Hello friends...most of you are aware that Hurricane Eta has wreaked havoc on the country of Honduras. Thankfully, an organization that is near and dear to my heart, Miqueas 68 , was spared and are managing with some flooding in their basement but otherwise, they are healthy and well. The surrounding areas have been hit hard . Heavy rains have produced extreme flooding and mudslides for so many.
Jacob and Melody Cherian, Directors of Miqueas 6.8, have been out the last few days assessing the damage in their surrounding area. It’s been reported that about 8,000 -10,000 people in a 15 mile radius of their home have been displaced. The area by the San Pedro Sula airport which is 40 minutes from them, had flood waters at 5-12 feet high. The whole area, 100,000+ people have been affected.
A shelter near them has approximately 500-700 people with just the clothes on their backs and yesterday a community that was inaccessible by car because of the floodwaters reported an additional 8,000 people who have gone days without food and water.
In the streets lining the areas that were flooded are hundreds of people just waiting for the water levels to go down. I am sure you have seen pictures online and in the news of the flooding and the damage. As of 6 days post-storm, there were people still waiting on their rooftop for rescue. It will be days before locals can try to go home, if they still have a home. And even once they return, they may have nothing to return to. Houses are covered in mud as well as all their belongings. Every street in the affected areas are lined with piles of furniture, appliances and personal belongings for trash pickup.
Unfortunately, because of the nature of politics in Honduras, most relief aid is being done by the Honduran people as the government is not providing aid fast enough. Hondurans themselves are cooking, housing people, dropping off supplies, finding boats to rescue their fellow countrymen, etc. Additionally, locals have already have had a hard time with COVID as they were shut down until October and now this natural disaster has left people with nothing. It has been amazing to see the people work together to help those in need.
Over the last few days the Miqueas 6.8 family has been able to help those in need personally by distributing 1,000+diapers, clothes, making juice and taking a snack for about 200 people living alongside the road, sending food and cooking utensils to a community that had a horrible mudslide and has lost the whole community and helping another missionary family clean up their house which flooded about 5 feet with mud and water. These are a few ways they plan on serving the immediate needs in the coming weeks.
Jacob and Melody are appealing to their friends and family to help them help those in need. I know that social media is a great resource and can expand their reach.
If you are asking yourself
how you can help, here's how:
Miqueas 6.8 wants to be able to meet some of the immediate basic needs of the people affected by providing drinking water, food, small mattresses, diapers, clothes, underwear, toothpaste, soap, basically anything you can think of just to survive. Jacob, Melody and their kids are in the process of emptying their bodega (supplies) and washing clothes and preparing them by size. In faith, they are depleting their supplies in order to help those in need today.I hope that globally, we can see a wave of generosity cover the nation of Honduras. Any donation, large or small, will make a huge impact in the lives of those impacted by this hurricane. Please pray for those suffering and for those who are serving.Any donations made through this gofundme campaign will be solely used to help purchase and distribute supplies to those in need. Thank you.
Galations 6:9-10
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