This past Saturday, April 5th, a storm blew through Chiang Rai. The rain, winds and hail hit our farm about 5 pm. Nathanit and Caluey were at the farm finishing up milking for the day when the hard winds and golf ball sized hail (or larger not really sure) hit the farm. Natanit went into the storage room to be protected while Caluey squatted down next to a half-wall in the milking parlor because he didn’t know where else to go. Some people are saying that this is the worst storm they have ever seen. Caluey's mother said it was the worst storm she has seen in her life (she is in her 70s). So many houses lost their roofs and some windows.
Some bullet point items listed below:
Damage to property – Barn and Manager’s house. During the storm the barn lost about 60-70% of the metal roofing. No workers or goats were harmed in the storm. The roof structure was compromised also, so there is some work to be done to reenforce the roof. The mama goats will be a bit uncomfortable for a few more days while we get their pen dry and fresh bedding is brought in to the barn. We have our barn temporarily fixed, and recovery will continue for a while. We did not miss one milking, but we did not process milk for one day while we cleaned up and fixed things that were broken. We are back in production.
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| The new addition to the barn was only finished for 4 hours |
The Community comes to check on us – We have been so blessed by our neighbors and friends who have called or come by to check on us. Baa Noy came by on Sunday morning after the storm because she was worried about the foreigner’s farm on her old property. She is the pineapple farmer that was raising pineapple on our land before we bought the land. Many of our neighbors came by to check on us and see the damage. One neighbor came early on Sunday to make sure we knew the right procedure to ask for help from the government. As we go to purchase things and eat lunch in the community we get the opportunity to hear about everyone’s house, business, and family. This situation will be used by Him to grow our relationships here in our new community.
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| Baa Noy came to check on the foreigner |
Government assistance - Government is helping by offering free roofing tiles to the people here who have damage to their roofs. There are about 700 - 1000 houses in the community which were damaged. Many families are without a dry place to sleep. Some houses lost their entire roof and contents, and the pineapple and other crops in the area have been destroyed. Everyone with damage has to go to the head man’s house to report the damage with an ID card and then the County office visits each property personally to take pictures and assess the damage. The property then enters a waiting queue for roof tiles to be delivered to the property. We received our roof tiles on Monday, and we are waiting for the metal roofing to replace the roof the metal roofing on the barn. Many families are still waiting for their materials to fix their roofs. Please pray for these families as they wait.
Chiang Rai International Christian School - Our children’s school, CRICS, was also damaged in the storm. A few roof tiles were lost. Water damage throughout the different rooms of the school. Many computers were found sitting in a puddle of water. The cover over the sidewalk was also blown down. Many have come to help clean up and secure the school since we are out for Spring Break right now.
Opportunity - Our farm has had the opportunity this week to distribute fresh goat milk to some families and children homes in the area. This is one way we can help serve in the community during this time.
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| Caluey |
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| Nathanit |
- Please pray for our community as we are all recovering from the storm.
- Pray for protection from further storms during the summer storm season.
- Praying for continued provision for the "things" that need to be replaced that were damaged in the storm.
- Pray for God's continual watch care over our family.
Thank you and God Bless.
The Brittan's
Harry, Pattie, Hattie, Emma, Harry V, and Nellie.
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Narrow Gate Asia
P.O. Box 260275
Plano, TX 75026-0275 USA
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