Hannah Betty Poe

For those of you who haven't heard our daughter Hannah was born on the Fourth of July! We were hoping for that date, but were actually prepared for the C-section to be performed on the 9th of July. Natinha's water burst in the wee hours of July fourth and at 2:25 a.m. Hannah came into the world weighing 6lbs 7 ounces and measuring 20". God has truly blessed us. Please continue to pray for the health of Natinha as she is recovering from her C-section. Pray that Hannah would grow strong and healthy as well, and that we will be good parents. Thanks!

Rains have stopped!

The rains have stopped below is a glimpse of a common sight in the streets of Maranhão as people began to go back to their homes to see the devestation. Aid has begun to arrive and we are able to help here in Palmas as places have been set up to drop off clothes and shoes for those in need in the Northern states. Pray that this aid gets to the people that need it most.

Rain Rain Go Away!

The northern states of Maranhão, Pará, Ceará, Bahia and Piauí have suffered serious and widespread flooding over the last two weeks. Many cities especially in the interior parts of the states are no more. Other larger cities have been affected as well, Teresina the capital of Piauí people were wading through water waist deep. Parts of Maranhão have had towns washed away, and highways have been destroyed. Mining of ore has also suffered a lot because of the rains. Here in Tocantins the rains continue to fall today started out sunny but the clouds are continuing to grow and it will probably rain this afternoon again. Palmas has only suffered with potholes and lots of them. But another larger city closer to the border with Maranhão has had some serious problems with flooding. The prediction for Tocantins is for the rains to continue up to July. This is odd because the rains normally stop by early to mid May.

Please pray that the rains would stop and that the people of Brazil would be moved in their compassion to give and help those in need in these northern states. When the floods came to the southern state of Santa Catarina the outpour of donations and news media coverage was truly great, but we can see the discrimination by the news media and lack of donations as well, the northern states are areas where there is a lot of poverty.