In The Aftermath of Hurricane Felix Nicaraguans Need Your Help

In The Aftermath of Hurricane Felix - Nicaraguans Need Your Help

After Hurricane Felix hit a week ago Myra and I visited the NE area of Nicaragua where the damage hit the poorest area of Nicaragua.  Even though we were expecting it to be severe, we were not prepared to see the extent of the devastation and destruction Felix caused.  We saw first hand the painful results spread across this part of Nicaragua.  Many of the 300 communities of the 1,000 square miles are now completely inaccessible, except by helicopter. Puerto Cabezas with an estimated pop of 50,000 has the infrastructure to respond to their own needs, such as crews replacing and repairing fallen electrical poles.   Even visiting some of the villages close to Puerto Cabezas the destruction was absolute.   Food and clean water are immediate needs and temporary shelter with sheets of black plastic are necessary for the remaining months of the rainy season. 

Our Verbo church with Pastor Earl and his wife Damaris Bowie have been helpful to many interested groups; helping coordinate local government officials, orienting U.S. churches and advising individual Christian efforts.  Pastor Earl has assisted organizations like Operation Blessing, Samaritan´s Purse and Forward Edge, Missionary Aviation Fellowship, Orphanetwork, Save the Children, Acción Medica Cristiana, various denominations and of course Verbo Christian Ministries.

Families have been lining the pier of Puerto Cabezas to receive news, or the bodies of their loved ones.  Grief can be seen on the faces of so many people.  In the midst of this, Verbo has been honored to assist in the acquiring of 500 gallons of gasoline for the cleanup and trucking of fallen trees and debris in the city streets.  We have been able to help coordinate daily flights of emergency food rations and provide for 130 rolls of black plastic.  This has been in the first 5 days of the tragedy.

Verbo’s response to disaster relief has grown and simply became a part of our makeup.  Now after this initial surge of relief of the brutality of Hurricane Felix we hope to take on the more permanent reconstruction of homes.   Krukira, a Miskito village we visited in these last few days has been totally flattened.  We passed out food bags in La Esperanza an extensively damaged neighborhood in Puerto Cabezas.   Hurricane force winds fortunately had diminished to a strong tropical storm by the time it reaches Krin Krin on the river Rio Coco.  Here we have a church and a school but only a single house fell in this village.  Focusing our construction efforts, therefore on Krukira and La Esperanza might enable us to labor more intensely both physically and spiritually.   Our heart would be to raise up a Christian banner of the proclamation of the Lord´s faithfulness.  Both the warmth and the resilience of the people in these 2 places struck all of our hearts.    We think this is an affirmation that the Lord might be honored by a mature and long sighted, integrated and genuine, Christian development project in these two areas.  We hope to lift up a clear witness out of the mire left from the path of Hurricane Felix.

Verbo Nicaragua is a part of Verbo Christian Ministries a non-denominational organization committed to encouraging local churches in evangelism, church planting and Christian ministries.  For additional information contact Myrna Brown 800.406.1792  Ext. 707, or write to:
              Verbo Christian Ministries of Nicaragua

               P.O. Box 190

               Kenner, LA   70063-0190