#12, Edison Pena, just completed his ascent to the surface.
The 11th miner, Jorge Galleguillos, was before him.
Miner #10, Alex Vega, surfaced with a Bible clutched tightly to his
chest.
#9, Mario Gomez' first action above ground was to bow down on
his knees and pray. He
says, "I have changed. I am new."
Their t-shirts shout "Thank you Lord!"
Miner #13, Carlos Barrios Rumbo is on his way up.
20 miners and some rescuers remain underground.
33 men spent 70 days trapped in a mine, 2,054 feet underground.
The first miner emerged from rescue capsule just after midnight.
There is much rejoicing!
The back of the t-shirts quote Psalm 95:4. "In his hand are the
depths of the earth, and
the mountain peaks belong to him." It concludes, "To Him be the honor and the Glory."
It has been an emotional rescue operation here in Chile. One in which all of Chile has
been united. Billboards declare, "Chile is praying." We are proud to be Chileans by adoption.
Songs have been written about the miners. Music videos have been uploaded to youtube.
There is much talk of miracles - even from the Presidents of Chile and Bolivia, even on
television. (In fact, we copied the banner above from the Channel 13 website. Translation: Operation Hope: The rescue of the 33.)
The President of Bolivia just offered a job to rescued Bolivian, Carlos Mamani. Carlos'
response was, "What about the rest of my colleagues?" We see an example of unity and humility. In fact, when determining the order of rescue, many offered to be last on the list. May we learn from their examples.
These are real men, with families, with individual histories, with shared story that has
changed their lives.
May all Chileans emerge from this event changed. May they and indeed the whole world
return to Christ and give Him glory, great things He hath done!
Keep praising and keep praying!
Ricardo and Beth Gomez
Free Methodist World Missions
