Dominican Republic
Julie Stutler, an Alliance worker serving in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, writes:
As I looked out the open sliding glass doors of our apartment this morning, I saw a view that no one would have predicted today. A soft breeze lightly moves the leaves on the trees as sunshine peaks through the clouds. Things are peaceful. We have been through a hurricane in the past and never expected this scene now.
Many Alliance family members have businesses that were being threatened by the predicted path of the storm. Early Thursday morning, Hurricane Irma passed by the eastern and northern parts of the Dominican Republic. However, it was far enough north that only a few simple structures had some minimal damage. Praise the Lord!
This has united our local Alliance family even more as people prayed, sought the Lord together, and looked for ways to help and encourage one another. Now there is a strong wave of praise and thanksgiving among us but also a deep concern to pray for others who are in the path of the storm.
We are so grateful to God for His grace and mercy. We appreciate your prayers, and ask that you join us in continuing to pray for those in Florida and other places where the storm is headed. May God’s hand of protection be evident in amazing ways.
Georgia
On Wednesday night, Peter Brokopp, Envision Atlanta site coordinator, received a call that about 70 Syrian refugees under the care of a partner church in Florida were being evacuated due to Hurricane Irma and were seeking shelter. Envision Atlanta and a few of their partner organizations mobilized to receive about 30 of these refugees late Thursday night. They are being housed at an international church in Clarkston, Georgia.
Due to family concerns and other logistic problems, the other refugees were unable to make the journey to Georgia. Please pray for their safety as they wait out the storm at home.
Florida
If you’re a pastor of a church located in an evacuation zone, visit www.sedcma.org for late-breaking updates and further instruction.
Alliance Retirement Centers
Two of our Alliance retirement centers, Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers and the Alliance Community for Retirement Living in DeLand, are under evacuation orders. Martin Schappell, Shell Point’s president, writes,
As those living in Florida prepare themselves for the worst, pray the damage is significantly less than expected. Pray also that this will be an opportunity for the Alliance family to share the love of Christ with those affected.
All, unfortunately, Hurricane Irma has continued on a more westerly path rather than turning north. As of the 5PM advisory from Doppler Dave, the hurricane may align with the west coast rather than being inland to our east. This will result in a much worse scenario for Shell Point with Category 3 winds. We have moved to Phase 3 of our hurricane plan which is to proceed with an evacuation to our 2 on-site shelters. We started at 4PM today to move the residents in the Springs to the Arbor. At 6PM today, we will move the King’s Crown residents to the Arbor. On Saturday at 7AM, we will start to move all of the residents and patients in the Pavilion to the Arbor. We anticipate that this move of the Pavilion residents will take approximately 10-12 hours. On Saturday at 4PM, we will move all independent living residents to the Island shelter. We anticipate that this move will take 6-8 hours. The weather will begin to deteriorate into the evening on Saturday. By Sunday from 6AM-10AM, the forecast is for 50-90 MPH winds. On Sunday, from 10AM-8PM, the winds will be 75-110 MPH. From 8PM Sunday Monday morning, the winds will be 40-75 MPH. Clearly during this event, the wind will be tremendous. If the storm goes off shore, we will have a storm surge but the prediction has ranged anywhere from 3 feet to 10 feet. Preparations have gone well. Unfortunately, due to the magnitude of the storm, some of the staff that had committed to stay through the event, are no longer choosing to do so. We are still adequately staffed and will rely on the volunteerism of our residents.
In terms of Deland, they have also made the necessary preparations to defend in place. Bill [Anderson] sent me a listing of their residents with locations for where they will be located on campus. They will most likely feel the impact of the storm Sunday night into early Monday morning.
Thank you for your prayers. The staff and residents are holding up well
Prayer
Please pray for the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and others in Irma’s path. Pray that the storm will miraculously lose strength and spare those in its path from severe devastation. Pray especially that those who are unable to evacuate find shelter, and that the Alliance family will seize every opportunity to demonstrate Christ’s love in tangible ways to those who suffer loss and devastation.