Dear OCECC family,

1)  I am alive and well.  The house has a couple of leaks and fallen trees, but nothing serious.  We did not have power for about 24 hours.
2)  Because we did not have power nor did we have a radio, we only heard news through friends by cell phone.  Many church member’s homes were flooded.  Most people did not have power.  School was, of course, canceled.  Around lunch time we heard that the typhoon had finally made it across the entire Philippines and could be considered “over.”  But we also heard that there were a number of shipwrecks, killing people.  Later in the evening, we attended the prayer meeting at church (despite having no power…we gathered outside and prayed together before the sun set) and found out that many people in neighboring communities drowned.  I think three church members from one of our sister churches drowned in the flood.  People also died in the communities I had been conducting interviews in.
3)  Power is slowly being restored across the island
4)  This is very emotionally traumatic for me and I would appreciate your continued prayers.  Like I shared in the previous e-mail, it is difficult for me to understand their lives here.  I could not sleep last night.  I knew I was safe because our house is relatively sturdy–it’s comparable to a western home.  Like I said, I wasn’t afraid.  I could not sleep because I knew that other people couldn’t sleep.  People I know.  People I interviewed.  Friends from church.  I knew that their homes were flooding.  I knew most of them were probably scared that their homes could collapse at any minute.  I knew that their foundations were shaking.  I didn’t sleep; I just prayed and prayed and prayed.  The wind started to die down around 3:30am.  I finally fell asleep but soon woke up at 7.  I tried to stay in bed, but remained restless.  I am emotionally exhausted.  I just don’t understand how people survive knowing that these storms come back every year.  The Philippines experience approximately 20 typhoons a year.
5)  It is strange that I came here to study the church’s typhoon relief efforts and now I have an experience of a typhoon…but at the same time, I don’t have any experience.  My experience has been nothing like those whose homes flooded today, like those who lost family members in the storm, or like those whose homes collapsed.  Please pray for the people here.

With love and gratitude,
Jessica Chen