We Feel The Earth Move!

Sebolga, Sumatra, Indonesia - April 17, 2005 10:38PM - Report Submitted by Joe Hurston

Our ship just docked in Sebolga after departing Nias this afternoon. We made it to Nias on Friday afternoon. It took four different flites to get the Air Mobile Team and equipment (8 Vortex Voyagers TM) to Nias. Since our last report so much has happened. Yesterday morning went by U.N. helicopter to search for and evaluate the needs of a village that was reported to have sunk! Hiked, fully loaded through rice paddies and thick jungle (with a lot of mud and muck). We found a sunken village. Were pleased that it had a good source of water (a sweet well), but most were living in tents and under constant fear of the next quake.

Then in the early hours of this morning (12:42am April 17th) another strong quake happened. We were in tents just like most of the residents of Nias. It was very scary. The quake occurred about 60 miles from where we were and was felt as far away as Hong Kong. Moments after the quake, we were anticipating a tsunami. The community that we were in was clearly emotionally shaken, but there was a strong faith in the Lord. Nias has a high percentage of Christians. The atmosphere of faith and love was incredible. We now have such a clear understanding of what these precious people are going through. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries from the quake!

The damage done on Nias by the March 27th 8.7 quake was horrible. As we surveyed the area we could hardly believe what we saw. We'll have some photos up on our webpage later. Suffice it to say, we were all shaken ourselves.

We delivered the Vortex Voyagers TM into some wonderful hands. The Pastor of Bethany Church (spelled in English) was happy for his people. While part of the Air Mobile Team was out looking for the sunken village, the other part pumped hundreds of gallons of clean water to thankful residents. This morning we boarded a ship to bring us back to the mainland. It was an 8 hour trip. Tomorrow we travel overland to Medan. After some wrap-up meetings in Medan and the delivery of the remaining Voyagers TM, we'll begin our long journey home.

We're all tired and I'll close out this report. THANK YOU all for your prayer and love. Believe me, on Saturday night when that earthquake shook us out of our tents, we were thankful for people back home PRAYING! By the way, we're in the area where a couple of volcanos have come to life. We're definitely not out of the woods yet. We'll depart for the U.S. by way of Singapore on Tuesday (April 19th).

Joe & The Air Mobile Team