10 Sep How the Hurricanes Affected UB Churches

Two significant hurricanes affected United Brethren people in recent days. Hurricane Dean brushed the southern part of Haiti, bringing some damage to United Brethren churches on that part of the island, but brought much more devastation to the island of Jamaica.

Hurricane Felix (a category 5 hurricane) hit Central America at the point Honduras and Nicaragua meet. In God’s mercy, this is one of the least populated areas of these countries, and the mountainous terrain quickly decreased the intensity of Felix to a tropical storm. Flooding rains soaked Nicaragua, bringing a great deal of agricultural damage. Some of our UB families were affected.

As mentioned, the greatest need at this point is in Jamaica. Two UB congregations, the New Gardens Church and the Yorktown Church, had all or a large portion of their roofs torn off, rafters and all. At New Gardens, the pastor and congregation are trying to continue meeting in an office area.

Hurricane victims from many different Jamaican UB churches are living with relatives or neighbors. Some have tried temporary fixes, such as using damaged zinc and boards to patch their roofs. Others are covering badly-damaged areas with tarps. As you can imagine, their houses were not insured, and many of these individuals need assistance putting their lives back together.

Global Ministries is receiving reports and estimates from the various sites. We hope that our North American churches can provide assistance to our brethren there. If you or your church can provide financial help, please send your gift to Global Ministries marked for Jamaica Hurricane Relief. If people from your congregation want to travel to Jamaica to help with repairs, please contact Global Ministries.

06 Sep Hurricane Felix and Honduras

Dennis and Debbie Osberg, former UB endorsed missionaries who serve at a school in Tegucigalpa, sent this note about Hurricane Felix:

“We are so thankful to report that the power of Felix faded during it’s run through the country and it didn’t produce the expected results on Honduras. There are some areas to the north that experienced flooding and damage but still much less than predicted earlier….It rained all night long but the winds weren’t strong for us. Also, we only lost electricity for brief amounts of time throughout the evening and into today. Our internet connection, which is a hanging wire from across the street and into our house, is still hanging strong, for which we are deeply grateful!”

04 Sep Hurricane Felix Strikes Honduras

Hurricane Felix, a top-level Category 5 storm, struck the northeast coast of Nicaragua this morning with 160 mph winds. It is moving inland at 16 mph, and is now at Category 3 status. According to an email from Honduras about 10 am, rain has begun falling on La Ceiba, Honduras, the headquarters of our work in Honduras. Some areas of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador will see 10-15 inches of rain, with 25 inches falling in some mountainous areas.

Felix is expected to cut across central Honduras, where some of our 80-some churches are located, including the capital city of Tegucigalpa, where missionary Abby Waterbury is stationed with World Gospel Outreach.

You may remember Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed 11,000 people and left 8,000 missing, mostly in Honduras and Nicaragua. Mitch severely ravaged La Ceiba, Honduras, as well as other places along the north coast where United Brethren churches are located.

Dennis and Debbie Osberg, missionaries who serve with the Academia Los Pinares school in Tegucigalpa (Dennis is principal), sent this email at noon today:

This morning as I write, Hurricane Felix is hitting eastern Honduras and Nicaragua with full force. The President of Honduras cancelled all schools in the country for today and tomorrow, so we’re definitely home and safely waiting. Please pray for the weakening of the storm as it passes through the entire country of Honduras and for His protection through it all. As we experienced in 1998 with Hurricane Mitch, the biggest problem in the city of Tegucigalpa is severe flooding and damage from the huge amount of rainfall causing mud slides throughout the mountains. Thankfully, we live on the mountain and not in the valley of the city. But so many people are affected during the storms, and our hearts are heavy for their protection and safety through whatever comes our way.

Right now we are watching CNN coverage and waiting peacefully. We have extra water, food, candles and each other, so we’ll be just fine….Thank you so much for your prayers during this time. Especially for many in the country that will have it much worse than our family. We fully expect to loose electricity and of course have no idea how long that will last.

Felix is projected to clip part of El Salvador, slam into southern Belize on Wednesday, and then cut across northern Guatemala and southern Mexico.

Please remember our Honduran brethren in your prayers, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Hurricane Felix proceeds inland and people are threatened with mudslides, flooding, and destroyed homes.