Welcome to: Innerstate 180 Youth Ministry

Email #5 - 10/15/05

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

First let me say thank you for your prayers. This was a very hard week. Guatemala is in worse shape than I thought it would be. My heart is very heavy for the people of Guatemala. We need to keep praying for them and doing what we can to help ease their situation. Also, a special thank you to those who have sent contributions. I really don't know how to explain how bad the money is needed. Maybe if you see some of the pictures you will have a small idea of the destruction.

Tuesday we delivered supplies in the Pacific Coast area. The people there were so thankful to get some food and supplies. We took a generator and some gas burners to help them be able to cook. Water is standing everywhere there because the land is very flat. Trees are down over the roads and many roads are covered with water that is more than 2 feet deep. We could not drive the trucks through the water in some places and had to use a horse drawn cart. One young boy followed us for what seemed like at least 2 miles asking for food for his family. It was difficult to find a place where the water was shallow enough to stop and give him some supplies. Everywhere we went, people asked for food. Tuesday evening after all day delivering food and supplies, I preached in a church in Tiquisate. The church is housing 300 refuges. They are living in the church, sleeping on the floors in the Sunday School classrooms or wherever there is space. The refugees came in for services. Praise God, that night 27 came to Christ! It was really good to share the love of Christ and of how we can find hope in and through Him.

Very early Wednesday morning we went back to Guatemala City and packed the trucks with supplies again. We left around 11 a.m. for San Pedro. Usually, this drive takes close to 4 hours. Wednesday it took us 7 and 1/2 hours! Let me tell you, in some places the road was hardly there. There are places where the asphalt is hanging with nothing under it. Roads are covered with trees, huge rocks, mud, and water. Some of the streams look more like rivers now than streams. The water is so powerful it has cut through roads leaving ditches many feet deep. When I look at the pictures I think, "How did we get over or around that?" Of course I know it is because so many people were praying for us and God was good and kept His protective arms around us. Thank you again for your prayers.

Santa Clara was our first stop. We gave Pastor Diego some food and supplies and had prayer together. He was so thankful everything. We cried together as he shared some about conditions in Santa Clara. It was good to talk and encourage each other.

We had rented a 4-wheel drive pick-up truck [it is the red one in the pictures] and Pastor Carlos drove his new silver pick-up truck. They were loaded with supplies. Pastor Carlos' truck does not have 4-wheel drive and several places I had to pull his truck through the mud. The tire ruts were very deep but again God was with us. On the road between San Pablo and San Juan, the mudslide was so big that we could not get Pastor Carlos' truck up and over it. So, after driving on to San Juan and unloading supplies from the 4-wheel drive truck, we had to go back and move all the supplies from Pastor Carlos' truck into the 4-wheel and take them the rest of the way.

Praise God, all the pastors from the lake area were at the church in San Juan. We were so happy to get to visit with them, share food and supplies with them, and share the Word of God together for ncouragement. We prayed and cried together. The pastors' spirits are good, they know God will provide. Their big concern is for the people they serve. All the crops are lost. All the tourists, including the hippies, have left and the economy is the worst that they can remember. Most of the hotels are closed because there are no tourists to rent rooms. The pastors estimate that in around 80 percent of their members either lost homes or the homes are very badly damaged. They are hopeful that some of the houses that have no foundation damage might be cleaned out and repaired. Many, many houses will have to be rebuilt.

Many of you may remember Sister Theresa, one of the ladies who cooks for us at the lake. She lives in San Juan, very near the church. Her house is so full of mud. I stooped down outside the door into her house and it looked like there was only about 3 feet at the most from the new ground-level to the ceiling. Everything she owned is gone. She has one outfit, the one she was wearing when they had to flee the house and she had been wearing it for 8 days. This is the house where Delmi left her cooking equipment and it is also gone.

The church in San Juan is okay. If you've been there you may remember the 6 steps you had to go up to the gate. Those steps are underground now. It is level up to the gate. The buildings across each corner from the church are either very badly damaged or not even there anymore. The water and mud came down the streets the flowed out from the church towards the main road. It was a huge, huge river of muddy water, rocks, limbs, trash, parts of other houses, and rocks. And, there are dead animals and dead chickens everywhere -- so many that the government is having the dead bodies treated with chemicals to try to stop disease from spreading because they cannot removed all of them.

Pastor Lucas' house is still partially there, at least one room. The two rooms on the back of the house are gone. Mud and water came up into the house. There may be an outside chance that the mud could be dug out of the front room and it could be cleaned and the two back rooms reconstructed. In November, the teams coming for VBS may be working to see if this is possible.

Of course all the furniture, beds, chickens, clothes, everything was washed away. It would be good if we could build some basic furniture like beds, tables, chairs when we have teams able to go in to work.

The power cables are hanging in the road and they already have been without power for more than 10 days. We took 2 generators in, one for San Juan and one for San Marcos. These were the two worst hit villages. Many families are living with relatives or friends ... most of the time two to three families in the same room.

We asked the pastors what the biggest needs are right now. They all agreed that the first priority is to get money for food. With all the harvests gone, they estimated only food for about another week remains. They asked us to try to get a big truck filled with black beans, corn, rice, and sugar delivered within the next two weeks. These are the staples of the Indians' diet. Right now, the need is huge for food, clothes, shoes, blankets.

I hope that after the first of the year we will have construction teams wanting to come to help build. I don't have words to express how great is the need. The estimate now is that there are close to 234,000 people left homeless in Guatemala. Everything is needed: houses, furniture, clothes, linens, kitchen stuff, everything.

You may have heard that Santiago has been declared a graveyard. In Guatemala the term is "holy campus." The front part of Santiago is still there. Once you get up the hill to the big church there you can see where the devastation begins and the mountain slid down and covered that part of the village. As you can imagine, the lake has much debris floating in it now.

Please keep the people of Guatemala in your prayers. It does not seem to be on the news much here in the United States. The pastors are working hard to try to bring comfort and encouragement to the families of their churches. Please keep them lifted in prayer. Even though they are very tired and their hearts are heavy, they remain grateful and full of the joy of the Lord. I ask that you pray especially for Pastor Lucas and Pastor Chappe who are still grieving the loss of their sons, and now they also have lost their houses and everything they owned.

As news comes in from the pastors, I will pass it along. Please keep praying and asking God to guide you in how you can help.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for your prayers, your concern and financial support.

Serving Christ with you,
Pastor Luis

I am attaching a few photographs from the Pacific Coast area where Luis, Poppy, Immer, and Tony delivered supplies early this week (Pictures: A Guatemalan Farm). Poppy has a farm there....all the cows were drowned, a building was washed away and most of the farm is still covered in a few feet of water. Luis said it was so sad because whenever someone saw them with the cart or pick-up truck of supplies, they start begging for food. One little boy ... photo of him standing waist deep in water ... followed them for at least 2 miles until they came to a spot dry enough to unload some food for him to take to his family.

Luis, Carlos, Delmi, Tony, and Immer made it to the lake area yesterday to deliver supplies. Luis is on his way back to the States right now. Tomorrow morning we are going to get together and he is going to dictate to me some of what he experienced this week. He also has some photographs of the lake area and those will be attached to the email that we send out tomorrow. He said he got to see all the pastors from the lake area and talk with them a little. Needless to say, they are very emotional right now and hurting. Please continue to pray for them.

Delmi always leaves the pots, pans, silverware, plates, cups, blender, food processor, hot plates, coffee makers, etc., everything they use to cook with for teams at the lake with Theresa, one of the cooks who lives in San Juan. Theresa lost her house and everything she owns including all of Delmi's supplies. I am sure God will lay it on hearts to help replace not only houses, but also to replace the equipment Delmi has lost.

Pastor Luis is in Guatemala. He, Poppy, Immer, and Tony have delivered around Q25,000 [US $3,700] of supplies in part of the Pacific Coast area where he will be preaching tonight. They had two pick-up trucks packed full with food, water, small gas burners, etc. The water is 6-7 feet deep in places and they were not able to drive the trucks all the way in. Instead, they had to move the supplies onto carts pulled by horses. Whenever people saw them, they begged for food. Pastor Luis said one young boy followed them for at least two miles begging for food for his family and when they got to a place where there was a drier spot, they gave him food. Pastor Luis was beyond sad when I talked with him. He said he could not believe just how bad it really is there and that he is hearing that overall conditions are worse there in the Pacific Coast area than at the lake. The church where he will be preaching tonight is expecting a large turnout of people. We pray that souls will come to Christ tonight.

Tomorrow morning, they will be leaving early to go back to Guatemala City. Pastor Luis said they have another Q30,000 of supplies at Delmi and Carlos' house. These supplies are to go to the lake area. He thinks he will have to take a helicopter to San Pedro. The only way to get from Solola to Panajachel is to get in a huge basket that is attached to a cable and go down the side of the mountain because the road is not yet cleared. At this point there is still no gas for the boats to cross the lake. The government is trying to get supplies in to Panajachel and to the other villages around the lake. There are reports of people fighting for the food and other supplies as they are being delivered. The smell from the mud and muck alone is really bad.

We know for sure that Pastor Lucas from San Juan and Pastor Chappe from San Marcos have lost their homes and all their belongings. Much of San Marcos and San Juan no longer exist. Hopefully I will have more information to send you either tomorrow or Thursday on these villages and the other areas we have ministered in around the lake.

Pastor Luis said if any of you can get teams together to help out in the Pacific Coast area or the lake area in the coming months, the need is going to be great. Please start praying now about how you can help. If you can bring or be a part of a team, that would be wonderful. If you can send donations, that would be wonderful. Whatever you can do and feel led to do, we appreciate your efforts. We know you are all praying for our friends in Guatemala and those prayers are greatly appreciated. As soon as Pastor Luis is back and we can get word out about getting teams in to help, we will let you know. I hope to hear from Pastor Luis after his visit to the lake and will send you another update on conditions there.

When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were
harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ~Matthew 9:36

Pastor Elias was able to get a call through to Pastor Luis today around 5 a.m. He was crying as he told about the situation in the lake area. They have not had food or drinking water for 2 days. There is no electricity so they cannot grind any corn they may have. The crops are washed out. The roads are washed out. About 75 percent of San Juan and 75 percent of San Marcos are gone.

The church is still standing in San Juan but Pastor Lucas' house is gone. The government has declared Santiago a graveyard because tons and tons of mud have covered everything and they cannot dig out all the bodies. There is no gasoline to power a boat from San Pedro to Panajachel. Basically, they are stranded. The government is trying to bring in heavy equipment to open roadways and they are also trying to use helicopters to bring in some supplies. The weather is not cooperating so relief efforts are hampered. Pastor Elias said the priority of needs is: food, drinking water, dry clothes, dry shoes, and medicine. Many people already have fungus from being so wet.

Tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 10, Pastor Luis is flying to Guatemala. He was supposed to be preaching in a town there near the Pacific coast this week. However, he will not know until he gets there if he can even get to that area. He and Pastor Carlos are working on renting a 4-wheel drive truck to try to get to the lake area with supplies. Pastor Luis is buying athlete's foot medicine for the fungus to take with him to distribute. Pastor Carlos and Delmi are going out today to try to purchase dry milk, dry beans, and corn to take. Pastor Luis and Pastor Carlos will fill the truck with water and food to take to the lake area.

Please pray that they will be able to reach San Pedro safely. Please pray that the rains will end and the villages can start the massive clean-up efforts this week. The needs are tremendous for our brothers and sisters in the lake area. Pastor Luis has spoken with Jo Ann Lyon of World Hope International. She has authorized $5,000 to be sent towards relief efforts. New Life Church in Maryland has also designated $5,000 to be sent to help with relief efforts. This is a good start but of course much more will be needed.

Every penny donated will go directly towards helping our brothers and sisters in the lake area. As Pastor Luis calls with updates, I will keep you informed. Please, please keep your prayers lifted for those dealing with this devastation. We know that our God is powerful and that He will sustain those who call upon His name.

Pastor Luis asked me to send you the following update on Guatemala. The news is bad and seems to get worse. The village of Santiago has been destroyed by a tremendous mudslide. Santiago is the small village that we sometimes take a small boat to for shopping. Some news reports say that the mud is over 40 feet deep in places there. Another huge mudslide has taken out part of Solola and cut off access to Panajachel.

No word has yet been received from our friends in San Juan, San Pedro, or the other villages we have worked in. Many people have been killed, roads are blocked by trees, rocks, mud and/or water, and many bridges are out. Yesterday, an earthquake took out more roads and bridges. Fears are rising that more of the volcanoes will either become active again or collapse causing more devastating mudslides. People have been evacuated from many villages and are now living in schools. Safe water to drink, food, clothes, and blankets are needed.

If you feel the Lord leading you to contribute any funds to the relief effort in Guatemala, please send it to the address below:

Impacto
Luis F. Martinez Spanish Ministries
9690 Shepherds Creek Place
La Plata, MD 20646


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