Day After Reflections

Here is a write-up that my sister Susanna helped me with, the day after the earthquake, when we had just returned to my apartment, for the first time (thankfully finding it almost entirely unharmed, save for a broken vase.)

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I'm sure you have heard of the powerful earthquake that has affected Mexico City. Firstly, my sister and I are both safe and sound. We, nor anyone else on the Avance team were hurt by yesterday's earthquake.

When the 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit, we were thankfully with the entire Avance team in the same place for a meeting. What a blessing this was because we all knew right away that everyone was safe, rather than the entire team having to communicate to us in a frenzy their location and situation. Amazingly, as a team, we had just gone over the protocol for an earthquake and the entire city itself had a mandatory earthquake drill only a few hours before the actual earthquake took place. It's hard to believe how perfectly timed this preparation was.

We all remained in the hostel where the meeting was until today anticipating a potential aftershock and being careful for fear of opportunistic assault happening in some parts of the city. Some buildings were still collapsing last night and into today. Thankfully, there have been many minor tremors--which have released pressure--but there's been no singular, major aftershock. After the 24 hour mark of the quake, the chances of a major aftershock recede.

Though we and those we know, love and work with in the city are all well and accounted for, countless others are not. School children and grocery shoppers have been buried in rubble. Today we spent many hours in prayer and worship as well as preparing food to take to those medical and emergency workers desperately still trying to unearth those still alive. Many local folks from churches and organizations all came together in this effort. It's hard to feel the full gravity of a surreal moment like this while in relative safety.

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This is just scratching the surface of what it was like for us, but I thought that I would still publish it, as my sister helped me so much in writing it, and as it was originally written the very day after the earthquake. The rest of Susanna's visit was so strange, as we tried to really enjoy our time as sisters... and yet didn't really have the heart to do too many fun/touristy things. We also determined not to be any farther than one room apart, at any given time. I still shudder to think of how terrifying it would have been to have been separated during the quake, especially if it left us unable to communicate! Praise God, He protected us both physically and emotionally. We literally ran out of the building on September 19th, clinging onto one another. It was a time that certainly brought us close together, and I am grateful for the precious support that it was to have Susanna with me over those days. We were both very emotionally impacted by it, but she handled it very well and was a great support for me during her time here.