Today Congress approved a $36.5 billion emergency spending plan to pay for ongoing relief from recent natural disasters ~

Aid for Puerto Rico dominated the latest round of emergency funding. More than 80 percent of the island still is without power more than a month after the storm, and concerns are growing that a failure to restore electricity and provide basic services to residents could cause a mass exodus to the mainland United States.
 
The Senate voted 82 to 17 on Tuesday to approve the spending plan, which now requires President Donald Trump’s signature. The House overwhelmingly approved the emergency spending bill Oct. 12.

 
In the meantime, here’s how Samaritan’s Purse has been helping the victims of Hurricane Maria ~
 

 
Direct aid… in Jesus’ name… avoiding the high risk of corruption that comes with “free” government stuff… May God continue to bless their efforts ~

Our Puerto Rico response continues to expand. With our helicopter, we’re now reaching clusters of poorer villages up in the mountains isolated by mudslides and debris strewn about on the cracked roads. When our teams fly in with emergency food kits—filled with rice, beans, oil, sugar, and salt—people rush to us to tell us we are the first to come to their aid.
 
In order to better reach these pockets of people, we’ve established a second base of operations in Ponce, Puerto Rico’s second largest city, located on the island’s southeastern coast. Prayer meetings are springing up at partner churches, asking for God’s blessing as we not only bring food and other relief supplies but also the hope of the Gospel.
 
At the same time, we’re distributing food kits, tarps, hygiene kits, solar lamps, and generators to affected neighborhoods in Ponce itself.
 
We’re also working with the Department of Health to see how we can help meet pressing physical needs. We recently delivered generators to two urgent care clinics that are without reliable sources of power.
 
And we’re now deploying a five-person medical team—two doctors and three nurses—to provide medical care in difficult-to-reach areas of central Puerto Rico. The team will travel by helicopter and 4x4s to reach these remote areas. They will be on the ground by this weekend (Oct. 14-15) and set up mobile clinics at strategic locations.
 
Please pray for God’s guidance and protection as we continue to minister to the people of Puerto Rico.