Friend Ships
Latest Update (Dec. 5, 1998)

Operation Hurricane Mitch Update #2

Tonight we completed off loading relief supplies in Puerto Cortez. About 46 semi truckloads of supplies were discharged for hurricane victims in this area. Following the hurricane, the rains continued and many areas of the country are still flooded. The food, water, clothing and medical supplies "Spirit of Grace" is delivering, come as a very needed and appreciated helping hand for the Hondurans. The Port of Cortez, the San Pedro Sula Chamber of Commerce and the Puerto Cortez Chamber of Commerce have all welcomed the ship with open arms and provided every service without charge. What a miracle to watch as pallet after pallet of beautiful supplies comes from the holds of the ship and are loaded onto trucks for transportation to various distribution centers! So many supplies have already been given to the people, and still, the ship has an abundance to unload! Tonight, we are sailing for Roatán, and Wednesday we will continue to Guanaja, one of the Bay Islands that suffered the most severe damage as Hurricane Mitch literally hovered over it for more than two days. We'll keep you posted! For those of you who have been praying for us or have contributed to this effort with labor, finances or goods, we say thank you for making this possible!

Friday, December 4th
The ship had a beautiful sail from Galveston to Roatán, Honduras, arriving on Monday morning November 30th around 10am. Approximately 400 church people met us as we tied up at the main Roatán dock. All papers were cleared and we began to discharge supplies by mid-afternoon. As soon as the first few pallets of food hit the dock, the church volunteers from the community begin to make bags full of food and we continued into the evening until we had thousands of bags made and loaded onto 4 trucks. The church volunteers worked very, very hard and completed the job so that we were ready to deliver the next morning to Punta Gorda, the hardest hit area of Roatán Island. It was a joyful atmosphere as Hondurans, North Americans, Guatemalans, Canadians, New Zealanders and Australians all worked together for the Lord and for the hurricane victims. The crew served dinner to the church volunteers, we sang praise and worship and dispersed for the night.

Tuesday morning, we took all four trucks right into the heart of Punta Gorda where more than 100 homes had been destroyed. A beautiful church still lays smashed to the ground. The people have pulled out the pews onto the beach and are having services in the open air. Hundreds of people are displaced and either living with friends and family or they have made tiny makeshift sheds to get out of the rain. Everyone who had been effected by the hurricane was given a ticket in advance of the distribution, with the amount of people in their family listed on the ticket. The crew set up massive cooking pots and served soup to hundreds of people as they arrived to receive their bags of food. Pastors from the community preached, we sang and prayed as the delicious soup was enjoyed by all.

Then, the islanders lined up to receive their allotments from the 4 large trucks. Most received 2 grocery store type plastic bags loaded with a variety of food including canned goods, rice, beans, pasta and many other items, for each person in their family. Often, they received more food than they could readily carry home but no one complained! The faces of the people were joyful and content as they made their way down the road and toward their homes. People came in canoes and filled them to the brim before paddling down the beach to their neighborhoods. A wonderful time was had by all!

That same day, back at the ship, Alternative Missions from Helene, a very poor community reachable only by water, came to the ship with a 78' fishing boat which we filled up with excellent food, water, vitamins and all they could carry back to the people of Helene!

Later that day, we completed some supply operations, discharging equipment for a dental and eye clinic to be permanently established in the heavily populated city of Coxen Hole. Then we battened up the hatches and sailed late Tuesday night for Puerto Cortez. We arrived at Puerto Cortez about noon on Wednesday where the First Lady and Vice President of Honduras met us on the dock with a warm reception. They came aboard and visited with us giving a big thanks to all the American people who had contributed to this effort. We quickly cleared all official requirements and began to discharge supplies almost immediately. Without delay we were able to present medical personnel with $70,000 worth of top quality antibiotics. The Christian Chamber of Commerce is receiving the majority of goods here in Puerto Cortez and they will redistribute items to churches and organizations for distribution, as well as continue their own very effective and organized distribution which includes the use of helicopters for remote villages.

By Thursday evening, we had discharged 22 semi truck loads of food, water, clothing and medicine and will issue about another 22 truckloads today, Friday, December 4th. In addition to the supplies for the Chamber of Commerce, there are loads for seven other ministries in the surrounding areas of Potrerillos, Yoro, El Progreso and La Ceiba. When we have completed operations here, we will load 40 pallets of relief supplies given to us by the First Lady of Honduras for our next ports of call. Then we will sail back to Roatán to prepare for a large distribution to Guanaja. We will not be able to dock the ship at this island but will anchor and use smaller equipment to transfer supplies to shore. In addition to our landing craft, we have been given a large barge to use for landing the goods.

All is well! The crew is doing great! The Lord is with us! His love is evident to all! We'll update you as things progress!

Final Unloading Report December 31st, 1998

Unloading Report December 13-15th

Unloading Report December 6-12th

Unloading Report December 5th

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