Christchurch Disaster (click here for link)

Thank you for all the emails/ voicemails expressing your concern for my safety.  It's strange to think I was just recently there just 5-6 days before it happened. I'm currently in Auckland on the North Island and we did not feel the quake. I'm thankful for my life, but on different level, it would have been incredible to have been there (and survived) then to help others to safety as their are many people still trapped underneath rubble, clinging on to life. The entire nations prayers are with Christchurch as this is the 4th and most devastating quake the city has experienced this year. 150 are feared dead, but that number might be misleading as many could be just missing and alive underneath collapsed rubble. The country is small and nearly everyone has a friends/family in the city. A friend of a friend is among the missing, pray for the safety of Isaac, I will update again when I hear back from Jeff. Yesterday while doing my medical checkups I witnessed a fleet of police/fire/ambulance fly down the highway, southbound towards Christchurch. Today the flag is being flown half-mast and the attitude of the country is quite somber. You can help by donating to the Red Cross or Salvation Army here:

http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/

Thank you for your prayers and support. Please ask God for the lives of the missing under the mess.

My dual 25th birthday parties were great. Monday with my church family and Tuesday(the quake) with Laidlaw friends. Pictures are on there way. Thank you for the emails and cards+packages. Dr. Jones I wore the superman shirt you sent me and Momma I enjoyed the goldfish crackers that taste like nothing else after a hiatus such as this. Danny, loved the video, no one has ever done that for me. His youtube video can be viewed below, to help end this post on a positive note. Lauren Piper, thank you for sending me your first E.P. it's beyond amazing, I was in Laidlaws Library listening to it, then proceeded to brag about you to the nearest people I could find.

 The final (hopefully!!) cost of the medical checks along with my visa is at $700, thank you to the Quirkes + Dad/Grandma Piper that contributed to half of these medical costs as my resources were all but exhausted after paying over $7,900 for school. God is good.



Prayer list:


-Christchurch missing. Water, shelter, medical for the survivors, for the international crews that arrive from the U.S., U.K. Australia and Ireland with advanced equipment to detect survivors and control the abundance of open sewage lines flowing into the river (tainting water supplies?) etc etc etc.


-Positive (or is that negative?) medical tests to come back on the 2nd. Then the quick submission of my student visa on the 3rd that I will need confirmed before March 28th to continue studying.


-Leadership



His,
Piper