Scott: What are conditions like now 2 months after the quake?
Tom: Harsh. As I told you earlier, it is estimated about a half million have fled the city. Those that have stayed are mostly trapped here lacking family in other parts of Turkey and so they are just hanging on in whatever way they can.
Scott: Have the medical services improved?
Tom: No, in fact it seems to get more difficult. Many hospitals and clinics have had to close becasue of lack of staff so many get turned away becasue what it left is an over whelmed system. We have partnered with some outside groups to being in doctors and nurses but it has been too few and too far between them.
Scott: What is needed at this point?
Tom: More medical professionals to start. We can plug them in if they can just get here to Turkey, even for a short stay. We also need medical supplies if anyon has materials to donate, we can use everything from bandages to crutches to antibiotics. You name it, it is in short supply!
We are also helping to supply temporary housing. A lot of folks are living on the street or near there broken apartment on open land and they are living in summer three season kind of tents. These will soon be untenable and I don't know what they will do. We are trying to provide emergency shelter which is winterized. They are relatively chreap but so many more are needed...
Scott: Tell us what your Lake family can do:
Tom: If you are a medical practioner, get on a plane tonight! OK, not quite but we can use you. Contact Scott and he will connect us. If you want to help house a small family, a small shelter can be provided for $270 and a larger family one (most have large families here) goes for $460. (Scott: See accompanying picture of shelter being constructed in an open field.) People can make this happen by sending gifts to New Horizons Foundation 4570 Hilton Pkwy #203, Colorado Springs, CO. 80907 Please include the memo Turkish EQ Outreach.
Scott: How can your Lake family pray for you and your wife during this intense time?
Tom: We are grateful for those who remember us in this way. We need energy and endurance to sustain this pace as we are having to do a lot of travel from our home city to get to Van as well as the associated costs are making ongoing response difficult. We need emotional strength as well, as there is so much suffereing everywhere. But we are thankful for our Lake family back in Pasadena which believes in us and the unique vocational contribution I can make here in my adopted homeland and grateful for this chance to tell our story.
Scott: On behalf of your family here at Lake, we are thankful for you and will continue to stand with you.
Lake Family, if you wish to learn more about this situation and stay updated by Tom, please send an email to scottw@lakeave.org and I will connect you directly with Tom. I encourage you to remember Toma nd his wife regularly even as most of the world is ignoring this difficult broken city in the same global region that much of the Book of Acts records the earliest days of the Church.