One of the largest ever, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck this morning 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile, the second largest city. At least 300 people have died and over 500,000 homes damaged. Gratefully, tsunami warnings across the Pacific to Japan and Australia have been cancelled.
Lead Evangelist of the International Church of Christ in Santiago, Christian Amestoy, wrote at 9:26 am to inform us that, as of that time, there were no known casualties in any of the churches in Chile, though we have not heard from all of the disciples. John and Kay Hoyt were leading a campus retreat and the group is safe.
Please continue to pray for the safety of the disciples, for the opportunity to help and for the outreach opportunities that will follow.
HOPE worldwide is preparing a response and establishing a disaster relief fund. www.hopeww.org