Friday 16 April 2010

A Fiery Post

We had just begun our Sunday morning
worship service when we
were told that there was a big commotion
near the Parsonage gate.
A wooded area in front of the Parsonage
was on fire.The neighbours were
worried it would spread to their homes.
We stopped our service and tried to douse
the flames rapidly licking up the
dry trees, bushes and grass.
In the meantime a neighbour called
the fire brigade.And they arrived
within 15 minutes, which is
a miracle in itself.
See the fire truck outside the gate.
It took more than a hour to
extinguish the flames. We pumped
water till the electricity lasted (10 am)
The fire truck also ran out of water.
We resorted to the bucket brigade too ,
but praise God the danger was over
after a good bit of work.
This is a second fire incident on our campus.
A few days ago our back yard was on fire
My mother saw it and called
Jags , our church groundskeeper to help
put it out. Some of our banana trees were destroyed.
The cause of the fires could be
accidental or intentional.
We just don 't know.
All we know is in both cases
God protected us.
The God who answered Elijah with fire
saved Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego from the fiery flames.
This Chandi ( official name Shristi)
She is wearing a million dollar dress.
Notice the $ pin on the side.
All richly dressed for church.
Milka also wanted to be photographed
with her friend.
Chandi has a horse shoe pin too.
I suppose her parents don 't know what it is
and that it stands for good luck.
Many people in India wouldn 't.
A horse shoe isn 't considered lucky here
(but is a $ is- if you posses it LOL)
Chandi is a spunky little gal and
sings special numbers in church with Milka.
Her parents are awaiting baptism.
Yesterday it was 45*c -112* F (plus)
But our lillies are making an appearance.
The roses have withered.
We have many heat resistant trees and flowers.
Wish we were heat resistant too.
On Tuesday we had a lot of electricity trouble.
It took a great toll on my mind, body and soul.
After an unscheduled power outage
everybody got their current back but us.
I just panic when this happens.
I send desperate prayers to God as the
supply people are not helpful. In a situation
like this I pray a very selfish or
even a malicious prayer
in my desperation,
'Oh Lord, why only us,please
let everybody 's power go off,
then there will be a greater chance of
it being restored '.
Has anybody prayed for their neighbourhood
lights to go off?
Anyway at past 10 pm, Pastor came out
for an after dinner walk.
He jiggled my fuse box and got the
current back.
After a while darkness fell on
the whole area
and only after 11.15pm we
were given relief.
It took me an hour to recover from this trauma.

14 Fertilize my soul:

Debra said...

Wow Amrita, how scary about the fires and all. So thankful that no one was hurt and hopefully no one done this on purpose.

Will pray with you that your power outages will be very few my friend.
Hope you are cool today.

Blessings

Nadwrażliwiec said...

It's good that You managed to put out this fire... It is very hot, perhaps this is the reason? But there is no impact on weather.
Thank God, that Pastor is health.
God bless You and Your Church.

Felisol said...

Dear Amrita,
You are guarded by his angles too.
Sometimes it's hard to realize, when it's burning or one's el.power is shut down.
He is there, with you all the time.

Daughter Serina feels unfairly treated, because the volcano ash from Iceland prevented her and her class mates from embarking on a greater Europe trip.
Yesterday she said, "but Mom, it would have been worse if we already were abroad when the ash came, and could not get home."
Good for you that the fire started when the church was filled with people and in working hours for the fire brigade.
Luke 20:19"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."
Peace be with you, sister Amrita,
From Felisol

Sita said...

I love how God watched over you, Amrita. Even the fire brigade coming in 15 mins! I'm reading Killing Fields, Living Fields--a story of the Cambodian church and I marvel how God works differently--reveals Himself in different ways--in different times, cultures, peoples--just the way that is needed in His wisdom.

In the Beth Moore study on Revelation, she observed that John (the author) had a history of allowing his conceptions of Christ to be altered. He became the kind of man to whom God revealed Himself. That's what I want to be.

Amrita, this verse seems appropriate for you right now:
1 Peter 1:7 (Amplified Bible)

7So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.

Thank you for revealing Jesus to us. (I linked back to you when I discussed this.)
Blessings on your week.
Love, Sita

the mother of this lot said...

Hi Amrita. Hope things have cooled down a little and that there is no more trouble with your electricity for a while.

Anonymous said...

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze". Isaiah 43:2 couldn't help thinking about that verse.....will continue to pray for you, my sister....

Amrita said...

Thank you dear friends for your prayers and encouragement.
The problem recurred last night again between 8.45 and 11 pm.

I passed the black out time by
massaging my arthritic joints with oil ( have quite a bit of pain in my right shoulder and arm and fnees) Later I read Roald Dahl by lamp light.

Dear Felisol I heard about the flight disruption all over Europe. Hope the problem is diminishing by now.

Gerry said...

Gosh, it must be hard to have it so hot and a fire break out, too. In Phoenix I have lived places in the past where a power outage would occur quite often in 110 degrees. We would all suffer until it was restored. Our power has been very consistent in late years. But back east I see the power often being disrupted by savage storms. Monsoon storms cause power outages here, too, when power poles are toppled over.
Our complex is next to 3 bars and on Saturday night there is a lot of sounds of revelry when the alcohol is flowing freely.
You must wonder sometimes if there is any Christian evangelical religion here. There is here and there and people who are involved talk different, they talk in the language of the Christian religion. I was very surprised when I came out of Utah to go to some of these churches to find people talking like that. I had lived all my life in Utah where people you might say talk in the Mormon language.
However I was raised in a family where alcohol was a big problem. I would say that originally these were the 'lost boys' which was a natural outcome of polygamy. Polygamy was practiced for many years in Utah before it became a state so the 'lost boys' existed as boys who were the result of not having enough women to go around when the more powerful men of property might be marrying six or seven wives or more. However this problem created by Mother Nature with male and female children occurring pretty much in even numbers. This would suggest to me that polygamy is not the most effective way for a society to develop all members. It pits the strong against the weak. And in this case the 'weak' would be members who rebelled, tended to drink alcohol and break rules of their society.
I would say alcoholics are generally the 'lost boys' of any society, so there is always a big problem in reaching them.
I hope your power does not continue to present danger to your health. Power outages here are feared, too, when we are in the hot season.

Amrita said...

Thank for your comment Gerry.

Our infra sructure breaks down becasue it is not strong enough to siport the burgeoning population and poor upkeep and security.

Last night a cable snapped somewhere Today (Sunday) also we are having trouble.

Wha t to do we just learn to live with it. Its like living in a semi war zone.

It sad to see how the of sin has devasted socoety-whether it is polygamy or alchoholism or religious hypocrysy. It prevails everywhere.

We have to surrender our lives to God and live according to His word to find peace and rest and forgiveness of sins.

Holly, the Old Western Gal said...

Amrita, I know it is hard and I certainly don't know much about India and how things are there, but I will say that I feel India is poised to become a greater power in the world, and soon, with these problems controlled by better infrastructure. Too long India has been ignored by the European nations and the U.S. who are just happy that it's a democracy and a good country. The money and help seems to pour into the naughty countries. But the world needs Indian brains now, that's the long and short of it.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Praise the Lord that all of you including the firemen were able to put out the fire in your place, otherwise your whole neighborhood could have gone up in smoke. No wonder that it is so easy for fire to break out in India when the temperature is at a scorching 45 degrees celsius. My God, that is almost nearing the boiling point. And to think that we were crying because of extreme heat here in the Philippines because of El Nino when our temperature is just about 36 to 38 degrees celsius. We are still blessed in this particular area of our lives. The scorching heat and the declining water levels in dams always result in reduce electric reserve and consequently, frequent brownouts. That is also a common happenstance here in the Philippines. I am praying for you, your family and your church. Thanks for the post. God bless you all always.

N Abram said...

Dear Amrita, I am so glad to hear that this fire was put out pretty quickly..it must have been so scary! Praise the Lord. Thinking about you. this is to cheer you up
Psalm 32:11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! Hug. Nicky

monsoon dreams said...

amrita,i'm glad that u are safe.
those lil girls are so cute!
dear,am sad today.sashi tharoor resigned.i believe he hasnt done anything wrong.when criminals can be ministers,why not an upright person like him?ah!

Amrita said...

The Lord 's hand of protection is upon us dear friends.

MD my dear, I am really sad about the Shashi Tharoor saga. I am so sorry he had to resign. Maybe his girlfriend did him in. Anyway this IPL business irritates me. The rich are getting fat on it while children a few kms away from my city are eating mud laced with silica to stave off hunger- you must have read about the Ganne village. And today I read in HT that people of the Banda dist. on the MP border are eating mahua flowers.

Shame on our politicians.