THE HISTORY OF A MIRACLE

THE HISTORY OF A MIRACLE

On November 24, 2008, started in Santa Catarina the flood that would be in the history of our people. During these days the city of Itajaí, was nearly 90% covered in water.

In one of the most affected districts of the city, live D. Ana, an older woman, Christian, and with a great faith in the Lord Jesus. She and her son lived in a house of wood marked by time and the weather. When her husband was alive, they dug a well of water and her husband always said "we will not let the well fill in because it will bless somebody one day."

They didn´t know that some years later, that small well with only 50 cm of water would be the proof of God´s Grace. During the great flood that struck Itajaí, the whole infrastructure of the city was damaged. Thousands of individuals and many families were isolated and without clothes, food and water.

The area where that small house was, was one of the few places where people could take refuge from the flood.

In that place, hundreds of people were without water. In an attempt to help all those people, the son of that woman started to draw water. No one could have imagined that from that well, water could be drawn for three consecutive days to quench the thirst of hundreds of people.

The people formed a long line at the gate of this house so that with their buckets and pans they could get clean water to drink and to give to the children. They could not understand where that young boy got the strength to draw all that water from that small well and how the well did not dry up. On the day that we heard this testimony, we found her living temporarily in the temple of a church.

Surely we can agree with Dona Ana when she said "the water didn’t run out" ... "it was a miracle!"

THE HISTORY OF MARLICE

Marlice a housewife, working with recycling along with her husband, she and her family live in the neighborhood of Frei Damião, in Palhoça/SC.
In the flood of last November the roof of his house almost fell down and for little did not bury her and her family.
In a request for assistance, she came to a Nursery in the shelter of the neighborhood, where people were affected by flooding were protecting themselves. And so we are aware of her story.
Today her house is being rebuild and it is almost ready, and they are very happy with everything they received.
Besides her new house they also received food supplies, a stove, home appliances and of course, a better future.

WORKS CONTINUES...

Recently we have experienced many things. Stories to tell, stories that we could not contain tears, good laughs too!
On Saturday 21/02, we went back to Alto do Baú along with Mr Paul Drun Civil Defense of Ilhota and volunteers from SP.
We used the new road, built with great difficulty because of the collapse of the land. We are working in the region which was the epicenter of the tragedy.
we Can not believe how are the conditions of that part of the Baú complex!
The houses are still as in days of collapse, with all the belongings of the family, and lots of mud and a lot of people crying because they lost everything. We will work at the homes of two families, one with much mud, one that needs to be demolished.
This week we have 35 volunteers who worked in very different places, but it is very moving to have to remove the clothes, family pictures and other belongings to avoid the mud ... Lots of mud ... we were trying to take care of everything.
We pray with the owner of the house that was demolished, we talked to her, trying to give her some hope ... Faith by, we picture that the house would be built again!
going down the hill, to deliver a baby born clothing this week, and supplies in the outpost of the Alto do Baú.
We walk by a stream and we arrived at the house of Juliana, now in the sixth month of pregnancy. She sat next to which are now the leftovers from her home. And soon we need to deliver one more baby clothing!

There is still much to do and we need all the help possible to work in construction, cleaning and renovating the affected houses, families are in need of visits and pastoral care, children who play with them, and many other actions!

See the website of the Globo report on the work of volunteers from the Alliance for Ilhota, in the Alto do Bau.
Visit http://jornalnacional.globo.com report and click the "VOLUNTEERS HELP VICTIMS OF SANTA CATARINA"

Pray! Contribute! Help!

If you need more information write to us!
Our email: sossc2008@gmail.com
In Grace One we called to glorify His Name!

Maria Jose, team "Rebuilding Hope" and "Alliance for Ilhota"

Testimonies of the population of Ilhota

ESTEFANIO GRODISKY, 51 years old, married, 04 children. "I saw everything falling, I saw the barrier just started coming down in front of me. Me and my family

we were watching the land, as had many cracks down. The mud that

brought down the house of my son, he lost everything, the mud was up to the roof, only gave time to run with the clothes on your back, thank God no one died. My

brother also in this same situation. My house was also of mud until the

roof. Worse than I did not finished building yet, lacking only a store to finish the concrete.

Mr GILDO DOS SANTOS, is 57 years old, married and with 03 children. Mr

Gildo describes in detail what happened on Sunday, Nov 30 at night: "I heard

a very big noise, as if it were an explosion and the day when the morning came

the hill on the side of the house had been below. Some 500 meters of earth came down if it were water, very fast and strong. The trees would fall, as if they were to toy. Enormous eucalyptus, a falling after another. That night my home was not hit, but went around and around. I lost about 200 plants of my palm and banana plantation simply disappeared. I had picked up, day before the rains begin 400 boxes of bananas, which were to mature, some plants the water has led , and I did donation

for Mayor and Civil Defense is distributing these bananas in shelters

here ..

LEO GRODISKY, bachelor of 37 years, tells his experience: "There were two firefighters who came to rescue a family, they were with a tractor and 50 meters

before they arrived at the house, a flood of mud brought the tractor. This happened

when the families were already on the tractor. The driver jumped the tractor, the two

firemen were buried, two children who were killed in tractor

buried, and also, a lady of 69 years, the grandmother. We save three

firefighters and rescue the children, who were seriously injured and had to

go to the ICU, and then were transferred to São Paulo. I still lost

nothing, but had to leave the house because the barrier that until yesterday was 50 meters away from home, is now closer to only 20 meters.

It is a fence taller than my home, and will overwhelm everything, just wait now. I was lodging two families who had to leave with me. What else makes me sad is unable to return to work on my banana plantation. I wanted to go home, but what I

most wanted was to return to work.

God has given us many opportunities to serve Him...

Dear friends! 

God has given us many opportunities to serve Him, helping those affected by rain and landslides.

Two days ago we delivered more clothes, water and food in  

Damião Friar neighborhoods in Palhoça and also started the evaluation of the houses that need to be reformed or rebuilt. Throughout the week we gathered teams to go to Ilhota region.

Our main goal is to visit the families homeless checking their needs of food, medicines, water or other things that we can check the real situation. Our major go is to visit the families to meet the real situation

We are also supporting the Civil Defense in the distribution of food to shelters and for the seven Advanced Distribution posts with the cars that we take

Every day we have to deal with the emotion of the volunteers in front of so many stories.

Two days ago Vilma and Maria José found in a shelter a mother who, with tears in her eyes, told her history and her losses, but stated that the most difficult thing when his son was repeatedly asked to go home to catch his guitar-play.

She tried to console with all the affection to her son  

and changing the subject because she did not want to say that their house was not there anymore.Yesterday one of the most important things for us was to get more shops where to buy a small guitar. At meetings in the morning with the team that we could share our job includes discharge from a truck, a homeless console and also take a small guitar to a sad child.

After many activities, in the late afternoon Maria José still had the last task ... Deliver a small guitar. Never forget the look of a shaken mother for her child. Without many words, but with a look full of meaning give a hug, bless them in the name of Jesus and went out.

Small actions that fill our hearts with joy.  

So next week will continue with that work. Our request is that you pray for tomorrow, it will be a very long and important Day for everyone.  

Hugs and thanks for everything.

More pictures in the site: : http://www.flickr.com/photos/33166756@N02/sets/

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Partners that work

To address the diversity of needs in times of emergency

is that we need to mobilize and improve partnerships

Specifically to attend the emergencies in Santa Catarina that met many organizations.

Among them The First Baptist Church in Eldorado municipality of Palhoça and The First Baptist Church of Florianopolis who are co-ordinating the relief work of the Neighborhood of Damião Friar in Palhoça, and “Complexo do Baú”, in the municipality of Ilhota, which is articulating all actions in partnership with World Vision. Several churches and organizations has been mobilized to serve in these areas. From this Monday(12/15), we can count on the support of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), who will be moving two units of health and 50 volunteers to the region. They act in attendances doctors, work with and support for homeless children, in addition to a team that act in support work in various places.

Mrs. Zilma da Silva history

Mrs Zilma

Mrs. Zilma da Silva (60) mother of three children is one of the city of Ilhota residents affected by flooding in Nov 2008. We met her inside one of the distribution depots. Sick and unable to walk properly because of a serious problem in the kidneys, it was one of more than hundreds of homeless who were trying to get something to start over.

When our volunteers chatted with her, it was impossible to contain the tears when I heard his story and his children. The eldest son had recently built a house that ended up with the flood water and dragged by and was totally destroyed. "I thank Jesus who sent you, who prayed for us and we are feeling much better, you are the only assistance we received.

It was exciting to deliver the furniture for the Mrs Zilma and through a special donation also meet her special request. "my TV set fell in the water and it was the only thing that I and my sick daughter had to entertain"

This is one of many stories of the actions of God's love to those people.