Tomorrow (Wed., March 3) before dawn, Chilean pastors Karim and Sumi, along with Ricardo Gomez will leave Santiago for Chillan, the worst hit earthquake area. They will drive a truck loaded with food and supplies, as well as clothing and blankets donated by Santiago churches.
Superintendent Sergio Loyola has an emergency team in place there to help with distributions. In addition to distributing supplies, the trip will help determine road conditions and assess needs for future trips. A second, larger truck with many more supplies is scheduled to leave Santiago Fri., March 5. Funds from Help Chile Heal will help pay for these supplies.

From Brazilian Bishop Jose Ildo Swartele de Mello: Following Saturday’s massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake, Pastors Sergio and Mari Loyola were able to reach Talcahuano, near the epicenter. With tears they report that 90% of the town is seriously affected. Many houses collapsed due to the earthquake, especially in the area where the Central FMC is located. And then the tsunami hit. Chaos. Pain. Says Loyola: “We will return to Talcahuano with food, kids’ clothes, water …”

From Kay Stotts Godoy and Ricardo and Beth Gomez Families: Profound thanks for all the prayers on our behalf and for the ongoing encouragement and support the Chilean FM family has received in these 72 hours since the catastrophic earthquake. Help has not yet arrived for our suffering brothers and sisters in highly affected areas, where they have been and are still without food, water, electricity and shelter. Tomorrow, Wednesday, teams from our Santiago and Chillan churches will take supplies to Talcahuano, hit by a tsunami 30 minutes after the earthquake, and other devastated areas. People are desperate and in need of not only food and water, but hope as well. Our church is stepping up to the task at hand and your prayers and support are vital. Please continue! Thank you.

Bishop David Roller and Brazilian Bishop Jose Ildo Swartele de Mello will travel to Chile, Mon., March 8.

Continue to pray for all of our brothers and sisters in Chile as they face this tragedy.

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From Bishop David Rollers blog:

So here I am in Haiti…writing about the situation in Chile!

We have many churches in the affected area. This part of Chile is the birthplace of the FMC in Haiti. Early this morning 3 separate relief parties (1 truck each) set out from Santiago, each one with a specific destination city. They are carrying food, clothes, and supplies.

The Bishops Famine and Relief fund yesterday sent funds and then again this morning we’re sending more money.

I will be traveling to Chile on Monday, the 8th for a quick evaluation visit, along with bishop Jose Ildo from Brazil.

As many know, we lived in Chile for 10 years and so have many personal ties there. We are very eager to help in every way possible.

Perhaps the most helpful, immediate information I can share is the following note I received this morning from Free Methodist missionary Beth Gomez:

“Please keep the people informed. We have pastors and lots of other people living in tents or worse because their homes have been destroyed. Some people are completely out of touch with family members. Others, as you know, have passed away. Lots of people are without water and any kind of food. Supt. Sergio said he saw many are without clothing. What little people do have, others are stealing.Parts of Chile got hit with a 1-2 punch; earthquake and then tsunami. The few minutes that we had enough electricity to watch news last night, we heard that there is so much lawlessness now that some people say it is worse than the earthquake itself. We saw men guarding their homes with guns – in other videos neighbors were forming “armies” using rakes and hoes, brooms, whatever they had to try and protect their areas from the lawless. There is story after story to be told. It may be far away but it is very real. Please help the people see that and encourage them to keep praying!”

Thank you for all you’re doing for our Chilean church.

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