January 20th Up-date

Sorry that we are posting this late.

Greetings in the Name of our Lord,

Another week has gone by and we are still serving those in need as best that we are able.

Or new long bed truck has been a real blessing and a money saver. We have already delivered over 120 12 ft. sheets of corrugated tin, 120 - 1x4x16's,  and 80 - 2x4's. Also, we have used it all week picking up food supplies at a warehouse, bringing it to our depot and delivering it to the 8 churches in our mission.

The topper for our truck is complete. You will find an attached picture of our new truck with the topper on it. You will see that we have tarps down on all sides of it so that people will not see what we are carrying. People are desperate and if they see you delivering food they could hold you up and take all that you have. This week as I was carrying a load of food to be distributed to the needy, I saw a truck in front of me that was being robbed of sacks of food as the truck was still in motion. I had to dodge six people as they toppled off the truck in front of me with 50 pound sacks of powder milk in their hands. I was truly thankful that our truck was closed in, locked and covered up.

We are still giving away tents and tarps. Because we don't have very many we try to give to those who need them the most. Today a friend of ours brought a man to me whose home was totally destroyed.  He was sleeping on the ground with a sheet draped over a few sticks. He told me that he was desperate because his wife was almost nine months pregnant and would be delivering any day now. Another person who was living under a sheet shelter on the street came to us and said he needed a tent because he had a wife, a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a 3 month old, and they were getting wet every time it rained.  It rains now most every night and many thousands of people stand in the rain all night or seek shelter under some half destroyed building.

We have now gathered a complete report on the 8 churches that are under our ministry.
1) 3 churches were destroyed.
2) 3 pastor homes were destroyed.
3) 73 church members homes were destroyed.
4) 156 church members houses were damaged.

As far as Bible School teachers and staff, we have 3 who had their homes destroyed and 6 damaged out of 16 people. We still have not been able to locate all of our students at this time. We will not be reopening the Bible school until September.

We thank you all for your prayers and generous gifts, and for continuing to stand with us as we stand in God's grace. Pray that God gives us the strength and wisdom we need.

Yours in Christ,
Roger & Margaret Clark