The Day Ashes Covered the Sun
“It was frantic. People were panicking to get home as it turned dark all of a sudden when thick ash covered the sun.”
This was the scene Jennifer Pindo described on a January afternoon as she helped children gather their belongings and rush home with their parents. As the director of Shepherd Child Development Center, Jennifer had always been aware of the danger the volcano meant for the families living in the vicinity. But today, she realized that imminent danger had turned into a very present one.
“I was afraid and sad when we had to leave our home for safety, but I know God will make bad things good.”
- Dominic
Dominic was one of the children Jennifer sent home that day. The 11-year-old had grown up in the shadow of the Mayon Volcano. But as the mountain glowed orange, Dominic and his family did their best to gather up a few belongings — clothes, birth certificates, Bibles and Dominic’s letters from his sponsor.
“Those items are important to us and so we made sure to keep them safe,” says Alicia, Dominic’s mother.
As Dominic hiked up the hill toward the evacuation center he wondered “Why does Jesus allow volcanoes to destroy people’s homes?” But then, he remembered what he had learned from Jennifer and the rest of the staff at the Compassion center.
“I realized that Jesus protects and takes care of us at the same time,” says Dominic. “I was afraid and sad when we had to leave our home for safety, but I know God will make bad things good.”
For the next several weeks, Dominic and 273 other families from the Shepherd Child Development Center lived in temporary shelters that Compassion worked with the local government to secure. Because of your support of Partners of Compassion, staff were able to check on families regularly, providing food, water, clothes and prayers.
That support will continue. Many adults are struggling to find work, including Dominic’s father, who worked in a quarry that was damaged by the volcano. Compassion has not abandoned them. And never will.
It was a month after the eruption, on Dominic’s birthday, that the church that operated his Compassion center was able to reopen. Dominic stood there, surrounded by his friends, and had one special birthday prayer.
“For my birthday this year, I just wished that no one would get hurt,” says Dominic.
Thank you for helping Dominic’s birthday prayer come true.