midwest Mission

September 30, 2022

Midwest Mission Student Kits Distributed after Hurricane Fiona Hits Dominican Republic

On Monday, Sept. 19, Hurricane Fiona slammed into the Northern coast of the Dominican Republic, leaving devastation in its path from extreme flash-flooding and heavy winds.

In a statement released about the hurricane, Food For The Poor, our international partner, reported, “The storm damaged 54 homes, downed trees and power lines and forced 800 people to evacuate. At least 59 aqueducts were out of service, leaving more than 1 million people in the Dominican Republic without running water, according to the country’s emergency management officials.”

Because they know what to prepare for when a disaster happens, not if,  Food For The Poor pre-stages disaster relief kits in 10 countries every March. The supplies included are donated by Midwest Mission and other non-profits. Each non-profit supplies one item, and sends the items to Food For The Poor by February. Then, a pallet of each item is sent to each of the 10 countries to begin pre-staging. Because of this, Food For The Poor had pre-positioned two of their disaster relief kits in the Dominican Republic and within a few hours of the hurricane’s landfall, they were ready to distribute relief.

Williamson Update

We returned to Taiwan from the US on September 15 and went into quarantine for three days. Thankfully, we could all quarantine together at home. Following those days, we had four days of “self-monitoring” where we could leave home for important matters like grocery shopping or business meetings, but we were not allowed to eat with others, and we needed to socially distance and wear masks any time outside of our homes. During those seven days we had to take two at home COVID tests. Thankfully, we made it through those days healthy and recovered from jet lag. Our Summer in the US focused on three things. First was Matthew’s health, with seven visits to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for testing, physical exams, meetings to discuss the results and finally the determination that while Matthew’s Obstructive Sleep Apnea levels have improved, he still requires treatment. They ordered a CPAP machine for him to use at night. Matthew is slowly adjusting to it. Because of some physical sensory issues and the “newness” of this change in his life, it is hard for him to wear the mask. He is gradually learning to wear it and has this week, after trying for two months, been able to wear it for two hours, five nights in a row. The staff at the Sleep Lab at the hospital assured us that this was normal, only 50% of young adults with Down syndrome are able to tolerate the mask long term. We are hopeful that Matthew will learn to wear the mask for more than four hours every night as this is what is needed to clear the excess CO2 from his blood. Please pray for Matthew as he learns to wear the mask and sleep at the same time. Our second purpose for the time in the US was to connect with supporting churches and individuals. We especially enjoyed working with the Cincinnati Chinese Church in a week of Vacation Bible School and sharing at the Greenwood Community Church about the Overcomers Baseball Program and the ways that God is using this program to disciple leaders in our family fellowship group and to reach out to new families to show them the love of Christ. We are sorry if we missed seeing you this summer. We are always available via Zoom, Google Meet, etc. to chat if you are interested in hearing directly from us.

KHK Foundation

HELP A STUDENT, GIVE THEMThe Gift Of Education

KHK Foundation has identified a great need for a continued educational program for the poverty-stricken children in Cambodia. These children are forced to give up the chance of receiving an education due to family obligations.

Click the KHK logo to go to their web site.