Thank you for all the prayers and support that has been flooding in. It is true GIBTK was able to move quickly but we could not have done it without your prayers and support. The GIBTK has begun to move from triage relief to secondary relief. Beginning to look for the next “round” of need.

Here is Tam’s our program directors notes from her yesterday’s relief trip;

 “After 5 days of doing relief for the poor families in the flooded area, I realized that food supplies are not important right now because it has been 6 days since the flood went away, so people’s worry has turned to try to become normal again.

 I decided to move on to the secondary relief that benefits people beyond what Robert likes to call triage relief. Today we began by handing out blankets and notebooks for children to begin their studies again.

Through the local authority of Dai Loc district, I found that many and many poor families lost blankets, mosquito nets and especially notebooks of children. Also through the local authority, I also learned beginning today there will be more NGOs coming to do food relief for the poor families in this district, but none of them thinks about the secondary relief like ours.

 I am happy that GIBTKs’ team has been the first group to do relief in many areas after the flood. Yesterday, the party committee secretary of Dai Loc district, Mr. Ngu told me that notebooks for children now are a growing problem of Dai Loc district and asked for GIBTKs’ help.

I told him that GIBTKs has given out 7500 notebooks to many schools in his district. He was really surprised by the big number I stated. I told him that GIBTKs has been different from other NGOs because we do things for the need at the right time. Again, GIBTKs has been the first group to give out notebooks for children and blankets for families. Looking at the face of children in the flooded area, I know how happy they were when they got new notebooks.

Yesterday, GIBTKs’ team took a rest in the morning after many days of doing relief, so that we could give out notebooks for children in the afternoon, but I still worked to have a connection with my boss who made a phone call to talk with me. The first question I made was that “Could I have more money to de secondary relief?”

I told him the reason why I had this question was that the image of those families who lost everything in the flood has bothered me all the time. I haven’t been able to stop thinking of them. After few minutes of talking, my boss said: “you can have another thousand for secondary relief”. After hearing this, I forgot about my rest. I tried to get things done so that I could also bring blankets for some families. Oh yeah, 50 blankets were given out yesterday afternoon (my time).

At yesterday noon, watching the news on TV, I saw many families in Dai Hung commune of Dai Loc district buried in mud and sand. I asked the local authority to take me there after finishing work. It took us 1 hour and half to get there by van. I witnessed devastation of a village near by the river. Many houses have been buried in mud and sand. Many were swept away by the flood. They lost everything; some of them just have only one outfit they were wearing.

The woman named Huynh Thi Thuy shared with us her story, and we saw her body uncontrollably shaking, she said to us: “My husband was found to get blood cancer at the last stage and he has been treated at Da Nang hospital but the chance for him to stay is very little. I have 3 children, but the family circumstance is very poor, so my brother and sister help me to raise the two eldest kids, and the last one stays with us. After the flood, we have nothing to eat; we eat anything the neighbors give us.”

 The women couldn’t hide her sadness and worry; everything appears on her face, her eyes and her shaking. She heard the news that we came to visit and give her family a gift, she ran to us in hurry and her image this afternoon tells us that she dearly needs help from us.”

Please pray for our team and they continue working with rest. Pray for me as I go to share with teens in Arizona this weekend. I hope to share what God can do through a guy like me and even more so through people like them!

I may not have internet the next few days but please know the GIBTK team is still working hard to help those in need. And working to find longer term solutions to this tragedy. I will try to find internet if I can!!!

Thanks again for everything you have and are doing to help the victims of this typhoon! God Bless!!!!