Earthquake

It was 9:47 a.m. on September 11th of all days. Martha was at a women’s retreat, and the kids and I were outside on the basketball court of the primary school campus for the Sunday morning Tok Pisin worship service. After starting the service forty-five minutes late due to some technical difficulties in the sound set up, we finally began worshiping. Midway through the first song, the ground began to shake. We are used to earthquakes in Papua New Guinea, and so nobody was all that concerned when the quake started. However, it did not subside, but kept getting stronger. Eventually I ran to one of the speakers that was propped up on a wood box to hold it in place. Another man ran up and helped me. As the quake really started hitting hard, everyone else ran out from under the roof, fearing it might collapse on them. I was standing right next to a huge I-beam that was holding up the roof. It was wobbling back and forth as though it were nothing but a straw. The quake, which lasted for seventy seconds, seemed to go on forever. Eventually it subsided and we began worshiping again (although now without any electricity). As the reality of what had happened began to sink in, the congregation dwindled in size as representatives from each family went home to survey the damage. Since I was scheduled to preach that day, I sent Jacob home to check on our house. He quickly came back saying that our hot water tank and solar panels were about to slide off the edge of our roof. So I called Martha and asked her to leave the women’s retreat and go home to turn off the water. I asked Jacob to go help her. They also discovered a gas leak, and so they turned off the gas as well. When they went inside the kitchen floor was covered with shattered dishes, and food from the pantry was scattered everywhere. A neighbor surveyed the house with them and found that the main plumbing pipe to the septic system had snapped in two and that many of the wooden posts supporting the house had shifted. Our neighbor wondered if our house would be condemned as unsafe to live in.

Our hot water tank and solar panels hanging off the roof

Meanwhile, I still had to preach. Knowing that everyone’s minds were on the earthquake, I knew I couldn’t preach the message I had prepared. I asked the Lord what I should say, and he laid on my heart Hebrews 12:25-27. I shared that God would one day shake the heavens and the earth, and the only thing that would remain would be his kingdom, and so we should put our focus on that. I kept the message short because I knew people wanted to get home. After preaching, I went home and surveyed the damage. We were blessed to have some teens come and help us clean up the kitchen, and before long some men and teenage boys volunteered to help us to move our hot water tank and solar panels back into place and secure them, which they did successfully.

We thought we would have to sleep at a neighbor’s house that night due to the posts shifting and the more practical problem of not being able to use our toilets. But I was able to jerry-rig the plumbing pipe back together with tie wire and duct tape, and we decided to sleep in our house (although the kids slept downstairs to be safe). Thankfully, there were no aftershocks that night. They next day repairs began, and some volunteers and employees were able to add bracing to the weakest areas under the house. That same day the plumbing pipe was also replaced. For the next nine days we had to shower at a friend’s house, but eventually the leaks in our hot water tank were fixed. During the midst of this, we were also enduring a severe drought. So everyone’s water tanks were extremely low, and even the backup river water system was extremely low and constantly being drained due to leaks everywhere. Not only that, but the fiber internet cable that gives high speed internet to the country was broken in three places in the ocean, so our internet has been extremely limited. Estimates are that it will take at least two months to repair the cable.

The main plumbing pipe leading to our septic system

But God is good, and we immediately receive more than enough donations to help us make repairs. God also sent a large rainstorm that gave us some relief from the severe water shortage we were facing. Thank you for your prayers! By the way, the high school shop teacher shared this security video of the wood shop that captured the earthquake.