Note from President Schumann of the Confessional Lutheran Church in Chile

Dear Matthew:

Thank you for your prayers and warm concern about us and our church in Chile.

When all that you believe strong and solid shakes with you included, you try to embrace anything around to keep stand up but “anything” it is also shaking. So, just a thing remains firm: God’s merciful and powerful hands where your life by faith quietly rests.

By God’s grace nobody of our church members and pastor’s families have suffered something. Our houses, church and schools buildings didn’t suffer serious damages. But it is still shaking and will be so for some days.

The most important damage happened 800 kilometers to the south of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. Here, the earthquake intensity was 7.3 Richter scale degrees. In the Conception city was really heavy with 8.8 degrees. There, some buildings and houses collapse and basic services as water, electricity and telephone are still out. Casualty statistics rise to 250 people dead till now but authorities expects to reach 600 in the whole country.

In the further days (monday) we are going to evaluate the situation in order to take some kind of spiritual and material help to the people hit by the earthquake. We are going to keep contact with the authorities to get better information and ways to help...

Thank you once again for walking along with us in this moment.

Carlos Schumann
President of Ielchi