Prayers for Conce

If anyone still checks up on/gets updates from this blog...

1. I'm NOT still in Concepción. Don't worry. I've been back in the USA since late December.

2. I'm sure you've all heard about the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on Saturday morning. The epicenter was just 70 miles North of Conce, and although a lot of news is coming out of Santiago (and making the situation look pretty manageable), the towns and cities that were hit harder are probably in much worse states. I've seen a few pictures of Conce, and others of smaller towns like Talca, Constitución, etc, which are in pieces. Some coastal towns have been impacted by tsunamis as well. One of my friends (and a Midd friend's fiancee), Paulo, is from a coastal town called Talcahuano, right next to Conce, which was hit by at least one 5-meter tsunami wave. Many homes are under water, and even in places where there was no tsunami damage, people have begun looting stores for food and water. The country's main highway is currently inoperable, with a few important bridges down, and telecommunication is still not working in or out of Conce. This is a huge barrier for many Chileans, who don't know what's going on with their friends or family in Conce, and it also has made it harder for relief efforts to begin. Please pray for Chile in general, and especially for Concepción and the other (smaller) cities that were close to the earthquake's epicenter.

Thank you!
(Muchas gracias!)
Tiernan