Thursday, April 10, 2014

Update on the Solomon Islands

Dear Prayer Partner,
I know you can get the news concerning this disaster from the internet so I'm focusing this report on the Nazarene Church families that were affected.  I realize many of our prayer supporters are not Nazarenes.

The only area that I know of with significant damage where the Nazarene work is located, is on the Island of Guadalcanal.  We have three churches on the island of Guadalcanal: Zion Church in Honiara, White River Church, and Macedonia Church in West Guadalcanal.

  • Zion Church: I have not heard of any members or regular attendees of the Zion church, with the exception of Hannah who stays with us, who suffered loss within their immediate family.  Some of the members extended family did have some loss.  Pray for the Zion Church as they are the staging church to facilitate the relief efforts to the other two churches.
  • Macedonia:  We praise the Lord that even though they had serious flooding and even the river temporarily diverted to flow through their village, there was no loss of life and no buildings destroyed, other than a small piggery [all the pigs survived].  Some slept in the church house while their house was flooded. There are 12 families, with 63 persons living in this small village but their lives were all spared.
Their water supply was seriously contaminated and is a chocolaty color now.  For water supply they have a natural spring and they have had floods before which temporarily affected the water but this time the flood has subsided but the water is still terrible.  Also they traditionally bathe in the river but Pastor John told me that now when they go to the river they sink up to their knees in the silt that has washed down.

Their gardens, including the hardier things like bananas and cassava, have all washed away and it will be 3-months [much longer for many crops] before they can harvest their garden.  Their food and much of their income comes from their gardens.  

They also lost all of their garden tools, as these are stored near the garden and were covered up and/or washed away.
  • White River Church:  We praise the Lord that there was no loss of life from members or attendees of the White River Church.  There were 16 families affected that attend the White River Church.  Pastor Osborn, their pastor, is also our district's missionary president.
The White River Church is meeting on the bottom floor of Pastor Jeremiah's home (Jeremiah is the associate pastor at White River and he was the pastor at Zion for previous 5 years).  The area where the church meets was totally flooded.  Jeremiah's children were rescued but many of their clothes were ready for the laundry and were washed away along with his kitchen by the flood waters.  They were able to rescue the pulpit and an easel but many of the things were damaged.  Pray for the clean-up.  They have been holding some holiness classes in the recent weeks leading up to a tremendous Easter service and Baptism.  I would like to organize this church prior to our departure to the Philippines.  God is moving in this place.

Two families at White River lost their homes and everything except the clothes they were wearing.  One of the homes lost belongs to Joyce, the daughter of Leonard, one of our Bible College Students and Pastor of a New Start on Malaita.

Another home lost belonged to Ramo and Roslyn, last year we held a marriage ceremony on Sunday after church and 4 couples who had been living together wanted to be united in marriage.  Ramo and Roslyn were among these couples.  They are new Christians and new Nazarenes.  

Please pray for these two families as they rebuild their lives and the church as we respond to their needs.

Other than Pastor Jeremiah, one other kitchen was destroyed.  This belonged to Babylyn.  Babylyn is a teacher at Zion Christian Academy and a relatively new Nazarene.

The water supply of the town of Honiara was damaged and the chance of a rise in intestinal diseased from contaminated water is immense. 

Of the 16 Nazarene families affected, most of these only the children attend our services.  Most of the parents do not come, but as we reach out as a loving community to give food to these church families we're praying that God will use this compassion to bring these moms and dads closer to him.  Pastor Osborn and his wife Hilda have been cooking and taking food to 32 people daily who are in desperate need.  We praise the Lord for Hilda. The fact that she was home and kept her cool head probably saved many lives.  Their home was at a higher elevation and was not affected, but they were situated at the convergence of the flood waters.

Our Nazarene Response:
We certainly want to thank the Zion Church and the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries for their quick response.

Families of our members:
Hannah, a girl who has been staying with us, had her biological family affected.  Her parent's and Uncle's homes were flooded.  The water rose to 4 or 5 feet inside their home.  Most of their belongings were ruined from the mud and water.  Their house was spared. They are involved in a massive cleanup campaign.  As I drove to their house and looked at  Mataniko River bank it was washed clean from the flood water and all the homes across Vera Creek from Hannah's family lost everything (Where Vera Creek runs into the Mataniko River) .  There was not a tree or anything left standing along the river bank.  The large electric transformer beside their home was swamped with water and blew up while some were in the water, but none was hurt.  Continue praying for those who are really suffering.  Pray that they will turn at this Easter time to the one who sacrificed it all for them.

May God Bless you,

George Miller
PO Box 712
Honiara, Solomon Islands
Phone: +677 7468920

Friday, April 4, 2014

Solomon Islands in a crisis due to flooding

Dear Praying friends,
Most rivers in the Solomon Islands are flooding and there has been a lot of flash flooding.   

There are two access roads from where we live to the main part of town.  There is an old one lane bridge across the river that has totally washed out.  The other road, the main highway, has a 2-lane bridge but it is going to closed soon, if not already.  It will be closed for both pedestrian and vehicle travel.  That means until they assess the problem and repair the bridge we will be isolated from the bank, post office, and the wharf.  

They have suspended international air travel because they are using the international terminal as an evacuation center for that area.  Of course the sea is rough due to the weather and so no sea travel.  I have had difficulty with communication to the provinces.  Many homes near the rivers have been washed away.  They have located displaced people in some nearby schools.  Electricity was off about 10 hours yesterday.

The roads are all blocked with debris and water.  I'm sure my land cruiser could get though but I've been home packing etc.

About our church work:
I talk with Pastor Osborn and Pastor Jeremiah from White River.  White River flooded and the place where our church meets was flooded and under water.  Jeremiah's house is near the river and so his family stayed with Osborn last night.  Osborn works in his second job on our side of the river and so will not be able to work.

Pastor John Zedrach from Macedonia in the Guadalcanal plains called and told me that their river washed all their gardens away and did a lot of damage. The people there are all safe.

George Miller