Time of Storm

On July 27, twenty men came to complete the roof of the Wahiawa church.  They finished all of the roofing and attached the roof cap with adhesive.

Monday July 29 when hurricane Flossie hit the island one end of the roof cap whipped loose.  Pastor John knew that he had to save the church from rain damage and the steel ridge from ripping entirely off.  He tried to reach someone for help but could not.  He went up alone.  He tied himself off from their house and worked with his weight harnessed over the peak of the church roof.  Cold rain was falling at 4 inches per hour.  Thunder and lightning filled the fast moving clouds and wind whipped the steel around like a flag.  Pastor John managed to safely get the ridge screwed down, but as he headed off the roof, he slipped on the wet surface.  The safety rope attached to his harness broke his fall.  But he hung upside down suspended from the rope screaming for help in the rain for 15 minutes before a neighbor boy saw him and came to his rescue.

Pastor John said, “God is faithful.  I am unharmed.”

This past Saturday Pastor John and Ryan, a lay member of the church finished the job of screwing down the remaining roof cap.  Praise the Lord, the roof is completed.

Next week a commercial company is coming to put up the gutters.

God timed our trip to get the roof on before the storm.

Psalm 32:7 For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.

These lyrics was written by a British pastor, Vernon John Charlesworth 1880:

The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide,
A Shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide,
A Shelter in the time of storm.
The raging storms may round us beat,
A Shelter in the time of storm
We’ll never leave our safe retreat,
A Shelter in the time of storm

Bonnie Young