January 3, 2005 - Tsunami! Prayer Still Protects!

Send To Printer
Tsunami! Prayer Still Protects!
By Kim Bassin
January 3, 2005

From: Kim Bassin
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 12:33 PM
To: "Undisclosed-Recipient:

Hi Everyone!

First of all, thank you for all the love and concern. And most of all, continual prayers for our safety here in India. Second, we are all fine, safe and sound, thanks to God and His miraculous powers.

Most of you have heard by now of the earthquake that hit near Indonesia, and caused tidal waves and many deaths in many places, including India. Well, here is a testimony of what prayer can do and how God protects His people.

Randy and I were asked to speak at a church on Sunday morning. This church is located on an island just off the coast of Cochin, the city we live in. We left our house this morning at 8:30 a.m., left the children at home so that they didn't have such a busy and tiring day, as they were still quite tired after all the Christmas celebration here. The service started at 10:00 and the people worshipped and sang for the first 30 minutes. The Indians that we have been in service with don't just do the token few songs and simple prayers. These people sing from their bellies, with everything they've got, and also get lost in worship to God. It's beautiful to see.

Randy had just gotten up to speak and had read his portion of scripture that he was going to preach from when I noticed a lady from the house next door run past the church building (this was more of a shelter rather than a church building, as the sides were open. There was only a tin roof over our head and grass mats spread out on the pure white sand that lines these beaches). She ran back to her house and then in a panic summoned the pastor over to the window where she was. She said something to him and just then I heard many voices from down the road yelling and shouting. People began to run past us on the road and through their yards that surrounded the shelter where we were. I saw ladies running to find their children and grabbing babies and running with them. Men were throwing bags and things on top of roofs and taking clothes off the lines as quickly as they could. I did not know what was happening.

Peace in the Storm
My first thought was that maybe the worship was too loud and there was an angry mob coming to stop us or worse yet, to hurt us. I felt such fear and I began to pray and ask for God to place angels around us and protect us. Just then Randy said, “There's some sort of disturbance out there, we need to pray.” Many of the people had already heard what was happening and they began to weep and travail before God. I looked and some were face down on the grass mats. One lady that spoke English said to me, “The sea is overflowing the island.” I did not understand exactly, but knew we could be in great danger as this island was very narrow, less than half a mile wide, and we were about 500 yards from the ocean. I could see the ocean faintly through some coconut trees.

We began to call on the Creator of the seas and the universe to stop the water from coming in on us. After a while of praying we noticed that a calm had settled on us and also on the neighbors that were around us. Not many people were running anymore. We continued on with service and we could feel God's presence there in such a special way.

After service ended, we walked out of the shelter and learned that waves were so big and fierce that they had broken the sea wall down and three people had drowned just near where we were having service. At this time it was about 12:30 p.m.

We walked out of the little fence that is in front of the shelter and could not believe how much water was all around us. Where we had walked in on dry ground was now wet with standing water in some places. I looked down at the ground and noticed a clear line that marked where the water stopped. It had stopped about 10 feet away from the church entrance and then it had receded.

We had to walk through some puddles and mud in some places in order to get back to the main road and to our vehicles. We stopped and had lunch at the pastor’s house. The police kept calling on the loud speakers for everyone to evacuate and leave the island by 3 p.m. It was now 2 p.m.

Before leaving, we walked out to the edge of the ocean and were astonished to see the large sea walls completely broken down in places. These walls are about 15 feet high and made of very large rocks, as you can see by the photos. As we stood there, the waters began to rise again and we knew we needed to leave at once.

Escape to the Mainland
Driving back to the mainland was difficult, as the roads were flooded and many vehicles were stalled. The fishermen were also blocking traffic trying to get their boats off the edge of the shore and onto the roads. We arrived back home safe and sound and thanked God for keeping the waters from overtaking us and for His divine protection. We realized what a great miracle God had done when we came home and learned of the magnitude of the tidal waves from the earthquake and of the damage and deaths that had occurred all around us.

We received a phone call tonight that the waves crashed in and broke more of the sea walls down (twice more) after we left the island. There is much damage and flooding there, but we are happy to report that the little church shelter that we were in just this very morning has remained unharmed and completely without any water damage. The entire island is amazed. Praise God. He is so awesome. The island is talking about what a miracle this is and now they know there is something different about this church!

Love,

The Bassins

From: Kim Bassin
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 11:16 AM

By the way, we went back today (Tuesday) to the island and the villages where we were on Sunday to see if there was anyway we could help anyone or pray for anyone. I am happy to report that after subsequent tsunamis the little church shelter remains unharmed while many of the other churches and houses have massive water damage or are completely destroyed. We went to one house where a wedding party was taking place yesterday and the tsunamis returned. There were 800 guests there. The family told us today that it seemed as though the water came straight up out of the ocean and immediately their house was filled with water. The food and decorations were washed away and people scattered to run to safety. The ones with little children gathered them quickly and hung them from the rafters in the ceiling so that they would not drowned in the house. The water was half way up the walls and the children hung there until it was safe to come down. I could not believe how much mud and debris had washed into this house. The front yard was also filled with large rocks that once was the sea wall that protected them. My heart was so deeply touched as we stood there with this family praying. The tears flowed down their cheeks as they prayed and worshipped God for sparing their lives. Everything they had, which was not much, is completely gone or destroyed, and yet they remain so tender and loving toward God.

The entire island is still talking about the miracle God did on the island, and how He has protected all the people in that church and even the church building. The pastor of that church is very busy reaching out and helping others now and says many are coming to him wanting to know about his church. We are believing God for a great revival on this island. So, out of this flood can come a fire! Praise God!

Thank you for your concern and prayers. We thank God and so do our children that we have such a great God that can control nature. We would have easily been washed off that island if it hadn't been for His mighty hand and His mercy.

And, by the way, everyone keeps asking about our home. We live in Cochin (Kochi), which is on the south-western coast of India. It is such a large city that our house is about a 30 minute drive from the coast, so we are out of harm’s way. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek God's direction in reaching out to help some of these people.

Love,

Kim

ninetyandnine.com

----------

Randy and Kim Bassin now live in India, having arrived there from Michigan in 2004.