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If you have been watching the new recently you know that on Monday, May 12th during midday here in China a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated areas near Chengdu (which we have previously visited), a city in the south-central part of China. We’ve received quite a few e-mails from friends and family concerned for our safety so we wanted to make sure everybody knew that we are ok.

It is reported at this time that this is the worst earthquake to hit China in the past 3 decades. Over 10,000 people have been confirmed dead, mainly from collapsed buildings in the region where the earthquake hit the hardest. Rescue efforts are still going on and over here in China everybody is talking about it. The newspapers and television stations are covered with reports and pictures from the region. It was the earthquake felt all over the country. Beijing, a city 1,500km away from the epicenter, had streets filled with office workers who were evacuated during the shaking. Even the in Shanghai and across the strait in Taiwan people took measures to ensure their own safety by evacuating or taking shelter. What did we feel over here in XinJiang (about 2,400km away)? Personally, Tiff and I felt nothing, or at least it didn’t register in our brains as an earthquake, but teachers and students all throughout our school told us of the shaking they felt yesterday during class.

Please keep these people and their families in your thoughts, as well as for those in our neighboring country of Myanmar. We understand that this is definitely a tragedy, but we also know that even the worst of events can be turned around for His glory.