Praying for the Rain to Stop

El Salvador has been in a state of national emergency since Friday. We have been slammed with torrential rains from a couple of slow-moving tropical depressions and the remnants of Hurricane Jova which hit Mexico last week. Since last Monday night, it has been raining steadily and often times very heavily throughout much of the country. They said on the news today that Hurricane Mitch dumped 800 millimeters of rain on the country in 1998 (another time of national emergency.) By comparison, since last Monday night, El Salvador has received over 1,200 millimeters of rain. In fact, 7 inches fell in a 12-hour period from Saturday night to Sunday morning.

Obviously, many areas of the country are being seriously affected. Rivers are flooding and are completely destroying entire communities and crops. With so much rain, the mountainous regions are vulnerable to mudslides. At least 32 people have died and over 20,000 people have been evacuated to 200+ shelters throughout the country. Roads and highways have been blocked by landslides and several bridges have been destroyed—most notably, a bridge connecting El Salvador and Guatemala was washed away late last week. El Salvador is not alone in this situation. Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have also reported deaths and many evacuations.

We live in a safe area, and accept for leaking walls and ceilings, we're making it just fine. During the “national emergency,” schools throughout the country have been cancelled. Tomorrow will be the fourth day we've missed at New Life Christian School. We are staying close to home . . . . we did go to church yesterday and today we ventured out to buy groceries.

We know that God is in control of this situation . . . but, we also know that He wants us to bring our supplications to him in prayer. Please pray for God's mercy on this land, for the rain to stop and for the people who have lost everything, including loved ones. Pray that our church can minister to the hurting and point the lost to our Savior.