Thank you for all your prayers and concern for our team and the people in Belize. I received an update tonight that I wanted to pass along to you. The first is from Carla Stevens, an MTW missionary working in curriculum development and teacher training in the Presbyterian Schools. The second is from Dr. W. Smith, also an MTW missionary and physician working at the Medical Clinic in Patchakan:

We now have running water in town, but not electricity. Much food aid is arriving now in town, with plans to distribute it out to the villages. The Belize Defense Force and police are helping, as well as the Belize Red Cross. Seven Rivers church sent four men from their disaster relief team (YEA! arrived Thursday) -- They worked in Cristo Rey village today -- putting on roofs, clearing debris, etc.

I've had to switch from hurricane mode to school mode since our new school in Orange Walk (PreK - 8, 150 students, 8 teachers) was not affected and will open on schedule, meaning three days of workshops for me to prepare for and present starting on Monday. Pray for leaders of the schools in Corozal as they try to make decisions about when to open, and if to open without electricity. Pray also for the all-Presbyterian school teacher retreat next Saturday (Sept 1 -- over 50 teachers. Pray for me as I make the final preparations for that as well. It will be a time of prayer, as well as a time for the new General Manager of the Presbyterian Schools, Pastor Rafael Ku, to impart a vision for our schools. Thanks for the many, many emails. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to answer them individually.

In Christ, Carla

Thanks to many for your replies and the thankfulness to the Lord for our safety. Things are a little bit more in focus now in terms of the extent of damage here. Short term, the main problem is getting people back under roofs. Many families are able to pick up loose pieces of metal roofing and patch up their houses, but some can't. Today we had a meeting with church leaders and pinpointed a number of families in our vicinity that need help. This should be able to be done with the help of our church members if they have the finances to buy building materials. Church members are also going around and pumping water for people with the help of a spare generator from our clinic. Many people came today to our clinic to get water from our generator-powered well pump. A number of families lost their stores of food to rain and wind. Our plan is to buy large sacks of rice, beans and such and distribute them through the churches.

For these more immediate needs, Mission to the World has set up a relief account. Donations can go to MTW, P.O. Box 116284, Atlanta GA 30368, and be designated to account 097105/Belize. This is the Disaster Response account. [Rev. by webmaster]

The long term problem is that the two agricultural products of our area, sugar cane and papayas, got hit hard, especially the papaya orchards. Many workers will be out of a job until the orchards can be replanted. Prayers are appreciated for such problems that filter down to our missionary team in terms of people not being able to afford health care and to send their children to school. Our prayer is that many will find their faith in Christ and depend on the Lord's provision through this difficult time.

Yours in Christ, Wiley

Dr. Wiley Smith
Presbyterian Medical Clinic
http://www.missionaryclinicbelize.org/

Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement to our family as we continue our path towards serving the Lord full-time in Belize. We are blessed to know you and call you friends!

In Christ,