“Our Alliance founder, A. B. Simpson, would be proud of our efforts together to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the earthquake victims in Lombok and earthquake and tsunami victims in Palu-Sulawesi,” says Eric, an Alliance international worker in Indonesia.“We thank you for your outpouring of love, prayers, and generous financial support!”
Eric’s report on current Alliance relief efforts in these two devastated locations follows.
Lombok
- A small team of Tents of Compassion workers (Indonesia’ national church relief team) remains on the ground, partnering with the GKII’s (The Alliance in Indonesia) district leaders to daily distribute clean water and tools to rebuild homes. They are attempting to obtain more water filters and hope to supply subsidized building materials soon. Two new volunteers from Java and Sumatra will join them this weekend; a short-term team of students from the Alliance-affiliated Jaffray Theological Seminary in Makassar, Indonesia, is arriving soon.
- Doors remain open in a previously closed area of north Lombok.
Palu
- A small Tents of Compassion team, led by Rev. Nehemiah, arrived in Palu after a grueling three-day trip overland by truck. They brought essential supplies, including tarps, water and rice, which were immediately distributed to members and neighbors of an Alliance church that was destroyed by the September 28 disaster.
- On Tuesday, five Tents of Compassion workers and an Alliance international staffer caught a Missionary Aviation Fellowship flight to Palu. They immediately began cleaning up the church, readying it to become a distribution center. Tarps have replaced the caved-in roof.
- CAMA worker Buzz M. has obtained a truckload of desperately needed supplies sent by boat from Surabaya, and a GKII doctor in East Kalimantan loaded up a boat of materials purchased with funds from CAMA Services. Both shipments have arrived, and the team on the ground has filled the newly prepared distribution center (church) with the supplies, preparing to visit the most needy areas.
- CAMA Zending (Dutch Alliance) worker Peter D. is leading a team of students and staff in Makassar, who are filling a truck with more supplies—tarps, food, tools, and diapers—that will leave October 12 for the two-day journey to Palu.
- “After two successful days of distribution and a trial run assisting 43 families,” an Alliance international worker reports, “our survey teams located three significant outlying areas about one hour outside of Palu, which will be the focus of our distributions. We are providing basic supplies for 433 families. In one of these areas, people were found sleeping under trees, since they had not yet received assistance.”
Because of these efforts in Indonesia, Eric concludes,“God is pleased that ‘people are seeing our good works and praising our Father in heaven (see Matthew 5:16).’”
Please continue to intercede for the thousands who have been affected by these disasters. Pray also that many more will turn to Christ for comfort amid these tragedies.