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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, September 25, 1979
Page 7
The island of 80,000 people, 298 square miles (very mountainous) and
economy 95% agriculture, was hit for five hours by winds of up to 150
MPH from hurricane David.
The aftermath leaves Dominica in a state of disaster. Agriculture is
90% destroyed and most industries are related to agriculture.
Inte;
nal telecommunications have become non-existent, with electricity
supplies in the same position. I live 14 miles from the capital,
and
am not looking forward to electricity in my village for two years.
Hospitals, hotels, schools and churches are in the same position of
ruin and destruction.
More than half the population is homeless and some 40 people �ifQ
in
the storm. In some villages there is a 50% complete destruction of
houses. Generally, most roofs are gone. One of the brethren lost
her house and shop completely.
Our evergreen forests have become a thing of the past. Trees that
could not fall are completely defoliated and debranched.
One American observer thought it better to evacuate the island in
view of massive sums it will need to bring the country back to where
it was.
The immediate problem of Dominica after the storm is that of feeding
itself. With the economy and agriculture destroyed, we are at the
mercy of international food aid for at least the next six months till
some crops and farms can be rehabilitated. Much aid is flowing in
from outside presently, but all who can are leaving the island,
especially women and children are doing so. The remaining schools
not destroyed or made roofless are refugee camps.
My wife and children have been sent to St. Lucia, my wife's homeland,
but I have to stay to face the arduous road ahead, of national re
construction. The seminar in Tobago had surely made and left me
better prepared for this.
I hope that the same hurricane did not adversely affect the Work and
brethren in USA.
Please ask your Church area to pray for and remember the Dominican
brethren. The time ahead can be very gloomy and discouraging for
some. But with God's help, nothing is impossible.
United Kingdom
In Christian fellowship,
Chrisford Vidal
On August tenth the Work made front-page headlines in a U.K. newspaper for
what is believed to be the very first time. The paper in question was the
Exeter Express and Echo which has a readership of almost 100,000 in the
South West of England.
The article, which was naturally far from complimentary, had been prompted
by the distribution of 10,000 brochures in the town promoting The PLAIN