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Welcome to Disaster Preparedness Update

Hello, my name is Linda Hamerly, your Disaster Preparedness Leader. During the last year God has lead me to become educated in the needs that occur when a disaster happens. I have taken two days of the three day CERT training given by Homeland Security, Steps 1-3 in Disaster Response given by Adventist Community Services [ACS-Washington Conference of SDA], and plan to take Step 4 in March. Currently, there are 5 steps in the ACS program. All of this training is available to anyone interested in attending without further commitment. Those who have completed the CERT training will hopefully be prepared to immediately take care of themselves and assist others until the professionals arrive.

As your Disaster Preparedness Leader, I meet with the leaders of other Washington Conference churches and the conference leadership once per quarter. Our most recent meeting was January 21, 2007, where the conference leadership expressed their intentions of getting the local church leaders trained. The first homework assignment includes worksheets for developing our local church disaster plan. We were shown graphs depicting the substantial increase in disasters. The Bible is clear that we must first hear the Word, then heed the Word, following God's instructions. Noah knew God well enough to hear His warning of a never before event taking place well into the future. [Heb 11:7 ] Noah heeded the warning using the 120 years foreknowledge to build the ark according to God's instructions. “Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him.” Gen 6:22 Did Noah know that it would be 120 years? Do you think he realized the enormity of the job when he started? Additionally, because we never know when God may call us to action we need to be physically and spiritually fit. Noah was nearly 500 years old when God called him to build an ark.

One of the presentations at the leadership meeting was Noah's disaster preparedness tips. It ended with a quotation that is worth passing on no matter what disaster you are facing. “It is not the capabilities you now possess or ever will have that will give you success. It is that which the Lord can do for you. We need to have far less confidence in what man can do and far more confidence in what God can do for every believing soul. He longs to have you reach after Him by faith. He longs to have you expect great things from Him. He longs to give you understanding in temporal as well as in spiritual matters. He can sharpen the intellect. He can give tact and skill.” COL p 146 [editorial emphasis]

To prepare for an earthquake

1. Buy an earthquake alarm
2. Put together a family plan and safety kit
3. Don’t do anything – there’s nothing you can do anyway

You are in a stadium located in a southern city without electricity, food, or water service. Where do you find drinkable water?

1. Toilet tanks – beware of additives like the blue dye
2. Polluted flood waters
3. Water heaters
4. Wait for a government agency
5. Steal bottled water from anyone you can
6. Are you ready – training will get you to thinking