Dear Praying Friends,
You may have heard that there has been an earthquake in Chile. We know you have already been praying for us and we thank you. Before we go much further, we want to say that we are safe and are praising the Lord.
The epicenter of the earthquake was actually in the south of Chile and we are in central Chile. We definitely had the full earthquake experience in our area and it was a very scary thing to go through. The city of Vina del Mar and neighboring Valparaiso, where our EGM office is, has sustained considerable damage. The aftershocks continue every few minutes to remind us of God’s power.
The earthquake hit at about 3:30am and we were scheduled to conduct a children’s worker conference at 9:30am. Still reeling from the effects of the quake, we were encouraged by our Chilean director to come ahead to the conference location. So much preparation has gone into preparing for the conference; it was hard for the team here to cancel. When we arrived a few minutes late, we found three teachers waiting for us that had traveled three hours to come to the training. Just as they arrived at the church, a strong aftershock occurred but even that did not deter them. We couldn’t just send them home after such an effort so a mini-seminar was given for just them. What dedication!
In addition to praising God for His protection, here are a couple of prayer requests we would appreciate you remembering.
1. One of the EGM staff members, Daniel Gonzalez, lives very near the worst of the devastation. He had traveled up to meet us and is desperately trying to get home to his family. So many bridges are out that buses are not running and the airport is closed. He is also a pastor of a local church and is anxious to return to his home area so he can be a support to his church family.
2. We need wisdom regarding how to continue with our trip. God has us here at this time for a reason and we want to accomplish His purposes, whatever that might be. We are taking it an hour at a time at this point.
3. Our team member, Krysten, who was to arrive today will not be able to get here from Lima, so we are also trusting God for direction in that situation.
4. Pray that we can communicate well with the Chilean family with whom we are staying. They are amazing but we have had our challenges with the language barrier.
If we get internet again, we’ll try to update you. Thanks for praying!
Joe and Julie
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