The following is a report with testimonies of what is happening in Mexico following Thursday’s 8.2 earthquake. It was shared by Cutberto Tenorio Antonio, NCM coordinator in northern Mexico.
Two hours before the earthquake, under the pouring rain, Gilberto and Josefina had fallen sound asleep in their home as they did every night. Their home was in the state of Oaxaca. Never had they imagined that a powerful quake would do away with their lifelong heritage. Before the enormous earthquake, a current of water detached the slopes from the hills near Gilberto and Josefina’s home. Their house was ripped up from the ground as though it were no more than sheet of paper leaving them at a total loss
Nelly Cabrera was my Sunday school teacher in the First Nazarene Church of Ixtépete, Oaxaca. She was indirectly affected by this catastrophe, since those elderly people were her in-laws. They spent the night at their children’s house. What is truly amazing about God is the way he kept them safe. They left 2 hours ahead of the earthquake due to flooding in the hills. Had they stayed, they might not have had an opportunity to save their lives.
Nelly Cabrera was my Sunday school teacher in the First Nazarene Church of Ixtépete, Oaxaca. She was indirectly affected by this catastrophe, since those elderly people were her in-laws. They spent the night at their children’s house. What is truly amazing about God is the way he kept them safe. They left 2 hours ahead of the earthquake due to flooding in the hills. Had they stayed, they might not have had an opportunity to save their lives.
There are many more of us living along the Pacific in Chiapas and Zona del Istmo in Tehuantepec. Stephen and Anne Sickel, Edy Aroldo, Samuel Malpica, Jorge Córdova, Nell Sweden, Jessica Delgado, Joshua Williams, Carlos Saenz, Marty Hoskins, Brandon Sipes and Cutberto Tenorio are a team from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and Work and Witness united to serve in disaster response and reconstruction. They have kept the church informed and are operating the logistics of the immediate church response.
Church buildings have been severely damaged: fallen podiums, wrecked chairs, walls knocked down or cracked, lifted floors, unrecognizable Sunday School classrooms, bent and broken doors and windows, broken beams; These sites are unsafe and high risk.
The team has identified a shortage of water, medical care and basic necessities. The paths taken by our brothers and sisters in order to get to the areas of greatest concern have not been easy. There are over 36 landslides and several collapsed bridges on the roads connecting the capital of Oaxaca to Istmo de Tehuantepec. The aftershocks have been powerful and constant and, according to recent reports, will continue in the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. In every moment, God has looked out for the well being of the teams clearing the roads and allowing more Nazarenes and volunteers to join our affected brothers and sisters.
The coordination efforts lasted through the night. In Juchitan, Oaxaca our brother Edy Aroldo Montejo leads the teams to prepare gathering centers and temporary housing (at Emmanuel Church of The Nazarene) with a group of volunteers assigned to medical care. They need medicine especially for gastrointestinal problems, antidepressants, cough syrups, pain medication, and many more.
Meanwhile, there are still constant aftershocks according to the updates from the team. They encourage us to hear the voice of God through Psalms 46:1-5
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall, God will help her at break of day.
Reporting from Arriaga, Chiapas: Stephen Sickel maintains a close communication with friends in Huatulco to supply food, in addition to exploring the possibility of obtaining support from Heart to Heart through global Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to assemble a brigade of medical volunteers from Mexico and the US.
We have received support from our brother Roberto and Rhesa Rodriguez from El Paso, Texas and many Nazarenes have joined in through social media and interacted on Facebook @MNCmexico. So far there are more than 322 people following every report provided.
The challenges will only increase during the following days; lost homes, huge losses due to the commercial industry being put on standby, hospitals only being able to tend to 20% of their capacity because of collapsed infrastructure, permanently closed schools so as to not endanger the student body, deteriorated wells, refineries, pipelines and sewage systems, blocked roads, abandoned markets, ill people with inadequate income and rehab & housing shelters in complete ruin.
We thank the many Nazarene Churches that have opened their doors to house families who have lost their homes and do not have extended relatives to support them. We want to put this movement of reconstruction with immediate action into the hands of our God.
Help us from your local church with prayer and fasting, motivate each Nazarene, each person in your congregation, to give to the needy. Today Oaxaca and Chiapas need to see the glory of God through the actions of His children. We desire that during the storm, we can raise altars in the hearts of the people served. May the families that have lost everything win Christ and look unto the kingdom of heaven.
On Sunday you are going to get up from your bed, have breakfast with your family under a roof that protects you from the cold and the wind. You will dress in your best clothes and will go to our Heavenly Father’s house. When you step into the Holy place, do not forget to thank God for all his goodness, for his inexhaustible love and protection.
From there, you will worship God, listen to the word that the Holy Spirit will put in the heart of his messenger. You will rise and not tire, your legs will respond to your heart and run the race that God wants you to run, but above all, cultivate generosity so God may continue to write a story of rebuilding and relief for His people, those of whom have humbled themselves before Him.
In short, Lord, in short – we will go wherever your vision leads us.
There are many more of us living along the Pacific in Chiapas and Zona del Istmo in Tehuantepec. Stephen and Anne Sickel, Edy Aroldo, Samuel Malpica, Jorge Córdova, Nell Sweden, Jessica Delgado, Joshua Williams, Carlos Saenz, Marty Hoskins, Brandon Sipes and Cutberto Tenorio are a team from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and Work and Witness united to serve in disaster response and reconstruction. They have kept the church informed and are operating the logistics of the immediate church response.
Church buildings have been severely damaged: fallen podiums, wrecked chairs, walls knocked down or cracked, lifted floors, unrecognizable Sunday School classrooms, bent and broken doors and windows, broken beams; These sites are unsafe and high risk.
The team has identified a shortage of water, medical care and basic necessities. The paths taken by our brothers and sisters in order to get to the areas of greatest concern have not been easy. There are over 36 landslides and several collapsed bridges on the roads connecting the capital of Oaxaca to Istmo de Tehuantepec. The aftershocks have been powerful and constant and, according to recent reports, will continue in the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. In every moment, God has looked out for the well being of the teams clearing the roads and allowing more Nazarenes and volunteers to join our affected brothers and sisters.
The coordination efforts lasted through the night. In Juchitan, Oaxaca our brother Edy Aroldo Montejo leads the teams to prepare gathering centers and temporary housing (at Emmanuel Church of The Nazarene) with a group of volunteers assigned to medical care. They need medicine especially for gastrointestinal problems, antidepressants, cough syrups, pain medication, and many more.
Meanwhile, there are still constant aftershocks according to the updates from the team. They encourage us to hear the voice of God through Psalms 46:1-5
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall, God will help her at break of day.
Reporting from Arriaga, Chiapas: Stephen Sickel maintains a close communication with friends in Huatulco to supply food, in addition to exploring the possibility of obtaining support from Heart to Heart through global Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to assemble a brigade of medical volunteers from Mexico and the US.
We have received support from our brother Roberto and Rhesa Rodriguez from El Paso, Texas and many Nazarenes have joined in through social media and interacted on Facebook @MNCmexico. So far there are more than 322 people following every report provided.
The challenges will only increase during the following days; lost homes, huge losses due to the commercial industry being put on standby, hospitals only being able to tend to 20% of their capacity because of collapsed infrastructure, permanently closed schools so as to not endanger the student body, deteriorated wells, refineries, pipelines and sewage systems, blocked roads, abandoned markets, ill people with inadequate income and rehab & housing shelters in complete ruin.
We thank the many Nazarene Churches that have opened their doors to house families who have lost their homes and do not have extended relatives to support them. We want to put this movement of reconstruction with immediate action into the hands of our God.
Help us from your local church with prayer and fasting, motivate each Nazarene, each person in your congregation, to give to the needy. Today Oaxaca and Chiapas need to see the glory of God through the actions of His children. We desire that during the storm, we can raise altars in the hearts of the people served. May the families that have lost everything win Christ and look unto the kingdom of heaven.
On Sunday you are going to get up from your bed, have breakfast with your family under a roof that protects you from the cold and the wind. You will dress in your best clothes and will go to our Heavenly Father’s house. When you step into the Holy place, do not forget to thank God for all his goodness, for his inexhaustible love and protection.
From there, you will worship God, listen to the word that the Holy Spirit will put in the heart of his messenger. You will rise and not tire, your legs will respond to your heart and run the race that God wants you to run, but above all, cultivate generosity so God may continue to write a story of rebuilding and relief for His people, those of whom have humbled themselves before Him.
In short, Lord, in short – we will go wherever your vision leads us.
