Streams of Mercy Never Ceasing
The history of the Fellowship includes many acts of mercy.
This tradition has never been so pronounced as it has been since the establishing of the FAIR (Fellowship Aid and International Relief) program in 1974.
In this edition of the Fellowship archives blog we review briefly one such event from our history books.
In December 1999, heavy rains fell along the north-central coast of Venezuela. The rain triggered thousands of landslides that stripped soil and rock and sent them tumbling down the mountainsides. With the addition of more water, the landslides turned into flows of debris, a mixture of rock and mud. Flash flooding and the debris flow destroyed everything in its path. Homes, apartment blocks, bridges, roads, and people disappeared. It was estimated that between 10,000 and 30,000 people lost their lives and almost 200,000 had to be evacuated.
There were miracles in the midst of the catastrophe. Merleg Salazar, one member of the burgeoning church established by Fellowship missionaries in Caracas, recounted how the debris flow came down the mountain heading directly for the structure that housed her husband’s dental clinic. Then, for no explainable reason other than divine intervention, it divided and went around the building leaving no damage behind.
FAIR responded to the needs of so many people who had been affected by the disaster. The Evangelical Baptist magazine reported this:
“Shortly after the flood in Venezuela in December 1999, FEBInternational missionaries contacted Pastor Daniel Ojeda of Bethesda Baptist Church who lives near the flood area to assess the situation. Since that time, FAIR and the church in Caracas, have assisted Pastor Ojeda with relief efforts in this area.
“FAIR, through the work of Pastor Ojeda, has set up four refugee centres that have become home to over 500 displaced people. They are located in an abandoned church, an automotive garage, an orphanage and a warehouse. Funds were used to build washroom and shower facilities and to purchase food and other necessities for flood victims.
“Since the flood, people have flocked to local churches. Pastor Ojeda saw over 100 people make decisions to accept Christ in a two-week period…” [Source: The Evangelical Baptist, September/October 2000]
But even before Fellowship churches across Canada began to contribute to the needs of those who had suffered so much loss during the flooding and landslides, help began to flow. It happened that one of Fellowship International’s staff, Wendy Piette, had been scheduled months before the disaster, to take a fact-finding trip to Colombia and Venezuela early in January. She personally delivered the initial cheque on behalf of FAIR when she arrived for her visit. Thousands of dollars were subsequently received through the generous donations of God’s people across Canada—a tradition that continues today in support of FAIR’s many projects. [See listing of current FAIR projects.]