Trapped Chilean miners find light of Word in 'mini-Bibles'

The arrival of miniature Bibles to 33 Chilean miners trapped some 2,300 feet underground is bolstering their hope of rescue.

Seventh-day Adventist pastor Carlos Parra Diaz (left), shows one of the miniature Bibles sent down a supply shaft to the 33 trapped miners in the Atacama desert. Parra is serving as chaplain at the rescue site, local church leaders said. [photo courtesy South American Division]
 

"Give thanks to those who sent us the Bibles," a miner identified as Renan told a Brazilian weekly newsmagazine last week. The Bibles "gave me so much faith that I will leave here," Renan said.

Seventh-day Adventist officials in Chile say the Bibles they provided the miners are supplying spiritual light as the group awaits rescue. Local media outlets have labeled the miners' survival so far a miracle, and their reports have highlighted the church's initiative.

The miners -- who have been trapped since the August 5 collapse of a tunnel at the San Jose mine in Chile's Atacama desert -- rationed what would have been two days' worth of food to stretch until they were discovered some 17 days later. Now, they await rescue, which mining experts say could take up to four months.

The Associated Press on August 31 reported that preliminary drilling has begun to liberate the miners. While they wait, food, water, medical supplies -- and now, miniature Bibles -- are arriving through a supply shaft.

Carlos Parra Diaz, an Adventist pastor who oversees the northern Chilean district of Copiapo, secured approval from Laurence Golborne, the country's mining minister, to send Bibles to the trapped miners. Each volume is approximately three by five inches to fit into the device that is transporting supplies to the miners. Each Bible was personalized with a miner's name and included specific scriptures to encourage them.

"We have always been available to help our brothers who are suffering both outside and inside of the mine," Parra said. "Now we have prepared ... these mini Bibles so the miners, in their confinement, can read the Word of God."

A magnifying glass accompanied each of the mini Bibles to make reading easier, the Brazilian newsmagazine reported. Each Bible is labeled with the words, "We are praying for your return." The magazine also said that Psalms 40 is highlighted in each Bible. The passage reads, in part, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit ... and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps."

The church also gave a copy of the Bible to the ministers of health and mining, as well as to each of the families at the rescue site. Parra is acting as the camp's chaplain, local Adventist leaders said.

"If God has kept them alive, he will continue taking care of them," Parra told the Brazilian newsmagazine. "Before, the prayer was for our [countrymen] to be alive. Now, we pray that the final rescue [will] be long before they expect it to be. We are asking for another miracle," he said.

As a result of the Bible distribution, the church has established a presence in the mine area and is now a "spiritual reference" for the camp, local Adventist officials said.

In Pakistan, ADRA intensifies emergency flood relief effort

The humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is redoubling relief work in northern Pakistan, a region devastated by recent flooding where residents now face widespread disease.

A flood victim receives treatment from one of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency's mobile medical teams in Pakistan. A recent sharp increase in waterborne diseases is worsening conditions in the country, where millions still lack shelter and clean water. [photo courtesy ADRA Pakistan]
 

Concentrating on the country's Nowshera District, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is mobilizing medical teams to treat a sharp increase in waterborne diseases among flood victims. In collaboration with local and tribal authorities, the teams are expected to support medical relief work at local schools, hospitals and community centers, ADRA officials said.

Their first response will focus on hospitals and clinics destroyed by the floods in the Nowshera District, ADRA officials in the United Kingdom said. Ongoing efforts will include a program for schools to raise awareness of waterborne diseases and how to treat them.

Spurred by heavy monsoon rains beginning late last month in the country's north, flooding has swept across the country's low-lying areas in recent weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands without shelter and vulnerable to waterborne diseases.

Floodwaters now cover approximately one-fifth of the country, Pakistan's government officials said.

Millions of flood victims still lack clean drinking water and basic shelter, the Associated Press reported. According to the United Nations, there are already more than 120,000 cases of suspected dengue and malaria, with skin infections and diarrhea affecting hundreds of thousands more. The threat of disease is most critical four to six weeks after an initial flood, Pakistan's national health coordinator Jahanzeb Orakzai told AP.

ADRA's emergency response is expected to last two months and will benefit an area with an estimated population of 200,000 residents, the agency said in a statement last week. ADRA said it will assist the most vulnerable groups first, including the elderly, pregnant women and children.

ADRA also reported that ongoing conflict along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan has further destabilized the region and continues to fetter relief efforts.

U.S. Adventist Academy in contention for $500,000 award from online contest

A small Seventh-day Adventist high school in the U.S. state of Montana is in the running for a $500,000 prize from an online contest sponsored by a clothing retailer.

Mount Ellis Academy, a 75-student school in Bozeman, Montana, is the only Adventist school in contention to receive a contest award, which school officials said would be used to replace the institution's aging sewer system. However, more votes are needed by the September 3 deadline.

Kohl's Corporation, a Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based department-store chain, will award $500,000 to each of the top 20 schools in the contest via Facebook. Mt. Ellis Academy is now in 21st place.

Contest participants are allowed 20 votes and may vote up to five times for a particular school.

Kohl's said the contest is in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the company's Kohl's Cares community outreach program.

Another Adventist school in the running, but farther down in the current ranking, is Upper Columbia Academy in Spangle, Washington.

Facebook users may vote and see current rankings at facebook.com/kohls.