{"id":2236,"date":"2011-01-04T07:07:46","date_gmt":"2011-01-04T12:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=2236"},"modified":"2010-12-31T12:08:49","modified_gmt":"2010-12-31T17:08:49","slug":"january-5-11-2011-we-will-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/january-5-11-2011-we-will-live\/","title":{"rendered":"January 5-11, 2011–We Will Live!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Jay Gamelin, pastor at Jacob\u2019s Porch, a Lutheran campus mission to The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio<\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n

What are some rituals you do every day when you first get up; is there anything special you may do?\u00a0 Is there something you do every night before going to sleep?\u00a0 Where do these rituals come from?<\/p>\n

We Shall Live!<\/h3>\n
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photo by Carol Guzy\/Washington Post<\/p><\/div>\n

When the two women were trapped under the rubble, all was darkness.\u00a0 The earthquake had flattened their university classroom in Haiti and the five floors above them were now on top of them.\u00a0 Only the light of one cell phone showed the situation.\u00a0 One woman had her leg trapped; the other had just a small pocket of space amid the rubble in which to move.\u00a0 The two women had shared a class and knew each other\u2019s name.\u00a0 They became more than friends.\u00a0 They were companions through a terrible ordeal.<\/p>\n

For six days they took turns yelling for help.\u00a0 When they heard voices they knew it was day.\u00a0 When the voices were gone they assumed it must be night.\u00a0 They had nothing to drink and just a few crumbs from a cookie to eat.\u00a0 But the two prayed, sang hymns, talked about boys, and rested when they could.<\/p>\n

After six days, one woman said to the other, \u201cWe are not going to live.\u201d\u00a0 The other encouraged her to hang on and have hope.\u00a0 She began talking about their life ahead.\u00a0 She spoke of the conversations they would have in a year, remembering this time together.\u00a0 Suddenly, the world changed.\u00a0 Light poured in and they were pulled out.\u00a0 Malnourished, feeble–but alive, they separated on the way to health stations, hoping to see one another again.<\/p>\n

One year later, the women talk and reminisce about the horrific time in that small hole in the rubble.\u00a0 One woman is missing her leg; the other says she has nightmares.\u00a0 But they laugh when they meet. They still talk about boys.\u00a0 They remember that hope is what brought them through the valley of the shadow of death.<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n