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Friday, 05 March 2010 21:20 |
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Some of you have asked regarding how you can help the pastors who lost their homes and church buildings in the earthquake. If you are interested in sending a donation, we will be sure the money reaches them, either as a love offering or in the way of food and supplies. If you prefer your donation be used to distribute food and supplies to others who may be in need, we can take care of that too. Donations can be sent to our financial clearing house (check memo: David Thompson - Chile Earthquake) Central Missionary Clearinghouse P.O. Box 219228 Houston, TX 77218 Another way you can help is by purchasing a song. Yes, you read that correctly. Two of my siblings are talented musicians and they are in the process of recording their first professional CD, to be released in July. They have decided to pre-release one of the songs and will be donating the proceeds to some of the quake victims. Go check the song out. I'm sure you not only will enjoy it, you will be blessed by it too. You may know others who would probably enjoy the song and might want to help by purchasing it. If so, please pass along the news. www.steveanddannythompson.com We appreciate your prayers and your concern for the well-being of those affected by the earthquake. |
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Dear friends, The earthquake that rocked Chile last weekend was so powerful that even at 400 miles of distance from the epicenter, people felt like it had originated under the very ground they were standing on. It shook us and our house really well, but we seem to have been spared from most of the damaging effects of the earthquake. For that we are grateful. Yet, at the same time we are concerned for the well-being of our many brothers and sisters in Christ who live in or near the cities that took the worst hits, particularly Constitucion, Talca, and Concepcion. We've heard bits and pieces from all of them by now and know that they are safe, though still very affected by the quake. Pastor Gary Yanten and his family are faithful servants of the Lord Almighty and have ministered to the people of Constitucion for many years. When the massive earthquake hit, they grabbed what little they could, piled into their car and fled to higher ground, as Constitucion is a coastal city. Those on the hills could hear the screams of horror from people who were being swept away by the first big wave. A while later, another wave hit. The third wave came as dawn approached, around 6:30 in the morning. By then they could make out the 30-foot wave as it covered a big part of the city. Aproximately 200 people who lived on a peninsula and who didn't have enough time to escape were gone. Gary and his family were fortunate to be alive, no doubt spared by God in order to serve the people of Constitucion in their time of most need. Their church building survived the quake, but their house and belongings were damaged beyond repair. They didn't have enough gas in their vehicle to go very far, so they had to stay put. For three days they camped out in a tent, along with some other survivors, until a pastor from a nearby city was able to come to their aid with food, water and gas (see pictures below).      Talca is a city that is very dear to us, as we had the opportunity to live there while our parents, Doug and Debby Thompson, were involved in starting a church there. Pastor Kike Quilodran and his family now minister to the believers there. The church building and the house next to it, where we lived and where we formed many wonderful memories as teenagers, were destroyed in the quake. The adobe walls (thick though they were), simply could not resist such violent movements and they all came down. Many souls came to know the Lord in that place, so it served its purpose well, but now the church is without a building. That will have to be taken care of later, though, because Talca is still without water and electricity. Some phone lines are back up, but a greater portion of the city is in total ruins. There are shortages everywhere, and many are spending the nights huddling in small groups and burning coal to stay warm at night. The Chilean government is doing a great job trying to meet the need, but the need is so great and though help is coming, it isn't coming fast enough. Already several of the churches we fellowship with here have either sent truckloads of help or are taking up offerings to send on to the pastors (friends of ours) who are nearby and who are using those funds to purchase food, water, blankets, and diapers to pass around to those who are in need. We were able to help some with some ministry funds that we had saved up for another purpose, and our church will be taking up a special offering this coming weekend for these two pastors and the congregations they minister to. If you have a roof over your head, and food in your fridge, you have more than what a million chileans do right now. Please help us show Christ's love to our brothers and sisters in Christ and to the hundreds and thousands of chileans who may find Christ as a result of this event. May it be instead of a tragedy, a great victory - and may it all be for the honor and glory of His Majesty, who sits on heaven's throne. We appreciate your prayers for us and for Chile. In Christ's love, David & Hanzi Sending Church: Lees Summit Baptist Temple 2614 NW Chipman Rd. Lees Summit, MO 64081 Service Agency: Central Missionary Clearinghouse P.O. Box 219228 Houston, TX 77218 Field Mailing Address: Casilla de Correo # 7 Algarrobo, Chile |
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Tuesday, 02 March 2010 21:24 |
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Dear family, friends, and co-laborers, Things for us are for the most part back to normal. We finally got our internet working again this afternoon. Still waiting on water, but we're told it should come back on by tomorrow. When the electricity came back on, we plugged our tv in to the outlet to see if it had survived the fall, but the sparks and smoke coming from the motherboard weren't very encouraging... Our situation however, pales in comparison to what's taking place in other parts of the country. The following picture says it quite well:  We decided to go to Santiago yesterday (Monday) to stock up on groceries, as our cupboard and fridge were getting quite bare. There's been talk about stores running out of goods in the coming weeks, so we decided to stock up while we still can. No bread, no flour, no bottled water, but everything else was available. Looting started taking place in Concepcion (Chile's 2nd largest city) the day after the quake and crooks and depraved people in other cities have caught on and are doing the same all over the areas affected by the earthquake. Plasma tvs, refrigerators, washers, carts full of liquor - you name it, (even though there is no electricity, food, or water in many of these areas). Department stores were being stripped down to nothing and then lit on fire. Military personnel were dispatched and have now received orders to shoot looters on sight. In Concepcion, the orders came too late, as most stores have little to nothing left. I talked to a friend in Chillan this afternoon and he told me people are out and about now invading people's homes, taking whatever they want, and threatening to hurt anyone who tries to stop them. To make matters worse, either pranksters, or crooks who want to throw the police off, have been calling nonstop reporting bogus crimes. Cell phone service is starting to come back to most areas. To our great relief, we've heard from the pastors in Talca, Concepcion and Constitucion. They are alive and well, though some of them have suffered tremendous losses. In Constitucion, Pastor Gary Yanten lost his house and the temple when the tsunami hit. He fled in his vehicle and is now living in a tent with his family. Gasoline, where he is, is unavailable, so he had to stay put. Two pastors in neighboring cities were able to come to his aid this afternoon, as he was down to his last bit of food and water. The church building in Talca was hit hard (adobe construction). The house next to it (where I lived as a teenager for two years - also adobe) is from what I am told, damaged beyond repair. The church building in Concepcion is being used as a safehouse, but they are without food, water and electricity, and many need additional clothing. Mothers are in dire need of diapers for their little ones, but none are to be had, not even in nearby cities. One of the churches in Santiago has gathered up a few carloads of these things and are headed to some of these cities to bring aid to our brothers and sisters in these churches. Be praying for their safety, as many vehicles that have brought aid have been attacked and looted. Our church in Algarrobo will be taking up a special offering for these other hard-hit churches and will be sending it to a pastor friend who is right in the middle of the hardest-hit cities and who will be able to distribute the much needed aid. There are immediate needs for sure, but people are going to need help in the coming weeks too, so if you would like to help, any additional funds we receive will be distributed accordingly to these areas in need. Once again, we want to thank you for your prayers on our behalf. Please pray for God's hand of protection and provision for those who may not be faring so well in these damaged cities. In Christ's never-ending love, David & Hanzi Cell phone - (56) 9 039 0576 Skype name - davidandhanzi |
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Saturday, 27 February 2010 17:15 |
Dear family and friends,
We are alive and we are well.
We've been without electricity, phone, and internet at our house since the quake jolted us out of bed this morning at 3:30 am, so we've found out very little about the quake. By now you probably know more than we do about the damage and loss experienced in certain parts of Chile. We've heard bits and pieces from some of neighbors, who have been able to tune in to different radio signals, but not much. Right now I'm trying to catch up - we're over at Hanzi's sister's house now, as she has her basic services back up and running by now. I'm taking in some of the devastation and damage as I type.
Some parts of Chile got hit hard. 8.8 or 8.9 on the Richter scale. We're about 8 hours driving distance from the epicenter, so for us it was about a 7 earthquake. This was Hanzi's second big quake, but for the rest of us it was a first... and I hope a last. Suddenly, our whole house started groaning and shaking. Hanzi and I simultaneously ran to yank the girls out of their beds - Katelyn kept crying out "are we going to die?!!!" "are we going to die?!!!" as we huddled together under two of our bedroom doorways. Halfway through the quake things started falling and breaking. A glass vase fell off its table and exploded, just about the time our tv also fell onto the floor, along with a bunch of DVDs and CDs. Stuff in the bathroom was falling and breaking. We couldn't really tell what, because by that time the lights had gone out. The noise in itself was awful. And the shaking went on forever (almost two minutes they are saying) though it seemed like a lot longer. Our house has a lot of glass windows close to the entrance, and though none of them broke, we decided to stay in and not risk making a run for the outside. Finally it subsided, and as there is always a risk of a tsunami along the coast, and our house is about 300 yards from the beach (although about 150 feet above sea level) we gathered up some essentials (flashlight, billfold, keys, jacket) and headed out the door to seek higher ground. Two blocks away from our house I decided to stop at a nearby gas station and spent what cash I had left (it's the end of the month) to halfway fill our vehicle. I'm glad I did...
Okay, here comes another shake... oh, boy, this is a big one... hang on... I'm looking at the neighbors' apartment windows and they're shaking like jell-o!! I've never seen that before!! 15 seconds... 20 seconds........... allright. it's gone now. We've been feeling aftershocks since last night at 30 minute intervals, but that was the biggest one so far. I didn't know glass was so flexible... that was amazingly weird!!
As I was saying, I'm glad I was able to put some gas in the tank at 3:50 am, because then the line was only 4 cars long. Today the line stretches for about 2 or 3 blocks!
Damage here in Algarrobo was minimal. Our house has no visible cracks or signs that a quake hit, although several things broke as they fell from shelves (picture frames, vases, CD cases, those kind of things). Surprisingly, everything in our kitchen came out intact. Missy, our little Cocker Spaniel who spends the night in the kitchen, did lose half of the contents of her bladder somewhere through the quake. Had to clean that up. Didn't get any warning signs from her... she can fetch, though, and sit upon command, and stay, so I'll cut her some slack this time.
Oooh, that was another short jolt. It's only been a couple of minutes. Everybody is definitely a little jumpy today, as you can imagine.
The yacht club dock took the worst hit around here. The tide has been falling and rising every 10 minutes and creating quite a current as it does, so the dock was pretty much wiped out - some of the yachts and boats tied to the dock were either sunk or severely damaged.
The rest of Chile, particularly further south of us, took some heavy damage. A 15 story apartment building simply fell over on its side from the base. Some of the buildings' occupants were miraculously rescued, though I believe there were many deaths involved in that one. Bridge collapses, highways are unusable. Major stuff.
But here, we're doing good. Still a little shaky, but thankful for God's protection over us. We appreciate your prayers so very much!! Be praying that God will use this as a way for people to come near to Him. Thinking about that... we had a lady get saved in our prayer meeting in our home on Thursday night. So, God's power has been very evident to us in these last few days, in every aspect. Will attempt to keep you updated as things develop. Would post pictures, but the camera battery died and is recharging. You know, typical earthquake deal...
We love you!!
David & Hanzi |
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