Hurricane Alex Damages Church in Monterrey Area

El Buen Pastor (taken pre-hurricane)

You may have heard reports on Hurricane Alex, a hurricane that hit in early July and did considerable damage to Monterrey.

The Mexican Lutheran Church has two churches in the Monterrey area: La Santa Cruz (Holy Cross), located in the center of the city, and El Buen Pastor (Good Shepherd), situated in Guadalupe, a suburb of Monterrey. La Santa Cruz was unharmed in the storm, but El Buen Pastor suffered significant damage.

El Buen Pastor is located across the street from Santa Catarina, a river that runs through Monterrey. When heavy hurricane rains hit, the river overflowed - and flowed right into El Buen Pastor. The photo below shows how it knocked out the fence that enclosed the church.



Pastor Vázquz, who serves the El Buen Pastor congregation, reports that two meters of water swept into the building, filling it with mud and garbage. In addition to the front gate being torn down, much of what was inside was damaged, including: all of the congregation's hymnals and Bibles, the lectern, benches, fan, stereo (used for music during worship), the kitchen area, and personal items belonging to the member that lives on the property and serves as caretaker.



Please keep the members of El Buen Pastor in your prayers as they work with Pastor Eduardo Vázquez to start repairing the damage. If you'd like to send them a message, please do so in the comments section below. I'm sure they would greatly appreciate hearing from you.