Hurricane Matthew: It’s Coming to Jacksonville

This is another call to prayer as Hurricane Matthew prepares to bring its destruction to the east coast of Florida including Jacksonville. As you probably know, I sent Jess and Sophie home prior to the storm making landfall in Haiti to make sure Sophie was safe but now Matthew will be in Jacksonville (where our apartment is) in the next few hours. Please be in prayer for them. On top of that, many of our supporters, all of our board members, and a few of our supporting churches are in Jacksonville and we are praying that the storm does not cause anywhere near the destruction that news weathermen are predicting it could. To start with, pray that it moves to the east even slightly. Also just pray that everyone in its path stays inside and makes good decisions about what they should and should not do.

It’s funny, I was a little nervous when the hurricane landed here just because it was so powerful and I did not know how everything would hold up. I know that it completely decimated the Southwestern coast of Haiti, but where we are (Gressier) and anywhere east of us held up pretty well.  Even so, I was really nervous for the kids and for our community that day.  However, as nervous as I was with all of the people in our home and wondering what type of destructive force the storm might bring, I am way more nervous not being with my wife and daughter when the storm hits tonight. I know the infrastructure of Jacksonville is better, emergency response is already on the scene, and our apartment will withstand anything that comes but it is really hard to be away from the people you love when things like this happen. I cannot wait to be with them again on Monday assuming my flight does not get cancelled for a third time. I know a little about how Jess must have felt as she was waiting for updates with a huge and destructive storm barreling down on us.

Finally, thank you for always praying for us through all that is going on. I know that many of you are bracing for the storm or know people that are, but you have been so kind and faithful to think of us, All Things New, and our children throughout this ordeal. I have another blog post that will come out later today called “The Aftermath” where I will tell you what I’ve seen and hear since the earthquake hit as well as how you can help with disaster relief efforts here. In the meantime, please continue to pray for my family as they are in the path of the storm and I am sitting down here away from them. Thank you.