I had the great privilege and pleasure to be a part of the first Disaster Response trip. The whole group was made up of Americans, Peruvians, and missionaries.
Stateside, we had 5 men come down, and their combined experience in disaster relief included months of time in Sri Lanka, New York (after 9/11), Katrina, and more.
Rick Stiffler, Engineer, Team Leader, Pittsburgh, PA
Craig L. Boden M.Div., Ed.S., Crisis Counselor
Shaun Nolan, Pastor at View Crest Presbyterian, Eighty Four, PA
Tim Anderson- EMT, works as a tech trauma center. Philadelphia
Ed Underwood, MD- Birmingham, AL (Oak Mtn Pres member!)
Represented from Peru was:
Keith Powlinson and his son (Cusco),
Larry Rockwell and one of the young guys from his church, Pablo (Huaraz),
Gerry Gutierrez came with 5 of his young adults (Huanta),
and from Lima, Mark Berry and myself along with 4 other guys (Kike, Carlos, Luis, and Robin).
We left Lima in a bus carrying donations, supplies, food, and eager hearts to serve. (As you can see... we had a LOT)
We spent those days in an area called Cañete (can-ye-te), another area affected by the quake. In this area, we visited several locations: Hualcara, Imperial, San Benito, La Quebrada, San Isidro, and on our last day the MTW team down went to an area closer to the epicenter called San Clemente. We tried to locate follow brothers and sisters in Christ in these areas, to see how we could help them, what needs still were lacking, and how we could be best used. It could be very overwhelming just going into these locations just because there is a lot to do.
Here is some of what we saw there:
The biggest need is spiritual, and the second biggest need is of construction. The people mostly affected are the poorest of the poor, whose homes had been built from adobe bricks that quickly came crashing down. I listened to many testimonies, but the one that most hit home was hearing a mother talk of the adobe wall that came crashing down right where her 2 year old was and one of her other children snatched him out just in time, saving his life. Most families that were living in adobe homes are now in temporary housing, tents, plywood, and a material which is woven bamboo/wood-like, that is readily available here. I was encouraged to see how these people, though still in need, are in many cases trying to rebuild their lives.
There are also definite stories of injustice and inhumanity, which are sad and frustrating to hear. There are some reports of people that are giving out donations are limiting the goods only to those who are baptized in the catholic church; others of people hoarding the donations and not sending them down south (this in Lima); and of land owners claiming that people can't rebuild on their land (likely a "squatter" neighborhood that didn't belong to those who built their lives there) but now that their houses are in ruins they have to go somewhere else........
What we did:
Our team had many roles and functions. We had 2 VBS days with kids in 2 different communities. In Hualcara we had 150+ kids come out. We sang many songs, I did a little health talk on toothcare, and we gave out toothbrushes and paste, and we had a puppet show. The army was there, in some sense protecting us and showing that we had authorization to be there. They let us use their truck for the puppet show! In San Benito we had 200+ kids come out, but in an area even tighter, and a lot more challenging.
We also had the opportunity to make some medical house calls. Ed Underwood (a doctor on the team who also attends Oak Mountain Pres), Tim Anderson (a paramedic & firefighter also from the US team), and I were able to do some medical assessments in some of the temporary/refugee housing. Overall the problems we found were related to general health or age issues. This area has a lesser risk of epidemic illnesses.
(In this last picture was a family of 3 women, a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter. Both the daughter and granddaughter were mentally challenged, and both suffered from epilepsy, however barely followed their medical regimen for the medicine they were taking, and essentially not having any therapeutic response. The main reason was for their financial state. I was able to get some medicine back to them the day we left, leaving them with 2 months worth of medicine so they can save for further medicine and get back on their feet. I emphasized to the grandmother that we were giving it to her in the love of Christ, and because He loved us, we wanted to love her in this way as well. She then broke down and through her sobs she expressed gratitude and humility, that they had nothing, they lost their house, and were slowly getting back on their feet. It was a moment that broke and warmed my heart at the same time....warmed because I know that was one of the reasons we were called there.)
Our group was able to assist a church in shoring up (or building a support) a wall of a church where the pastor also resides. They also put up a plastic awning at the entrance of the church where the pastor feeds some of the kids in the area.
We also distributed goods to two pastors to give to the needy in their church who were most affected by the quake. We prayed with these two pastors, and are eager for the potential in future training of these lay-men.
We returned to Lima a bit early in order to get supplies and have a tent-maker make some tents to send with the next disaster response team that will arrive next week. There are still families that have no temporary housing. I went around with the guys this past weekend, with the helpful assistance of Kike and Hernan, in Lima to find the right tent maker. They set up an example for our team for pictures just like this to show you one of the most helpful ways funds will be used to house families whose homes came crashing down. The second team will take these tents down for us.
I hope to have a video posted on here in the next few days. Stay tuned!
Thank you so much for your prayers during this week! It was such a hard but amazing week! God bless you all!
