5.12.08 Mourning Earthquake Victims, Sichuan China

This past monday the worst natural disaster in 30 years hit China, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan China, claiming tens of thousands of lives in about 2 minutes. It is an unbelievable tragedy, especially with news of so many deaths among students, when thousands of schools collapsed, burying in some schools the entire student body under concrete rubbles. In many counties an entire generation of the young is lost forever. The parents' grief for their only child is intense and their anger so painful.

As I read the news reports of what has been unfolding in the past week, I can't imagine nor comprehend the immeasurable loss and hopelessness so many are experiencing. Here are a few bits of what I have read online. Please pray for the victims who lost so very much and for the relief workers who continue to find survivors, even a week after the devastation began. The courage of those who gave their lives to protect their children, students and loved ones inspires me to live and love without abandon. May their lives not be lost in vain, but live on to inspire this generation of what it means to truly love, live and sacrifice.
Parents mourning over the body of their child, found in the school's collapsed rubbles.

An 11 year old boy carried his 3 year old sister on his back, walking for over 12 hours to flee to safety with their grandparents. He said he loves his sister very much. His parents are migrant workers who were out of town when the quake hit.

A wife wipes her husband's body in grief. He was a teacher who covered his own body over 4 students to protect them from falling debris. All 4 students survived but this teacher did not.

These parents are grieving near the site where their child died.

A husband hold onto his pregnant wife who had just been rescued from under the rubbles.

A volunteer holds a 1 year old boy who was rescued from the rubbles, he was thrown out by his grandparents just before they died to save him. Many thought he was an orphan until his parents, who saw news reports of him on t.v., were finally reunited with their son after 3 days.

Paying a final respect to his wife, this husband strapped her body to himself so he could take her to a cremation site to give her a proper burial, he was not going to let her be buried by the rubbles.