As I try to digest the recent events that have transpired in Haiti, I can’t help but feel admiration for all those that have been directly affected by this catastrophe. This natural disaster has brought great devastation to an already impoverished country and despite the magnitude of this tragedy, the Haitian people have not given up hope. Yesterday, another after shock with a 5.9 magnitude hit the island. It caused more buildings to crumble and added to the misery and nightmare of an already difficult recovery process. However, despite that, we are still hearing heart-warming stories of people being pulled from the wreckage alive.

Their perpetual will to live and undying belief in GOD is a testament to why after eight days since this calamity, rescue teams continue to find survivors. CNN reported yesterday that a A NYC rescue team pulled two children (a boy, 8 yrs old & a girl, 10 yrs old) from the shards of a two story building. The siblings, who had been trapped under a mountain of debris and rubble for more than a week, appeared to be ok aside from being famished. The boy, Kiki, who was undoubtedly happy to be alive, greeted his rescuers with outstretched arms, almost as if he were embracing the world for the very first time.  

These touching stories of survival bring hope to many survivors, both on the island and here in the United States, that their loved ones will also be found alive. The power of faith, hope, and prayer are not to be under estimated. If you speak to the Lord with a sincere heart He will listen to you. The story of Dan Wooley  and his belief in GOD is a testament that prayers are answered.

I learned of Dan Wooley’s story on msnbc (click on the link for full story).  Woolley, an employee of mission organization, Compassion International, was in Haiti filming a documentary about the impact of poverty on the people of Haiti. He was in the lobby of his hotel when the earthquake hit and was trapped for 65 hours under piles of wreckage. His quick thinking and sstrong belief in God are what helped him to stay alive. On Tuesday, Wooley appeared on the Today show, via satellite and discussed his ordeal with Meredith Vieria.  

Wooley explained how he never gave up hope despite feeling scared and being fully aware that it was possible that he wouldn’t survive.  MSNBC reports:

Woolley had taken refuge in an elevator shaft, where he used an iPhone first-aid app to treat a compound fracture of his leg and a cut on his head. He had already used his digital SLR camera’s focusing light to illuminate his surroundings, and taken pictures of the wreckage to help find a safe place to wait to be rescued — or to die.

 Writing the notes to his wife and children wasn’t easy, the deeply religious man said.

“Boy, I cried,” he admitted. “Obviously, no one wants to come to that point. I also didn’t want to just get found after having some time — God gave me some time — to think and to pray and to come to grips with the reality. I wanted to use that time to do everything I could for my family. If that could be surviving, get out, then I would. If it could be just to leave some notes that would help them in life, I would do that.”

Woolley attributes his survival and rescue by a French rescue team to divine intervention.  

“A lot of people were praying for safety for this trip, and I was working for Compassion International,” Woolley said. “A lot of prayers go out for the work that we do, so I believe that God was present with me and He decided he wanted me to survive, and so He was with me and helped me in those moments.”

His story could be anyone’s story and while most of us have never lived thru an ordeal as devastating as his we all have lived through our own forms of hell. And while we may never understand why certain things happen we can not allow our “tragedies” to overcome us. We must over come them. We must be strong even at our weakest moments and ask God for strength. We have to surrender our will to the Lord for it is his will that we must succumb to. When we come to the Lord with a sincere and pure heart there isn’t anything that He won’t do for us.

God has always answered my prayers. When my husband was diagnosed in 2003 with cancer at they age of 30, the Lord answered my prayer by curing him of the disease. In 2005, when my husband and I were in a car accident that could have killed us, I walked away with minor bruises, and he fully recovered from a broken hip. When 2 wks later my parents where in a fatal car accident that took the life of my aunt but spared theirs, that was God answering my prayer to not take my parents away from me. There are so many ways that the Lord has performed miracles in my life. We are his children and he will never forsake us.

The power of prayer is an amazing thing and once you start communicating with God you will experience what Dan Wooley,those children and I have experienced. You will see miracles happen. Never under estimate the power of prayer, it works. I would be interested in hearing how God has answered some of your prayers.

 

I particpate in a prayer call every night at 8 pm (EST), if you or anybody you know would like to participate in our prayer circle call 712/432-1699 Passcode 843917# @ 7:55pm. You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to or you can say that Nancy invited you but if you need prayer just know that there is a circle of friends waiting to pray for you.