Day 11 - May 22

It is with a heavy heart that I sit down to write today’s blog. A tornado has hit our home town of Windsor Colorado and while we are not currently living there, we do have a house there and many many friends there. First of all, we do not believe that anyone we know was hurt. We believe that all of our friends their families are ok, thanks be to God. We are still waiting to hear on one family whose house seems to have been in an area that was hit hard, but we remain hopeful that they are ok.
Our house appears to have been spared from anything but minor damage. The Harrises, who are renting our home, are fine and the report that the items that were outside of the house (bbq grill, patio furniture, etc.) are all heavily damaged and that our big tree in the back yard is heavily damaged, there doesn’t seem to be much damage to the house itself. It is possible that several windows were broken. Marinajo is unclear on this. This tornado seems to have taken a path right down the east side of Windsor and by all accounts, the neighborhoods surrounding our house took a huge amount of damage.
We offer this prayer for the folks in Windsor:
Father, we lift up all of the families of Windsor tonight, especially those whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the tornado. We know that some lost everything they had and that there was even a death caused by this storm. We ask for comfort and peace for all of those involved. We ask for wisdom and safety for all of the disaster response effort that is going on right now. We ask for special favor for our own Crossroads disaster response team as they mobilize to respond to this catastrophe. Please give them wisdom on how to mobilize and whom to help. We pray that no one else would suffer harm because of this storm and that You Lord would rescue your people from rubble and debris. Lift up their spirits, please Lord, and give tired rescue workers energy and safety as they continue to render aid. Please help everyone there in Windsor to see You as the One who sends help and the One who cares, not the One who destroys, but the One who rebuilds what the enemy has destroyed. Amen.
I got to learn a missionary lesson first hand today. When disaster strikes your friends or family, you can’t be there to help. You are barely able to be informed. You are of no help at all (save prayer – which is important). You can pray, but you just can’t be there. It is part of the life of a missionary, but it is difficult. I have a real “rescuer mentality” and I’m quite sure that I would be in the car heading for Colorado right now if I were in the states. Oh well, this too – is in God’s hands.
I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. A few more short notes about today and then off to bed…It is about 11:30 here in Honduras local time (CST) and it has been a very long day. It has been HOT today. Someone said that a they took the temperature out in the sun today and that it read 108 degrees. Even the locals are remarking on how hot it is. A missionary friend here has a window unit air conditioner that they turn on when it gets too hot and they had to run it for some time today in order to get one small room DOWN to 90 degrees. And it felt cool! I can tell you that I’ve never experienced anything like it. And yet, despite the sweat and the intense heat – I am still absolutely in love with this place. Only God can do this. I love how He not only calls us; he puts the desire to be there deep in our hearts and then gives us the desires of our hearts. Isn’t that amazing?
I end on yet another sad note. Olympia (the lady from yesterday) is still hanging on, but just barely. It doesn’t seem like she could possibly make it through the night. I suppose that we have no business being sad for a Christian (this woman is known to be a believer) who is passing away, but it is still sad. We watch with her family and pray - for her and with them – that she will make some kind of miraculous turn around. Secretly, I pray that God would just take her home peacefully and not let her suffer any more. I wonder if it is ok to pray for that?
And so there are many sorry hearts tonight. But the Word promises that there is gladness in the morning. For we have a “hope that does not disappoint” and that “through all of this, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus”. Amen.