Destruction in Honduras

Hurricane Eta

Jesus declares “ There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations.” Luke 21:25

“Times of perplexity are upon us. Men’s hearts are failing them for fear of the things that are coming upon the earth. But those who believe in God will hear His voice amid the storm, saying, ‘It is I, be not afraid.'”

Last Day Events p. 23

It was during hurricane Mitch, twenty-two years ago in November of 1998, that brought us to Honduras. We learned of the the great damage that it had done to this country, and we came to help. We saw the great need, came back and we are still here twenty-two years later, ministering to the people of Honduras.

I never imagined that this poor country would suffer another terrible disaster, and that I would be here to experience it. Here in Honduras, the months of October, November, and part of December are known as rainy season, but when hurricane Eta entered into Honduras with all it’s force, it only took one day and one night of heavy, heavy rain for all those mountain streams to loosen all it’s waters and heavy rocks, and the rivers become a destructive force.

Our village of La Zona and Santa Rita became unrecognizable. The people in the village were in shock to see that the river had taken control of what we knew as the roads to Santa Barbara. There was no more bridge, no more division between La Zona and Santa Rita, no more road to Santa Barbara; there was just a torrent river, rocks, and torn up trees.

The destruction by Eta had been terrible, and then they announced a
fenomeno, a second storm called Iota. The news said that it was “an apocalyptic destruction for Honduras”. How could this country ever recover, was my thought. The roads are destroyed, bridges are washed away, entire communities of thousands are underwater, the mountains are melting. Only God is our refuge, and present help in a time of storm.

And the Rains Came Down

“In the last scenes of this earth’s history war will rage. There will be pestilence, plagues and famine. The waters of the deep will overflow their boundaries. Property and life will be destroyed by fire and flood. We should be preparing for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for them that love Him.”

Mar 174

Dear family, thank you so much for your prayers. I know that your prayers helped to keep us safe in the midst of chaos and threatening destruction. All I could do as I watched the heavy rains come down was pray, asking God to have mercy upon this country, and especially our village, and to give me wisdom to know what to do around the outpost to keep things safe as Iota was approaching.

I was in contact with Joe who gave me instructions as to what to do. So we dug trenches all around the outpost to divert all the waters away from the foundation and from the septic tank. We cut away heavy tree branches that were near the buildings. We set our barrels out under the rooftops to collect rain water in case the pipes bringing water from the mountains got clogged, or washed away by the heavy rains.

When the heavy rains and winds of Iota started to arrive in Honduras the people panicked! It was just too much rain. They knew there could be danger for the whole village of La Zona being wiped away by those thundering waters. In the early evening cars and people began arriving at the outpost, looking for shelter.

The Outpost… A Place of Refuge

God knew what He was doing 22 years ago when He led us to this piece of property. It is known to be one of the safest places in all of Santa Barbara. It’s high up, and the ground the outpost is on, as well as the mountain above us is solid rock. People have always said that they feel safe and at peace when they come here to the clinic.

Destruction in La Zona – Hurricane Iota

Friends, pictures come short of depicting the damage and destruction that these hurricanes caused here in Honduras. When I walked amongst the rubble that Eta had left, I knew that Iota would bring more destruction. So, when the people arrived at the outpost seeking shelter, we were ready.

The photo below, is of the house that was at the end of La Zona. The rivers merged together and tore through the house and destroyed it. A dear family had built it with such dedication and hard work. But now everything was destroyed.

The night that Iota entered Honduras was a night of fear. The heavy winds and rain that it brought kept many of the men awake on guard for any mud slides or creeks that might loosen all the heavy rocks down the mountains. But the majority felt safe and secure here at the outpost, they all exclaimed
that they felt peace…the protection of God.

Blessed Times in the Midst of a Crisis

All the families that came, made themselves at home, and we were able to have some blessed family worships, morning and evening. We had over fifty people there and everyone felt at peace.

Comforting the Afflicted

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Luke 4:18,19

We must be God’s helping hand in lessening the suffering in this world. When a disaster happens not only are people left without their homes, but they are left without hope and in confusion. That’s when we need to step in, to give words of comfort, and offer them, the help they need.

“Poverty and distress in families will come to our knowledge, and afflicted and suffering ones will have to be relieved. We know very little of the human suffering that exists everywhere about us, but as we have opportunity we should be ready to render immediate assistance to those who are under severe pressure.”

Manuscript 25, 1894

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It has always been M.M.M.’s desire to be God’s helping hand in showing the world His love.