Bringing light into the darkness
by Bill Horan
Italy – As I approached the rubble of a 700-year-old church in Villa Sant’Angelo, Italy, a small, historic village that was devastated by the April 5 quake, I noticed that time had stopped. According to the local mayor, the quake struck at 3:32 a.m., however the clock continued ticking for nearly 15 minutes after the quake. Minutes later, the church bells began to ring as if nothing had happened.
For the people of Sant’Angelo, the sound was inspirational – a statement of strength and perserverance encouraging them to keep on going in the midst of the tragedy. Church and village leaders were worried, however, that the torque of the swinging bells might topple the belfry, so they manually stopped the bells to protect the church from further damage.
The village of Sant’Angelo houses one of the survivor tent camps we have been working with. There are about 50 families who used to live in Sant’Angelo, but have now been displaced by the quake.
We have been talking with senators of Italy’s central government, in-country Operation Blessing staff and local leaders, such as the mayor of Sant’Angelo, to discuss how we can provide this community with interim housing to help them through the recovery process.
In nearby Onna village, we donated a generator-powered telescoping light tower to aid with lighting in the tent camp in addition to the other food and emergency aid we’ve provided. Fully extended, the tower goes up around 45 feet high and illuminates a huge area. The villagers, especially the children, have been terrified by the darkness since the quake happened at night, and wanted the camp lit up all night long.
Often at Operation Blessing, we speak metaphorically of bringing light to dark places – but in Onna, we did it literally – and in some small way, are helping to restore hope and peace to those who have been shaken by this crisis.
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May 31st, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I am desperately trying to get my 76 yr old godfather some resources that will give him the gospel. He is inundated with Jehovah Witnesses teaching him false doctrines. He is ill, can’t drive, and can barely read with his failing eye sight.
Do you kow of any radio or TV broadcast that I can have him tune into in
Abruzzo, Italy? He lives in a small mountain town called Guardiagrele in the Province of Chieti in Abruzzo. I would also be willing to purchase reading material that is large print and in Italian.
I don’t know where to get resources that will help him grow in the word and allow him to learn more about Christ as his savior. Mail is slow and we can only do so much via telephone.
In gratitude and God’s grace,
Teresa