Chris and Esther and Zara are in Germany at a Go Conference. They head out to Afghanistan at the end of the month.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Monday, January 17, 2005
Ali back to Iran alone
Alison headed back to the tough situation she faces in Iran with no complaint. She is on her own there in Tehran as I write this, hoping that Maria will get her visa to come out to accompany her down to Bam where they are working. It is not really wise for Ali to go on her own into that situation on her own. Trying to get visas through the bureacracy and active opposition in Tehran is not easy.
We are praying that the Lord will give tremendous wisdom and courage to her in a rather lonely situation.
We are praying that the Lord will give tremendous wisdom and courage to her in a rather lonely situation.
6 Feet of Muddy Water, Sewage and Deisel
The mixture of muddy water, sewage and deisel left a slippery, smelly tangle of 2 caravans, a bus, 30 televisions, 500 feet of cable, 200 audio sets and large numbers of audio and video tapes.
15 of us got together on Saturday to scrape, spraywash, re-spraywash and re-re-praywash our huge warehouse with all its equipment. We accomplished a huge amount but still have 400 chairs to clean and an insurance mess to clear up. We estimate around £70,000 pounds of damage was caused even though we managed to save the most valuable equipment. We would value prayer for a reasonable deal with the insurance company.
15 of us got together on Saturday to scrape, spraywash, re-spraywash and re-re-praywash our huge warehouse with all its equipment. We accomplished a huge amount but still have 400 chairs to clean and an insurance mess to clear up. We estimate around £70,000 pounds of damage was caused even though we managed to save the most valuable equipment. We would value prayer for a reasonable deal with the insurance company.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
My colleague Brian's account of saving A/V equipment
After a night of hurricane force winds and heavy rain this past Friday, Carlisle experienced the worst flooding it has seen in nearly 200 years.I received a phone call from Ian, a fellow OMer, at 4:20 Saturday morning asking me if I could come down to the garage where we store our AV equipment including our broadcast truck, bus, and other AV conference equipment because it was being flooded. When Isaac and I got there the police had the road blocked off because about 1'-2' of water was rushing across the road. The police allowed us to park. Ian already had pulled the bus out of the garage. Thankfully, because our AV team was preparing to leave on Tuesday for a conference in Germany, they already had most of the equipment loaded in the vehicles. We were able to drive the bus and truck to higher ground.
When Isaac and I got back to the garage the water had risen to over 1' in the garage and about 2' outside in the street. We had to wade throught the freezing water to get in. We then moved as much equipment as we could, but a lot of it was already ruined.As Isaac and I were coming out of the garage and crossing the street I fell face first off the curb (which was underwater of course) and into the street, twisting my ankle. The water was freezing and I was completely soaked. I hobbled back to the car thinking the injury wasn't too bad. But actually, I couldn't feel it at all because our feet had been in freezing water for over an hour. After warming up, I found I had a golfball sized lump on my ankle and couldn't move it.All of Carlisle lost power Saturday morning shortly after the flooding began. Our power finally came back on this afternoon (Monday), but there are still homes without power.
Many homes and businesses have been flooded with anywhere between 4' and 5' of water. At least 4 of our team member's homes have been flooded, but they chose to stay on their upstairs floors instead of being evacuated, which involved going through chest-deep freezing water.Thankfully, our OM office has been untouched, as was our house because we live on higher ground. Please pray for our team members and the clean-up that still needs to be done. Also, the weather forecast predicts more heavy rain Tuesday evening with winds gusting up to 70 - 90 mph. If you want to see more pictures of the flood, go to www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria
When Isaac and I got back to the garage the water had risen to over 1' in the garage and about 2' outside in the street. We had to wade throught the freezing water to get in. We then moved as much equipment as we could, but a lot of it was already ruined.As Isaac and I were coming out of the garage and crossing the street I fell face first off the curb (which was underwater of course) and into the street, twisting my ankle. The water was freezing and I was completely soaked. I hobbled back to the car thinking the injury wasn't too bad. But actually, I couldn't feel it at all because our feet had been in freezing water for over an hour. After warming up, I found I had a golfball sized lump on my ankle and couldn't move it.All of Carlisle lost power Saturday morning shortly after the flooding began. Our power finally came back on this afternoon (Monday), but there are still homes without power.
Many homes and businesses have been flooded with anywhere between 4' and 5' of water. At least 4 of our team member's homes have been flooded, but they chose to stay on their upstairs floors instead of being evacuated, which involved going through chest-deep freezing water.Thankfully, our OM office has been untouched, as was our house because we live on higher ground. Please pray for our team members and the clean-up that still needs to be done. Also, the weather forecast predicts more heavy rain Tuesday evening with winds gusting up to 70 - 90 mph. If you want to see more pictures of the flood, go to www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria
Monday, January 10, 2005
Carlisle Flooded
The phone rang early on Saturday morning in Cambridge where we were staying and it was Brian Doub, in charge of Communications for OM Internationally. ringing from Carlisle. 'Have you heard what has been happening. Floods have hit Carlisle. Brian had been wading through waist deep water to rescue Audio Visual equipment as the floods swirled around him.
We finally got back last night to Carlisle and are still in a dark house though we have gas.
Here is the news we have just sent out from OM.
'The flooding that hit Carlisle this weekend made international news in a
number of countries, so we thought we should update you on the
situation. It has certainly been an intense couple of days with the
worst flooding in Carlisle for many years. Most houses in the city were
without electricity for 2 days and there are still some areas which are
yet to be reconnected to the electrical supply.
At least 4 of our team households were flooded out and are now dealing
with the clean-up process of their ground-floor rooms. Some roads in
Carlisle are still closed and not everybody has been able to get to the
office today.
The garage where OMNIVision stores all their AV equipment was flooded.
Fortunately staff managed to do a hasty rescue operation and get the AV
bus and truck out onto higher ground at about 4am Saturday morning.
However, we have lost some equipment to water damage.
We are pleased to report that the ICT office itself was not affected by
the water, nobody in the team here was hurt and we are in good spirits.
The flood waters around the city are receding and things are gradually
getting back to normal. It may take a few days to get back to normal
operation, especially for those who are dealing with flooded homes, so
please be patient if it appears some things are not happening as quickly
as is usual.'
I am working on coordinating clean up and trying to make sure all of the team is doing OK. More later!!
We finally got back last night to Carlisle and are still in a dark house though we have gas.
Here is the news we have just sent out from OM.
'The flooding that hit Carlisle this weekend made international news in a
number of countries, so we thought we should update you on the
situation. It has certainly been an intense couple of days with the
worst flooding in Carlisle for many years. Most houses in the city were
without electricity for 2 days and there are still some areas which are
yet to be reconnected to the electrical supply.
At least 4 of our team households were flooded out and are now dealing
with the clean-up process of their ground-floor rooms. Some roads in
Carlisle are still closed and not everybody has been able to get to the
office today.
The garage where OMNIVision stores all their AV equipment was flooded.
Fortunately staff managed to do a hasty rescue operation and get the AV
bus and truck out onto higher ground at about 4am Saturday morning.
However, we have lost some equipment to water damage.
We are pleased to report that the ICT office itself was not affected by
the water, nobody in the team here was hurt and we are in good spirits.
The flood waters around the city are receding and things are gradually
getting back to normal. It may take a few days to get back to normal
operation, especially for those who are dealing with flooded homes, so
please be patient if it appears some things are not happening as quickly
as is usual.'
I am working on coordinating clean up and trying to make sure all of the team is doing OK. More later!!
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Christmas Get together in Sussex
Forty of the family piled in together to a school in Staplefield in Sussex for Christmas. What a gathering!! I think it could be the last time that I (Mike), Dave, Jen and Sue and their spouses and all the children and even grandchildren were together in one place. We had huge games of Settlers, grand discussions of the way the world is, sharing of hopes for the future and praying for one another.
It was just so wonderful and we were able to share it with other families and individuals that we invited along with us. Esther's parents were there and it was a first for us to have our grandchild Zara with us. History was made in her presence and in my Granny and Grandman's (my parents') 60th wedding anniversary. We had a grand celebration time with projected photos of the our younger years and stories of the past. God is so good and many praises went up.
It was just so wonderful and we were able to share it with other families and individuals that we invited along with us. Esther's parents were there and it was a first for us to have our grandchild Zara with us. History was made in her presence and in my Granny and Grandman's (my parents') 60th wedding anniversary. We had a grand celebration time with projected photos of the our younger years and stories of the past. God is so good and many praises went up.
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