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Back from the Flood Disaster Zone (with video)

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This afternoon I went to SAM’s Club and picked up 279 litres of bottled water to bring down to the flood zone in Chalco.  I followed our co-worker, Rod, who had some clothes, some water, a grill, and some other odds and ends.

The plan is to set up a headquarters where we can serve breakfast to people for a couple of weeks.  This should be a tremendous help in a place where people have little left, including food and clean water.

We’ve been able to make some contacts there, and so are building relationships so that we can make sure the help gets to people who need it most.  And that means a lot of people.

Waiting for the boat in Chalco, Mexico
People wait for a boat on the sidewalk, by what should be a normal street, not a river.
Many are taking supplies back to their families in the flood zone.

We walked along the highway in the late afternoon, and I was able to get some pictures and video.  Since we didn’t have access to a boat, this is only the edge of the flood zone you’re seeing – there’s much, much more.  But the video will give you an idea of how bad the flooding is, even if you can only see a bit of it.  You’ll also see some of the work being done to try to stop the flow of sewage water.

Here’s the video from today:


You can help by sending a few dollars in as a donation.  Just contact us, and we’ll be able to go ahead and purchase what we need – as long as we know the money is coming.  Lord willing tomorrow will be the first breakfast.  Thanks to the two couples who have already donated!

I’ve posted some photos as well in our Recent shots… album.

Amigas del Alma Valentine's Day Event

Amigas del Alma…

Sorry to mix topics here, but both of these things are important!  Thanks for all who prayed for the Amigas del Alma Valentine’s Event.  It was this morning, and it was a big success!  About 50 people came, and heard about unconditional love and about the Gospel.  Please continue to pray for the relationships made with many new people.

Photos of the event are in our Recent shots… album.

Flooding getting worse (more videos)

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In spite of the fact that there hasn’t been any rain in the last few days, in some areas the flooding actually seems to be getting worse.  This is because water is still pouring out of the sewage canal.  As our co-worker Rod put it, can you imagine sewage water in your refrigerator, your stove, your pantry?

Of course, if the water has gone down in your area, your fridge and stove may have been bulldozed out of the way, in an attempt to clean the streets.  The filth is a huge problem, made worse by the fact that people don’t have enough clean water.

The good news is, you can help!  Our mission has set up a specific project for the disaster relief.  Here’s what you can do…

To help flood victims

You can send a donation either to CAM International (in the USA) or CAM International of Canada.  Make a note with your donation that it’s for Project #062250.  For information on how to donate, click here.

Next, please let us know that you’ve donated.  Then we’ll be able to buy what we need right away, rather than waiting for your actual cheque to go through the system.

We’re already collecting items for our neighbours who have lost everything in this flood.  There’s also talk of setting up a kind of a soup kitchen to serve breakfast to people.

Even a few dollars would provide something – some clean water, a meal, etc.

More updates

Here are some more videos so you can see the current extent of the flooding here.  They’re in Spanish, but they still give you an idea even if you don’t understand the language.

But to give you an overview – people are concerned about disease with the lack of clean water.  If they have anything left, they’re concerned about looting, and so many have gone back to their houses, in spite of the growing danger from the sewage.

Recent news coverage:


From above (yes, those rivers used to be streets):

There’s also reports that more rain might be coming later this week.  Hopefully, this won’t happen.

A New View of Ixtapaluca

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On the 17th and 18th of January we had a visit.  Some new friends from Christ Chapel Bible Church (Fort Worth, Texas, USA) came down along with our mission‘s director, to investigate how they could be involved in the things God is doing in Mexico.

This gave us an excellent excuse to go out for tacos.  Oh, and also to show them around Ixtapaluca!  And what a beautiful clear day it was.

We went up to the local ancient ruins, looked out over the thousands of houses in the town and many housing developments.  We visited Jesús María, the new house we’re renting there, and of course the building where Sendero de Vida (our church) meets here close to where we live.

So I put together this brief video with some views of the area that you may not have seen before.  It was a windy day, so there was a lot of wind noise, but you can still hear some of what our pastor Martín and Rod Fry had to say about the area and ministry here.

Anne and Holocaust Remembrance Day

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We just recently watched The Diary of Anne Frank – just finished watching last night.  We just discovered that the United Nations has declared today International Holocaust Remembrance Day, so it was an appropriate movie to watch, even though we didn’t know it!

For those that don’t know, Anne Frank was a young girl who kept a diary while in hiding in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) during World War II.  Her diary was published (I read it many years ago) and of course made into an award winning movie (and a recent mini-series, and many other things).

The only survivor of the group was Anne’s father Otto.

We also discovered that one of the people who helped hide Anne and the others just recently passed away – Miep Gies was 100 when she died on the 11th of this month.  Of the main characters in the movie, she was the last survivor.

Another of the people who helped hide the Franks and the others was Victor Kugler (Mr. Kraler), who moved with his family to Canada and died in Toronto in 1981.

In another of those oddities of history, there is actually brief film footage of Anne Frank herself – see it below.

The Netherlands was largely liberated by the Canadian army, another reason why Anne’s story is especially interesting – but the liberation was too late for so many.

Let’s remember those millions of people, murdered by so many other people, so many years ago.  We should never forget.

Cotton Candy (video)

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Just a quick video clip that I took back on the 18 of this month.  It was recess time, and the Cotton Candy Man was ready to go.  And being a windy day, it was more fun than usual.

(It was one of our friends, a boy named Olaf, who first got the enterprising idea of using a hula hoop, though that’s not him in the video)

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