Day 5 In the Field - Yogyakarta, Indonesia (July 6th ,2006)

Day 5 (On-Site in Earthquake Zone, Klaten Indonesia) -

My day today started much like the previous days, but this time I was headed off to Klaten - another area devastated by the earthquake and north east of the Yogyakarta proper area. today is different since "Pak" is not with me. He and his wife are taking care of some needed administration and I am under the watchful eye of the FHI staff. Food for The hungry Indonesia has been working in country since the Tsunami hit Banda Aceh in late 2004, however most of the folks I am riding with today are either new to the area or just recently arrived to assist the victims here in Central Java. Dr. "D" is originally from ethopia and just an amazing man of God. he is a humble man of great education and experience in his all but 38 years. He is moving his family to Melahbo (Banda Aceh area) in the next month or two and has not really seen them in over 4 months.

As we talk time flies by and we arrive at a village in desperate need of water purification and filtration pumps to clean out the solied water in some of the older wells where the soli levels rose dramatically during the earthquake. One of OUR (like I am actually part of the FHI team right?) goals was to inspect about 6 wells in the village and also figure out what kind of cleaning agents/ chemicals might aid in the most timely cleaning of the water. This village is also where FHI is working with local materials to build some temporary houses for about 50-60 residents of the village. These temporary houses as you can see from the photos are very basic and not earthquake proof like the ones "SP" are building, but there are also about only 1/10th the cost and these people need shelters with the approaching "wet" months starting in August. Each of these houses can house up to 6 people and can be built for about $300 U.S. Dollars each. Some of the houses are almost done and you can see the joy that the owners of these homes have as they anticipate them being completed. All of the receipients have either been widowed by the quake or are in the late stages of their lives with limited mobility or are crippled in some manner. We partake in a lunch provided by a small planted church in this village and speak with the pastor of the local believers. He tells us that 1 month prior to the quake he was told by God to preach the same message 4 weeks in a row (The sermon was on service and loving your neighbors as yourself). The congregation could not understand why he preached the same message over and over and some even wondered if he had lost his mind. The day after his last sermon (May 25th) the quake hit the very next morning.

As I approach the end of this day writing my journal I am reminded how blessed we are in the U.S. and how the Lord has really blessed or nation. I pray more people will come and assist this area over the next few months and pray that lives will be changd for Jesus through all the work that is going on from the Christian NGO's and teams travelling over to help.