Christchurch

Last Thursday I flew to Christchurch. For the most part the city looks fine, but there are some buildings, particularly in the downtown area, that have been badly damaged. Some are completely destroyed. We also met with some families whose homes have been damaged. Some are uninhabitable. Each house gets a red, yellow or green sticker from the city engineers. Red means you can't enter the house. Yellow means you can go in to get your belongings but cannot stay there. Green means you can stay. The picture of the three men loading things onto a trailer came about because we were driving through Bexley, looking to visit a family who had been badly affected. We saw two LDS missionaries on the street so we stopped to say hello. They were helping a woman, who had a yellow sticker, to load some of her belongings (a mattress etc.) onto a trailer. The other person in the photo is Bishop Kurene, the local lay minister for our church in that suburb. He was such a positive man. Full of faith and optimism, even though the aftershocks were continuing even when we were there. He knew everyone in his ward by name, address and circumstance. We met some of his flock and our intention was to offer some encouragement, but we came away buoyed by them. I don't know how I would have coped. These families were so full of hope and faith, and charity. Their ground had been shaking, but they were built on something more solid. The other photo - of the people standing beside a long gash in the backyard - tells a very sad story. The father is deaf and of very modest circumstances. He had two adult daughters and five grandchildren. Two weeks before the quake one of his daughters (in her 20's) died of cancer. Then the earthquake hit. They cannot live in their home, and it may need to be demolished. Even so, they managed a few smiles and were looking to the future with faith.