I think the contrast might be what makes the aftermath of the rain so difficult grasp. Where I am staying, it was only a night of heavy rains and wind. Life goes on as normal. People go to work, kids are in their last week of school for the year.  Fifteen miles from here in while one house is just as it has always been, the neighbor’s house has simply ceased to exist.

Yesterday I went to San Pedro Perulapán where Cordero de Dios Baptist church does community outreach with women and children. They have also built a number of homes in the area. We visited four emergency shelters in the San Pedro area. When you drive through San Pedro, the situation doesn’t look nearly as serious as some of what is appearing on the news. But the statistics the shelters gave us tell another story.

In the four shelters we visited in just one county there were a total of more than 90 families whose homes had been severely damaged during the rains. The women and kids stay in or near the shelter during the day. Men have been going to their corn and bean fields to rescue the few pounds that weren’t lost to the rains, landslides, and flooding. Depending on the shelter, conditions and supplies vary. Available water for washing, cooking, bathing seems to be scarce no mater where you go. The dry season is finally here to stay.

Over the next few weeks the Baptist Federation will continue to help provide immediate emergency assistance to those who find themselves with destroyed or damaged homes. We continue to gather data on many homes will need to be rebuilt and how many families have been affected by ruined crops. Please pray with us as we explore creative solutions and responses to these two new challenges.

In the meantime, we continue to prepare for our annual week of VBS throughout the country, we celebrate anniversaries in our congregations, life goes on as usual. The contrast is perhaps the hardest part to grasp.

Kim

If you are interested in making a contribution to support immediate relief efforts and long term rebuilding, gifts can be given through One Great Hour of Sharing, American Baptist Churches. Checks can be made payable to “One Great Hour of Sharing” with OGHS- El Salvador Relief on the memo line. Send gifts to:
One Great Hour of Sharing
Attention:  World Relief Officer
P.O. Box 851
Valley Forge, PA 19482