Tsunami - A first hand account

> This is an email that being circulated among the family, friends, and
> supporters of Don and Lillian Dwight, Covenant missionaries in Taiwan.
They were in Thailand on holiday when the tsunami hit.
>
> -Brad Boydston
>
> - - - - - - - -
>
>
> Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> So much has transpired in the last few days and so many Christians all
> over the world have been praying for us we wanted to take this chance
> to thank all of those who were praying. We are home safe and feeling
> relieved and thankful to God for preserving our lives during the
> tsunamis that hit the Indian Ocean on Sunday morning.
>
> Most of you know by now that we took a family vacation to Thailand in
> celebration of Lillian and my 25th wedding anniversary. We brought
> all of our kids with us. On Saturday we took a ferry to Phi Phi
> Island off the coast of Thailand. This is a beautiful tropical island
> no more then a mile long. We enjoyed the beauty that afternoon and
> evening with not a thought at all that the next morning it would be
> devastated. There is a small village with many shops and hotels a
> few feet from the beach.
>
> I believe that the Lord was guiding our steps even months before our
> trip. When we had tried to make reservations for a beach bungalow
> almost three months ago they where full. The proprietor recommended a
> hotel with bungalows on the side of the hill and we were able to make
> reservations there. Sunday morning we went down to the hotel
> restaurant for breakfast. The day was beautiful and bright with the
> clear blue water shimmering a few feet from where we were eating. At
> 10:00 AM we finished eating and returned to our rooms up the hill. We
> rested for a bit and at 10:15 we heard some yelling. We opened our
> bungalow door and saw some smoke on the top of the hill so we figured
> it was a brush fire which the staff was yelling about. There didn't
> seem to be any immediate danger. In a few minutes we decided to go
> swimming and put on our swim suits. As we walked down the path to the
> shore we realized something was very different. The water level
> reached up into the hotel restaurant and the bay was full of debris
> including large pieces of furniture. At first I thought that there
> must have been some weird high tide that had washed into the beach
> side shops. I had no idea of the devastation that had already hit
> this island much less the destruction that would hit other areas. All
> we knew was that we couldn't go swimming so we just stood there and
> watched. In a few minutes several people carried a lady up the
> sidewalk and laid her down right where we were standing. She wasn't
> breathing. Her husband was crying for help. After yelling once or
> twice that somebody should start CPR nobody did, so Lillian and I
> decided that we needed to do it. We started the process then a couple
> of men joined us. Peter, our son, took a couple of rotations to give
> us a rest, also. Unfortunately, after working for an hour we were
> not able to revive her. As Lillian and I put our arms around her
> husband and son, Mike and Adam, (13 years old) Lillian prayed for
> them. I knew that it was hard enough to lose your wife and mother to
> a tragedy like this, but being thousands of miles from home and all
> alone without any family or friends would make it even worse. So I
> felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to stay with them and help them any
> way I could. Mike, Trish (the wife), and Adam were from London. One
> other British couple who had meet Mike and Trish the day before were
> also very helpful and stayed with Mike and Adam for many hours.
>
> By this time, of course, we were getting an idea of the local
> devastation. When we asked for a doctor's help the locals told us
> that was impossible because everything was wiped out. Furthermore, a
> half mile walk along the beach to get to the clinic-which was already
> wiped out-was considered too dangerous because of the possibilities of
> further tsunamis. All communications and power had been wiped out. A
> walk along the beach later that afternoon did confirm the massive
> destruction. Meanwhile, we heard possibilities of evacuation and,
> indeed, helicopters started to fly over the island. All that
> afternoon and night we waited. The locals graciously made rice and
> sausages over an open fire for dinner.
>
> On Monday morning we decided that nobody was going to come to our side
> of the island to evacuate us, so we needed to get to the pier which
> was about half a mile away. A hotel staff person arranged for a
> motor boat to take Mike and Adam and Trish's body to the other side of
> the island where a makeshift helipad had been set up. As we put them
> into the boat and sent them off that is the last I saw of them. I
> assume that a helicopter took them to the Thai mainland to receive the
> help that they needed. Please pray for Mike and Adam. I gave Mike my
> email address. I would like more of a chance to share the love of
> Jesus with him and Adam some day.
>
> Then it was our turn to leave. Fortunately, we had everything in
> backpacks, so the walk to the pier climbing over the rubble was easier
> then if we were dragging suitcases. You have seen the pictures, we
> saw the destruction with our own eyes. We finally made it to the
> pier and began the wait. I myself was quite nervous about getting on
> the pier because there appeared to be about a thousand people on it
> and I was afraid it would collapse. Every 30 minutes or so a boat
> would come in a take about 50 people. More people kept coming to the
> pier. If we didn't get on the pier we wouldn't get evacuated, at
> least not anytime soon. After a prayer for wisdom we decided to go
> ahead and get on the pier. Low and behold, in about 30 minutes a very
> large ferry came and several hundred people were able to get on this.
> Our family was one of the last to get on. There was quite a bit of
> shoving and pushing to get on so it was a bit wild, but the Lord kept
> us together and we made the hour an a half boat ride to Phuket. From
> the dock we were taken to a processing center at the city hall. It was
> here that I was able to finally call my family and let everybody know
> that we were safe. This was over a day wait for many of our friends
> to hear this news. We are so appreciative of hearing about all of the
> people that were praying for us. I believe that God's hand was truly
> protecting us. Us being in our first choice of hotels or staying for
> breakfast a few minutes longer or going swimming a few minutes sooner
> and this letter would be very different. It was at the processing
> center that these thoughts overwhelmed me and the tears started to
> come. I don't mean to imply that my family or I am any better than
> any of those who lost their lives, but God has chosen to give us the
> gift of life and it is a gift we accept thankfully. I, also, feel
> strongly that God has said that we-my family-have more work to do here
> and we will continue to serve Him the rest of our days.
>
> From the processing center we were taken to the Phuket airport and
> amazingly we got on a flight to Bangkok that afternoon. The airport
> was packed with thousands trying to get home and I thought that there
> was no chance we would get out that day, but God surprised us with
> another blessing again. When we got to the hotel in Bangkok some
> missionary friends were there to greet us and we felt God's love and
> the love of brothers and sisters in Christ pouring over us.
>
> As we began to see the news reports we have become aware that many
> many people have had a much harder time then us. Please pray for the
> rescue and relief efforts that are ongoing and if possible please give
> a monetary gift to an organization which is doing relief work in the
> effected areas. Pray that Christians in those areas will take a
> leading role in caring for the millions in need.
>
> This is all for now.
>
> In Christ,
>
> Don, Lillian, Peter, Matthew, Andy, Olivia, and Megan Dwight