This past week a tropical cyclone made landfall in Fiji where we support the mission work of Jason and Devan Pierce. They have sent out the following update. Please continue to remember those affected in your prayers.
Dear Friends,
I want to begin by thanking everyone for all of your prayers on our behalf over the last couple of days. It has been such a great comfort to us to see your email responses and Facebook posts offering prayers and encouragement for our family and for Fiji during this difficult time. God has answered your prayers, and we are all doing well.
Tropical Cyclone Yasa made landfall in Fiji last night as a very powerful category 5 storm. The storm ended up pushing a little further east than originally projected, which means that we were only hit with the outer edge of the storm. We experienced some strong winds and a great deal of heavy rain here in Suva. Our power has been off and on for the last couple of days. Currently, we have electricity, but we are still without running water. It is still raining, and we are experiencing occasional strong gusts of winds. But the storm is slowly moving out of the area. We are thankful that God has spared our family and home during the storm.
However, other parts of Fiji are not as fortunate. There is widespread flooding on our own island of Viti Levu, and the rain from the storm is predicted to continue throughout the weekend. There are also some reports of mudslides in the area. But the greatest damage from the storm is on the northern big island of Vanua Levu. The eye of the storm passed directly over Vanua Levu. News reports are slowly starting to come out, and we know that there is widespread damage. Many homes are either flooded or were completely destroyed during the storm. Communications are still down for much of the island, so we have not heard from any of the Christians there. But we know that several of the congregations are in communities which were in the direct path of the storm. We ask that you please continue to pray for them and all of Fiji as we seek to recover from this cyclone.
Thank you again for your prayers on our behalf. May God bless you all.
In Christ,
Jason and Devan Pierce
