Sri Lanka plans
I just wanted to update you guys on plans for Sri Lanka. The trip has been moved back a couple of days, so now it's January 13 to 25. That will give me a little more time to get ready. Thanks to those of you who have sent money. I have already spent most of it for medication, which should get here in the next day or two. The Antioch team in Sri Lanka sent an update yesterday saying that they found a temporary camp of about 400 people and set up a medical clinic there. If you want a full update, go to: http://www.antiochcc.net/tsunami_srilanka1.htm . So far they have been updating it daily. That has been my best source of information. There is also a Sri Lanka government web site: http://www.emergencyinfo.gov.lk/ . It has links to some information about which hospitals were affected.
That's really cool that GCR is sending a group to Thailand. I think it would be great for someone in our family to go on that trip. There is a missionary named Mike Sigelsky in Phuket who would be a great person to contact if they are going there.
Tod, thanks for the Larry James blog info. I added it to my favorites list.
posted by Mama Brown @ 9:39 AM
2 Comments:
Randy,
Mike Sigelsky, Brent Pennington and Russ Pennington are who we will be working with in Phuket. Mike has set up a center in a hotel there and we will be using that as a staging ground for whatever help is needed.
That's awesome. Here's an email from Brent Pennington about what he experienced while he was there. It's pretty long, but I think it's worth reading:
January 6, 2005
Dear Friends,
God is working in Thailand.
It is very hard to drive though an area like Phang Naa. We drove
slowly by
the Buddhist temple stacked with boxes and boxes set aside for the
final
remains some of the 5,000 people pummeled by this reckless tsunami.
The
sides of the recovery worker’s tents and the walls of the temple looked
much
like the walls of the New York subways after the Sept. 11th tragedy
covered
with picture after picture of missing loved one. At the far end of
town we
met a truck of Thai men in long sleeve blue T-shirts. In Thai they
told us
their job was to “save dead bodies.” The irony of the combination of
these
words, “save” and “dead bodies” still makes me cringe. Thais, very
animistic in nature, try to avoid dead things and the spirits that they
believe go with them. What a difficult job only becoming more
difficult as
each hot day passed. We spoke blessings to them and prayed for them.
We
continued to drive on. The power of a massive wave like this is
unimaginable. A 7-11 convenience store completely cleaned out of all
equipment, merchandise, customers, and clerks. Only recognized by the
sign.
Buildings crashed, roads peeled up, cars turned over and on top of
food
stands. Where were all these people when the wave hit? No words were
spoken, but the sadness of the place roared with silence.
We drove on south to Phuket believing that God wanted us to help a
missionary friend of mine, Mike Cegielsk,i in his recovery efforts in
Bang
Tao (a Muslim village on the island of Phuket). We stopped to get
directions and met a Swedish man staring at the ground deep in thought.
He
and his newlywed wife were in their hotel room when the wave came. The
water filled the room and he looked at his young bride and said, “This
is
it. It is over. I love you.” She went under water and he went after
her.
He said firmly, “I don’t know how it happened, but somehow the door was
open
and we went out under water.” They grabbed a pole and held on to avoid
the
riptide of the enormous wave that dragged so many people back out to
sea.
Russ shared with him that God has a plan for his life.
I am amazed at the flexibility of palm trees. We went through areas
where
everything was flattened and yet all the palm trees stood tall swaying
in
the seaside breeze. The place could be as flat as a soccer field if it
were
not for the persistent trees. I believe these palm trees have
something to
say to us about flexibility in crisis.
Recovery is a process. I believe Mike has a special gift to see all
parts
of that process. After arriving he gave us a quick overview of the
complete
process: step one…clear, step two…secure, step three…rebuild. Simple
in
theory, but a major process involving so many people (people who lost
their
houses, shopkeepers with nothing left of their merchandise, government
officials, engineers, soldiers, prisoners brought out for labor,
international folks showing up to help). I believe we were
particularly
blessed to be a part of the first phase of the process in Bang Tao. In
this
phase we started “clearing” everything broken and damaged from the
shops and
houses and streets and fields. This involved two strategies: burn and
bury.
Anything that would burn was stacked upon tires about six feet high and
set
aflame. A retired U.S. general with experience in recovery work helped
us
recognize how quickly fields and streets of broken rubbish could be
removed
with a hot enough fire. Through it we learned more of the purifying
and
refining nature of fire (yet the smokers cough stays with you for a
while).
Cement, tile, broken glass, etc. had to be thrown into a hole and
covered.
So we carried broken walls, and poles and windows to a pit and piled it
high
(Julie wants me to go back for a few more days of cement carrying to
finish
toning my upper body).
Overall not hugely glamorous. But I can’t help but feel great joy and
thankfulness at having the opportunity to be the hands and feet of
Christ.
While I was exhausted at the end of each day, there was not a moment of
the
work that seemed “difficult.”
And watching the interaction of the people… We had the opportunity to
work
with medical students who had for the first 4-5 days after the tsunami
been
serving in the Phuket International Hospital helping western patients
understand the surgeries that were being done to them in this place so
far
from home. We worked with Thai inmates from labor camps. We worked
with
guys from Australia, Northern Ireland, and England who were, I believe,
led
by God to come work with us (each of them have stories of how they
ended up
finding us after being told volunteers were not needed…thank God for
their
persistence). We worked with Thai military and government officials.
I
truly believe God was and is orchestrating a beautiful work in this
area of
Bang Tao. And why????
Susan Cegielski (missionary in Phuket) came up to me the third day and
said,
“Do you realize what this place is? Bang Tao is the part of Phuket
where
people do not go when there is Muslim uprising or frustration in
Thailand.”
God decided to give Mike favor with a hotel owner in the middle or Bang
Tao
some months ago that he might be ready “for such a time as this” to
establish a headquarters for rebuilding this community and in the
process
speak life and hope to Muslim people who have lived years with
frustration,
anger, and hopelessness.
God also decided to allow non-believers in Jesus from various countries
to
come alongside Christians to work and to serve and to love in the midst
of
great loss. These nations…Irish, Aussie, American, British, Thai,
Canadian
had the opportunity (some of them their first opportunity) to hear
about
where this great desire within them to serve these people in need was
coming
from…a truly compassionate God who calls us to Himself and to His
compassionate ways.
At the end of the trip I looked out upon on area that still looked like
a
slum. Much work is to be done. More funds are needed. And yet this
is
only one little village in Southeast Asia where hundreds of other
villages
have been wrecked. Completely overwhelming, yes! But I can see God
moving
and rebuilding and bringing light to a place that has been dark for so
long.
At times I find it somewhat ironic that everyone is so alarmed about
this
catastrophe when we see on a daily basis that so many people in this
country
and Indonesia and India live years and years with no hope and in
extreme
pain. It is like they live out a long, slow tsunami throughout their
painful life. In Thailand we see the walking dead every day, people
with no
life, no hope, no Jesus. Yes, the extremity of this tragedy is
unbearable.
However, my experience and the Holy Spirit is clearly revealing to me
that
the Lord is graciously on the move in Southeast Asia. He is sovereign,
mighty, good, and often radical in his pursuit of his missing children.
Thank you for your prayers. Julie said she and the kids felt so much
grace
while I was gone. We feel your prayers here. Please keep praying in
the
months to come as the rebuilding process will take some time.
Pray with us
1. For the numbness we often sense in the people here to be pierced by
the
love of God in the midst of trauma.
2. For Mike as he leads the recovery project in Bang Tao (Phuket
Island).
That God will provide the resources and manpower that Mike needs to run
the
center. That many will come to know Jesus through the service of His
ambassadors.
3. For God to be glorified through each of us as we serve. That He
will
make us bold.
4. For love and unity on our team.
5. For continuing language studies. That we will be diligent in our
speaking and come to better understand the culture here daily.
God’s grace to you in the new year.
Brent for the Penningtons
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