile until the water subsides before they can make a more accurate count.  We have devised a plan to go to the south on Monday and hold some mobile clinics.  This will only be drop in the bucket as we don’t have the resources to make a major impact in the worst areas.   We’ll also evaluate how we can possibly bring teams to these areas to do house construction for those whose houses were washed away.

Heres a clip from today from  www.dr1.com

  Death toll keeps rising

The ninth bulletin from the National Emergency Committee indicates that 56 people have died as a result of Noel, 27 are missing and a total of 58,328 people have been displaced. Of these displaced 17,895 have found refuge in government facilities while 40,433 are staying with families and friends. Also, 13,921 homes have been ruined, 52 communities are cut off, 21 bridges and roads have collapsed and 682 people have been rescued. General Manuel Antonio Luna Paulino says that 85% of the people who live below sea level have been moved and relocated. Luna has made a public appeal to boat-owners to help in rescue efforts in the lower Yuna river basin. He added that this area is completely flooded and that water levels are still rising. He said that anyone who is willing to help should contact the military commander in San Francisco de Macoris so they can be given the appropriate information. Aguacate and Arenoso are among the worst affected communities in the lower Yuna river basin area. Luna says that this is one of the worst cases of flooding seen in the DR in the last 40 years.

This is going to take a long time to recover from this Katrina-like disaster.  Pray for this island (including Haiti) that people’s hearts will turn to God for strength and healing. 

Our daughter Holly and Kelli's friend and clinic administrator Susy, helped set up a surprise birthday for Kelli.  I took her over to Santiago to get her out of the house for the whole day.  When we came home this afternoon, there were were alot of people there to greet her.  She was very surprised. We shared a meal and cake and had some laughs. 

We haven't seen the sun for almost four days!   I know you northerners are used to it, but not here.  Noel did major damage to the south of us. Going over the mountains today, we could see the downed trees and swollen rivers.  Other then that, there was no serious threat to the north coast where we live.  The surf is up and the kitesurfers were out on the water first thing this morning.  It's beautiful to watch as they skim across the waves and get some "big air" off a breaker.  Someday I'm going to try that. Maybe before my 50th birthday which is not far off sad to say!