Help that opens doors

"I was shocked to see that the situation is unchanged. Very few families are building new houses. Most are still living in tents and very simple dwellings made of branches covered with plastic," reports our partner.

It was very painful for him to see how children, elderly people and entire families, scantily clad and in poor health, have to endure temperatures that barely rise above 4°C at night.

"In some villages, it was difficult to communicate with the people because they are Berber and speak almost no Arabic. Nevertheless, they smiled and expressed their gratitude - not just because of the food, blankets and other relief supplies, but simply because I hadn't forgotten them. I was told that several times."

One of the families invited our partner to breakfast. Given the family's abject poverty, it was not easy for him to accept the invitation. Nevertheless, he did: "I was the only one who ate, because they didn't have enough for everyone. That's their culture: they honour you with the little they have. I couldn't refuse the soup. They would have taken it as if I didn't want their food because they were poor."

The journey wasn't easy either, as most of the roads were really bad. "One of the roads I was travelling on ended abruptly. And because it was very narrow and went down steeply to the side, I couldn't turn round. I had to reverse a whole stretch - only with God's help did I make it!"

But the happy faces of the children when they also received something, such as a few biscuits, quickly made him forget the hardships. "It was a great thing for the families and a great door opener to talk about Jesus."