On September 28, 2018, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and the resulting tsunami devastated the region. Over four thousand people fell victim to the double natural disaster. The city of Palu and its surroundings were also severely affected.
Liquefaction of the ground also occurred in isolated cases, „swallowing up“ entire areas or washing away buildings by hundreds of meters. The Pusdiklat training center of the GPID, located about 10 km outside Palus, was also affected. Today, the area belongs to the red zone and is overgrown with green. Liquefaction washed the buildings and grounds hundreds of meters away and 200 people who were on the site and in the immediate vicinity during the earthquake are still missing. On site, we remember the victims and the missing in a minute’s silence and silent prayer.
With the support of ems, the EKHN, the JKI Frankfurt and other sponsors, a large plot of land was acquired about 2 km away on a secure site and work began on the new buildings. The first buildings for training workshops, administration and staff have been completed. This means that the first workshops in the areas of agriculture and plantation, livestock and inland fishing, carpentry, ecclesiastical music and information technology can be offered again and GPID training measures can be carried out. In the next construction phase, a kitchen, canteen and dormitory are to be built.
As a sign of hope and solidarity, we are planting three mango trees on behalf of ems, the EKHN and the Indonesian Kristus Congregation Rhine-Main. A fourth mango tree will be planted by Junita Lasut, who also worked at the training center during her time at the GPID and is still personally closely connected to it today.
