OKWUeagle.com

A injured man carries his dead daughter. (Reuters)

by Ishanose Omofoma
OKWUeagle.com Staff Writer

When tragedy strikes, chaos settles and worlds become disrupted. Confusion and uncertainty become the norm and hearts find peace inconceivable. Coping seems impossible, and the eerie sadness of tragedy inescapable.

So what do we do?

How do we find hope in a situation that appears to be so hopeless?

How can we find light when we’ve become blinded by so much darkness?

“Death is a really tough thing to grasp, but having people to surround yourself with who will comfort and give direction is so important. As for Haiti, the only thing I know for them to have hope, is to hope in each other,” said Oklahoma Wesleyan University freshman Sara Teel.

“I have never been through a tragedy like they have experienced, but I know that hoping in the Lord and trusting he will provide can at least give a little hope,” Teel said. “And keep praying for restoration, keep praying for teams to come and help repair.”

It is a truth universally acknowledged that light has the power to drive out darkness. In this tragic circumstance that unraveled in Haiti we find just that.

Six days after the January 12th earthquake severely devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Haitian Roger Samfour returned once again to the bank where his wife was working the day the earthquake struck to search for her. He believed his wife was still alive beneath the rubble, according to Jeffrey Brown of PBS News.

On this sixth day, Roger and other searchers heard tapping within the crumbled building.

Miraculously, it was Janette Samfour, Roger’s wife. Brown reports that three grueling hours after Janette was discovered alive beneath the rubble, Las Angeles rescue crews were able to release her from the rubble.

“Do not fear death!” Janette sang as she was being pulled from the rubble of the bank.

Associated Press reports an estimated 250,000 houses and 30,000 commercials buildings collapsed in the January 12, 2010 quake. (Galen R. Frysinger / www.theodora.com)

Her husband was one of thousands of relatives all over the destroyed city of Port-au-Prince hoping that as search and rescue personnel dug through the rubble family members would miraculously be found alive.

Amazingly, this came true for the Samfour’s.

After being released, Janette’s broken fingers were bandaged and she was given an IV for dehydration. Overwhelmed with happiness, Janette’s husband took her home that night.

Janette believed from the beginning that she would live; she said she knew God would save her.

Holding on to faith is challenging under trying circumstances.
“When one of my friends died tragically in a car accident caused by someone on drugs it was difficult to find hope,” said Eden Brown, sophomore. “Ultimately it came down to the realization that the resurrection of Jesus is symbolic of what God can do today. That even in the darkest of times our God is a God that can raise us from the dead.”

“He can bring life out of every situation,” Brown said.

The story of the Samfour’s, reported by PBS News, is one of many miraculous stories that have come out of Haiti. However, many of the stories that have been written on this devastation have been filled with sorrow and heartache.

Reports from Haiti echo with the question: “Where is God in the midst of this tragedy?”

Even so, American Online news staff tells us of another story of faith.

Dan Woolley, an American father, was trapped under six floors in a Haiti hotel for 65 hours. Even in the moment that Woolley thought he was going to die, he said he knew that God was with him.

“God was present with me, and he decided that he wanted me to survive,” Woolley said after his rescue. He is now home with is family in Colorado.

Ben Rotz, Assistant Vice President for Student Development at OKWU, believes that finding the light in such dark times comes in the simplicity of remembering something greater than himself, and finding this immeasurable greatness in those around him.

“For me, I’m reminded of the presence of Christ through the people around me who point to something transcendent; beyond the darkness,” Rotz said.

Haiti is still facing many hurdles before any sense of normalcy can return. Orphaned children have been seen being lured into the grips of sexual predators who claim that they have food for them, and are then taken away and not seen again. Hundreds of thousands are still fighting disease, starvation, and homelessness. It’s a race against time making plans to move the over 600,000 homeless before the rain and hurricane season hits.

It’s a difficult challenge, but one that must be faced.