The report below is from a friend of mine, Malcolm, who is part of the leadership at the Sarajevo Vineyard Church. I received this information yesterday, June 10th, and wanted to pass it along to you. Please join us in praying for quick recovery for those that have been affected by this disaster; and that God's peace would be over the Balkan people. Natascha and I will be in Sarajevo in a few weeks to meet with the Vineyard leaders. Please pray for safe travels and meaningful meetings. (by the way, we are still needing some financial assistance for travel expenses….rental car costs have risen more than expected)
Also, please consider a financial gift for the relief efforts. I will bring your gifts to the Sarajevo Vineyard Church. (see previous blog on how to send your gifts).
Here is Malcolm's report:
As you may have read in the news, our beautiful host country Bosnia-Hercegovina, as well as the neighboring countries Serbia and Croatia, got hit by a major natural disaster.
In Bosnia alone
- Flooding and landslides left over a million people without access to clean water, over a 100.000 homes have been completely destroyed (some of them had just been rebuild after the war) and landslides are still occurring!
- Large amounts of livestock are lost, agricultural produce unusable, businesses, hospitals, schools, government buildings out of function
- landmines from the war have been relocated by the landslides
- numerous roads and bridges are broken
- people in the flooded areas now fear outbreak of diseases and epidemics
We had flooding in our area but we were not affected by it, our district was unharmed.
The economic situation in the country seemed hopeless before the floods as we shared in our last newsletter, and this natural disaster has just amplified that feeling of hopelessness and is paralyzing many people.
Needless to say Bosnia needs a lot of prayer and a lot of financial help! If you want to make a donation for the victims of the flood you can send it to our Globe account, just make sure you let us know the intended purpose of the donation by emailing us.
And please pray for this country! We know that Hope is alive, it has a name Jesus Christ! Pray for a spiritual breakthrough for Bosnia!
We went through fire and flood,
but you brought us to a place of great abundance.
Psalm 66:12 |
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| Debris on the road to Doboj |
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CONVOY TO DOBOJ
Malcolm joined a group of believers from different churches that organized a convoy to Doboj in Northern Bosnia. Here is his report:
The convoy that took relief supplies to Doboj went well. We were really surprised about how much flooding occurred and how many houses are damaged.
The main highway was closed about 40 kilometers south of Doboj so we traveled on the old road that is parallel to the river that caused much of the flooding. So we could see the debris along the banks of the river and wrapped around the bridges. Most of the flooded houses were under 10-15 feet of water so the entire first floor was under the high water mark. Some houses had water marks on the second floor. All business in the main city were damaged by the flood as well.
So you can imagine the amount of ruined furniture, clothes, and other household items. The roads were lined with debris that people had put out for dump truck to pick up.
By the time we were bringing the medicine, food aid and some clothing and other items for children, the water had receded and many people were drying and cleaning their houses and appreciated the items. They were thankful that we had come to help and bring many things that they needed.
I was able to speak with some youth and other residents as well as encourage the pastor who we know from the area.
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| Malcolm wih Roma youth and our pastor Jasmin in Doboj |
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