We did make it to Oaxaca and painfully negotiated a vehicle and found a killer hotel for a great price. Pastor Felipe was not able to join us so it’s just Nataniel and I. After a much needed nights rest we rose early to start the 4-5 hour drive over an incredible mountain range. Fortunately pastor Felipe did some leg work via coconut telegraph and touched bases with some folks on the way down and got us a contact once we arrived. Our first stop was in a really cool little town called Mitla. We are going there to meet a sister from a church that pastor Felipe and his wife Anna knows. Here name is Evelia. We ate breakfast with her family and she had some great info and contacts at ground zero. They are 4 hours from the epicenter and while we were eating a trembler started and our chairs were beginning to shake. Crazy! After our food we took off over the mountains and headed to Juchitan pronounced, who che tan. A beautiful drive on a very curvy two lane road. We were trying to get to Juchitan before dark due to potential road thieves. We did make it to the town and was met by a pastor named German. He immediately took us on a destruction tour. As I expected there was much damage and at count 98 deaths. They say they are still expecting the count to rise. There are a lot of police and army dudes everywhere. They look very intense. It looks as though in the town they are maintaining some sort of relief effort. Hard to tell for sure. I asked the pastor about small communities outside the town so he took us to a place called Ixtaltepec, pronounced es tal ta pec. There we hooked up with a pastor and we did a night walking tour of the community. There are some heavy issues here. Everyone is sleeping on the streets because so many homes are damaged or lost and trembles happen several times a day. There is no place to stay here. A family has taken us in and we are sharing their safe space. Tomorrow we will have to make a plan. I know He will give us discernment. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny
