JourneyOnline
Some members of the congregation are on farming land which was affected by floodwaters.
Fences have been damaged, cattle had to be located and topsoil was washed away.
Parts of Banana Shire were inundated with fast-flowing, rapidly rising water.
The township of Jambin was evacuated to the school a few kilometres away on higher ground; parts of Goovigen, Dululu and Wowan as well as those on properties and people living on the outskirts of Biloela were also evacuated.
Some properties and homes in the Thangool area were also inundated.
The absence of a reliable communication network added to the stress and anxiety many people were experiencing.
Some travellers stranded in Biloela prior to the height of the flood event were offered hospitality with a local couple and unexpectedly experienced firsthand what it was like to be living on an extremely small island surrounded by water.
Members of the congregation have been helping out their friends and acquaintances as they are able, such as responding to the cry for assistance at 1.15 am to move furniture, then put it back after the clean-up, and the hard slog of pulling up fencing wire from silt and debris.
Once the phone lines were restored, we were busy contacting people living on farms.
At this stage, the flood recovery clean-up and restoration process is in its infancy and will take many months and in some cases years.
It is difficult to determine what help is required and careful planning is needed to ensure that services and assistance are directed where the need is greatest.
There are many stories that still need to be told and heard and there is a real concern that some people may be by-passed.
Please pray for the people in this area that they will have strength to get them through the hard times to come.
That they will be directed to the right government services.
That they will be able to see light at the end of the tunnel.
That there will be snatches of humour in the bleakest of days.
That in the glimpses of new life pushing up through the cracks of dried flood plains, they will see that they too can endure because of God's love.
