Home
'We Realized Something Was Very Different'
BANGKOK, THAILAND (December 30, 2004) - The following is a first-person
account from Don and Lillian Dwight, Evangelical Covenant Missionaries
who were vacationing with their children on Phi Phi Island, off the
coast of Thailand, when the tsumani struck the island Sunday morning.
By Don and Lillian Dwight
So much has transpired in the last few days and so many Christians all
over the world have been praying for us that we wanted to take this
opportunity 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 our 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 a.m. 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 that 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 . . . 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. They were from London. One
other British couple who had met them the day before were also very
helpful and stayed with them 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 (the father and son) and Trish's (the wife'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
than 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 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 and 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.
In about 30 minutes, a very large ferry came and several hundred people
were able to get on. 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 and a half boat ride to
Phuket. From the dock we were taken to a processing center at 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's wait for many of our
friends to hear this news. We are so appreciative of hearing about all
of the people who were praying for us.
I believe that God's hand was truly protecting 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 are
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. 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 than us. Please pray for the
rescue and relief efforts that are ongoing and, if possible, please give
a monetary gift to an organization (Covenant World Relief) that is doing
relief work in the affected areas (see related story for details on how
to donate to Covenant World Relief's efforts). Pray that Christians in
those areas will take a leading role in caring for the millions in need.
In Christ, Don, Lillian, Peter, Matthew, Andy, Olivia and Megan Dwight
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
