Northeast Storm - Pray for Sandy Victims
Dear brothers and sisters,Please continue praying for us here. The weather forecast for the next 24 - 36 hours includes winds of 40 - 60 MPH (hampering continued efforts to restore power to the nearly 150,000 homes on Long Island still without power, and the over 180,000 homes in New Jersey in the same situation). Because this storm will come during high tides, we are looking at surges of 3 - 5 feet above normal. This is about half of what Sandy brought; but already hard hit areas are now being evacuated. Along with this will be rain (which may be a blessing as it washes off homes that were drenched with seawater, seaweed, and other ocean items); but that will turn to snow in many areas north of us. We may be looking at a period of wet heavy snow in our area as well.Here are some specific matters for prayer:1. Pray that the effects of this "northeaster" will not be too severe, and will not impact for too long the efforts of tree removal companies and electrical companies to restore power to those who have been without power for over a week.2. Pray that there will not be many new power outages, and further damage to already devastated areas.3. Pray that brother Raun Treible (of the OPC in Orlando) will be able to get up here as soon as possible. Raun has assisted with projects in Uganda, Japan, and Haiti. He is a heating and electrical specialist. We need him to work on several damaged homes in the 10 days he will be with us. Pray that the storm will not seriously delay his trip here. Pray for efficiency in his work. Pray that he will be able to get the parts necessary to fix electrical and heating systems. Pray that the Lord give him wisdom as he assesses damage to homes and guides us as we prepare teams to help in the days ahead.4. Pray that more gas stations will have power restored so that the lengthy lines to get gas (people are still waiting for a couple of hours to get gas) will be relieved. Pray for more gas shipments in both New Jersey and Long Island.5. Pray that we will have a period of dry and warmer weather after the storm so that damaged homes can be dried out. We cannot begin rebuilding projects unless the homes are dried out.6. Pray that we will have the human resources necessary to help our own families with damaged homes, and also to help their neighbors, as we are able. We want to show the self-giving love of Christ to those around us.7. Pray - above all - that we will represent the light of Christ to those around us, and that people might see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.Yours in the Lord of the Wind and the Waves,Bill Shishko