Head

And for those in poor living conditions,
the Taiwan Adventist Foundation
uses volunteer labor to help clean,
repair, and even rebuild dwellings
where needed.
“No one helps them, and no one
cares,” Lin said of these poor people.
Other charities are beginning to call on
the Taiwan Adventist Foundation, asking
them to help families in need.
Sometimes, Lin said, all that’s necessary
is a simple housecleaning and
instruction in running a household,
something that may have been
neglected. “The target is to help people’s
homes have basic functions, safe and
clean,” she said.
Much of the funding for the Taiwan
Adventist Foundation comes from the
Northern Asia-Pacific Division. The
group’s board is chaired by Stanley Wai
Chun Ng, assistant to the Northern
Asia-Pacific Division president for
China affairs. But the group accepts
outside funds and hopes to become
self-sufficient, Lin said, noting they
hope to have a facility to accept creditcard
donations soon.
More information on the group can be
found online at www.twaf.org.tw. n
■■north america
Adventists Help Flood-Ravaged
Colorado Communities
Three members lose homes; prayer meeting becomes “work bee” to repair basement
By MARK BOND, communication director, Rocky Mountain Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists, reporting from Denver.
Seventh-day Adventist members and congregations
are assisting as massive amounts of rain have caused extensive
flooding along the Front Range of Colorado. Boulder and
adjacent communities have fared the worst, but there has also
been flooding in many communities. Estes Park, Louisville,
Longmont, Loveland, and Aurora are some of the hardest hit.
According to Craig Carr, ministerial director for the Rocky
Mountain Conference, three members of the Boulder Seventh-day
Adventist Church have lost their homes; one couple
from Lyons and an individual who lives in Jamestown
lost theirs as well. Both Lyons and Jamestown were completely
cut off from emergency access because of roads
being washed out by floodwaters.
There was minor damage to the Boulder church. There is
also some reported damage in the basement at the Estes
Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, but the extent is not yet
known.
Blake Jones, pastor of the Twin Peaks Adventist Church in
Louisville, shared that the flooding began in their area during
prayer meeting last Wednesday evening. Approximately
20 members had gathered for prayer meeting when water
started flooding into the church and filling the basement.
The head elder called a phone tree alerting members, and
within minutes about 50 people were at the church, building
a makeshift dam to divert the river of water that was
flooding the church.
Before they could divert all the water, about two inches
had accumulated in the basement of the church. One member
with an industrial shop vacuum was able to get most
of the standing water out of the basement, while other
members rushed to rent carpet cleaners.
By the time the wet, weary church members left, they had
been able to extract the rest of the water from the downstairs
carpet, but there was considerable dampness left
behind. Jones called a restoration company to dry out their
carpets with fans and dehumidifiers. They were told that
they would be added to a list, since there were more than
800 calls in ahead of them.
On Friday, with many of the roads impassable because of
flooding, Jones headed out to see if it was even possible to
drive to the church. He spotted a restoration company van
parked on the side of the road. He spoke to the driver and
told him about the Twin Peaks church basement. The driver
said, “It’s the weekend, and this is the Lord’s house, so I’ll
come set up some fans and a dehumidifier for you right
now.” Because of that little miracle, the Twin Peaks church
basement is back to normal already and won’t even have to
report an insurance claim.
“If we hadn’t had a good attendance at our prayer meeting,”
says Jones, “we would have certainly had the entire
basement flooded!” He continues, “But that prayer meeting
turned into the fastest ‘church work bee’ in history! I’m so
thankful for all the members who showed up to help us
avoid a major calamity.”
Cathy Kissner, Rocky Mountain Adventist Community
Services and Disaster Response (ACS/DR) director, reports
emergency supplies are being positioned near the Colorado
flood areas for distribution. Donations may be made to the
ACS/DR effort by visiting http://bit.ly/acs-colorado online,
or by calling 800-381-7171. n
www.AdventistReview.org | October 10, 2013 | (891) 11