Our hearts have been heavy this week after learning of the earthquake that hit Ecuador’s coast this past weekend. The earthquake was the largest that the country has seen since 1979 and registered a magnitude of 7.8 near the coastal town of Perdernales, which is home to a church community that is part of the Ecuadorian Covenant Church (IPEE).
We are relieved that our colleagues and friends both in the missionary community and IPEE have been reported safe, but know that the journey to relief and recovery is just beginning. Over 500 have been reported dead and thousands injured. Communities that we worked alongside when we were short term missionaries have been left without electricity and potable water and there is little access into these places where resources are so scarce and an already fragile infrastructure has been extremely compromised. There is also a rising concern about disease in these tropical areas of the country.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out to our family this week to check in and see how we are doing. It has been a surreal week in many ways; strange to feel so connected and yet disconnected at the same time from all that is going on. We are anxious to be with friends and our community in Ecuador and will still move forward with our plan to move on June 17th.
We appreciate your prayers and would especially like to ask you to pray for the leadership of IPEE as they respond with wisdom and work with others to make strategic plans to support all those affected.
If you would like to contribute financially, please consider doing so through Covenant World Relief who has had a long term relationship with IPEE and is helping to fund relief efforts: CLICK HERE TO GIVE.
Check out our fellow Covenant missionaries blogs for more information and stories from the ground:
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