Sunday April 25
Finally got through to a team member in Nepal. No one from the team is injured! They are safe. Thanks for praying!
Sunday April 26
Our team is still ok—a bit worried about aftershocks. There have been rumors of a 9.0 aftershock which hasn’t occurred as of yet. We believe that God bring something amazing and redemptive out of this terrible tragedy.
The team is currently camping in along with many in their neighborhood in an open space in case aftershocks strike. The fact that there is many together from the neighborhood and they all know each other helps to buffer against the effects of violence or looting.
Pray that it doesn’t rain! Pray that the aftershocks subside! Our group has been serving rice and veggies to the locals and inviting people to worship God. Pray for the spirit of God to move!
At the time when the earthquake hit they were supposed to be ministering in one of the worst hit neighborhoods of Nepal. They weren’t able to get a hold of the pastor. They didn’t make it over there because of a communication glitch. That church was leveled. I don’t know what happened to those that were there… The team went to a different church to minister (in Nepal they have church services mostly on Saturday morning). While sharing at that church the earthquake hit. The church building they were in stayed up while several neighboring buildings collapsed.
Other ministry partner staff escaped narrowly as well with buildings collapsing. In one case a mother and child were not crushed because falling debris got stuck up in between buildings.
We do have a team of international emergency responders led by our very own Dave. They are driving to the airport now (Sunday afternoon). Dave and his team are professional emergency responders/medics etc. that are trained to respond to these situations.
Sunday April 29
Things are normalizing. According to Chelsea, the team leader, there have not felt aftershocks in about 30 hours and have moved back into the flat in which they were originally staying.
Dave and the RescueNet team has arrived—see the picture below. There was a collective sigh of relief when they arrived on the scene. They are currently meeting with the UN to coordinate relief efforts with other aid organizations.
The team has food, water, and supplies and are able to recharge phones and use the internet. They are sick of waiting around and are ready to work. Dave and the team have advised them on being prepared for a variety of scenarios.
The team is most likely going to stay in Kathmandu and help with the rebuilding efforts—barring some other contingency. They are set to fly out from Nepal to Calcutta (Kolkata) on Thursday May 7. The decision to stay is primarily being made by the leaders (Chelsea, Sav, and Rebecca) and the team on the ground with myself, Simon, and Dave being a part.
They will be distributing supplies such as food, water, toiletries, blankets, fuel, etc and helping the Nepalese rebuild ‘one home at a time’ as our wonderful host has put it. Donations of around $1000 have come in already which will help in the purchasing of a lot of supplies. (Also a few hundred towards RescueNet). The team may be helping distribute for other international aid channels as well.
Simon, the DTS director, is also going to head Nepal on a pastoral visit—specifically to debrief and process with the team. Pray with us that his passport gets back from the India Embassy of the US in the next 24 hours so he can leave on Thursday…
Please keep fervently praying every day!
