Bummer! Christchurch had two earthquakes this morning and Noah, a friend who lives in that city, tells me there is gunk everywhere and they are "back to square one". Photos here.
We visited Christchurch earlier this year, a few days after the big one, and were part of a city-wide gathering for churches and ministries that attempted to pool resources to assist the rescue and rebuilding efforts. And quite successfully, I should add. From that meeting there emerged some new aggregations of ministries and partnerships designed to serve the city.
One of those is the Christchurch Churches Resources Co-ordination Group
Another helpful step was bringing Peter Kenyon from Australia to talk about community building in a devasted city. I had already left NZ by then but I heard it was good.
Anyway, the bad news is that the earthquakes are still coming. The good news is that the churches have responded and there are some systems in place to help rebuild – something they didn't have six months ago.
That is an encouraging report from the point of view of Christians learning resilience. It is time we stopped pretending that everything will be fine if only we say the right prayers at the right time and think we are immune to the chaos that is evident around us. At least we have a wise dad in heaven who can give us plans and structures to meet the problems when they arise and adapt to new situations.