Tropical Storm Eta

Update 10 Nov 2020 

In Guatemala many staple crops, as well as coffee and rice fields, have been destroyed by severe flooding caused by tropical storm Eta. There are reports from Guatemalan media that nearly 25,000 families have been affected by the damage to agricultural land in several regions. Please pray for Guatemala’s food security and for a quick recovery. (The picture shows photos taken by Pastor Alejandro Perez in Santa María Cunén , Guatemala)

Tropical storm Eta has caused widespread damage and some loss of life in the Caribbean and in Central America. It made landfall in Guatemala on Friday 6 November after causing widespread flooding and strong winds in several other Central American nations. Up to 150 people are believed to have died because of the storm in Guatemala. Honduras has reported that 21 people have died because of the hurricane and in southern Mexico, 20 people have died. Several thousands have been evacuated from affected areas across the region.

There have been landslides and flooding in Guatemala and several areas of the country have declared a state of emergency. Rescue workers and volunteers are still digging for those believed to have been buried by a landslide and approximately 60,000 people have been evacuated.

Lourdes Ramirez, a missionary from the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Global Ministries who is serving our partner church in Guatemala, reported that several power lines had been damaged in some communities, making it difficult to understand the full impact of Eta in places where the National Evangelical Primitive Methodist Church in Guatemala (IENMPG) has presence through local churches. The church is still surveying the impact and gathering information from their communities so that they can develop a plan of relief and support.

Please join us in praying for Central America, the Caribbean and the USA as Eta makes it way to Florida:

Our Father who is in heaven, the earth belongs to You and everything in it.

We thank You that You hold our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean, Central America and the USA in the palm of Your mighty hand.

We pray that You will bring healing, provision, comfort, hope and peace to the communities that have had to be evacuated from their homes and to those who have lost loved ones or whose loved ones are still missing.

We pray for Your divine intervention for those who are missing, that Your Holy Spirit will lead rescue workers to their location and that they may be found quickly.

We pray that You will give governments the wisdom to implement effective recovery plans and to rebuild their communities with greater resilience against future hurricanes and tropical storms.

We pray that you will bless and help our partners in the region to reach out to their communities in love, offering the peace and hope that is in Christ Jesus in word and action.

We pray that even in the midst of such devastation, in Your name the nations will put their hope (Matthew 12:21).  In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen