Team Leaders, Secretaries and DOMs,
Harvey – we continue to have teams in Texas doing Flood Recovery. They are looking for two small feeding teams for next week to cook for volunteers (4-6). If you have a feeding team interested, let me know ASAP. They continue to close sites and move manpower where they work is still needed. Rebuild teams are now being scheduled.
Irma – We have a mixed group of team leaders in FL this week assisting with teams coming in. Pray for a great week of work for all involved.
Maria – Our team continues to work through some of the adverse conditions. Pray for continued strength. One team member had a mishap on Saturday, please pray for him. Below is a note I received from the team today to let you know some of the things they have been doing.
“Afternoon Guys, PLEASE PASS THIS EMAIL ALONG TO EVERYONE!
Just a quick note to bring you the news from Guayama.
We are currently without running water, but that is normal. It works for a while and then it quits for a while. We have to either boil or filter any water we consume, but we have been able to get water from the Salinas team working about 7 miles from here. They have a water purification unit we brought from the states. They are currently producing about 300 gallons per day. We have 5 gallon “bladder” tanks and we get about 15 gallons each day for our drinking water. We collect rain water from a tarp and the roof drains in buckets to flush the commodes. Of course, when the water is running we stockpile water in buckets as well.
No electricity in this town, and there is none coming soon. The local hospital is publicly telling that they must have commercial power soon. The hospital is doing a little bit better than “third world medicine” but without commercial power, they cannot continue much longer. One of our team members had occasion to visit the hospital. While there I asked for their phone number to contact them if possible. The nurse told me “that was useless, as the phones in the hospital did not work”. I did observe the staff was communicating with hand-held radios.
The population is beginning to “feel” the effects of diminishing support. Wal-Mart is open here, but any purchases are “cash only” and the building is being powered by a generator. So when the generator runs out of fuel….the store closes. However, there is a decent supply of various items in the store, but if the store is closed…or you don’t have cash. Well, it is just not good.
Our Salinas team is putting tarps on houses in their area. So far they have taken care of 9 homes. This is the same team running the water purification unit.
Our team is still working on the church here in Guamaya. We have setup a make-shift kitchen here and starting today we are “feeding” 50 meals per day to the community with plans to go to 125 by the week’s end. The key though…..is the church and its members will continue this work when we leave. We built a make-shift serving table, setup the kitchen, cooked the food (with some help from a couple of women in the church) but it is the church’s membership that is currently outside serving any who walk up for food.
Winlink is still the best way to communicate. ATT phones (voice and SMS texting) are working, in places, at times, but it is very unpredictable.
I believe that is because they are probably on generator power as well. So when the diesel goes, or the generator breaks…….like everything else here……we go backwards.
There is a church member here who works for the waste water plant for the town. They are worried….their facility is on generators too.
Enough said…….
Will communicate as much as I can….very busy here. We are planning on shutting down early Saturday morning to pack, and travel on Sunday. Arrive ATL around 6:30pm.”
If there are teams interested in going to TX or Puerto Rico, please contact me and I will share with you the process. Our next teams are going in early November.
We continue to work to ship materials where they are needed. God’s Warehouse in Morristown is going to be loading 2 containers tomorrow bound for the Island of Dominica. We are looking at meeting other physical needs in the area as they are known.
In Christ Serving Together,
Wes Jones