Several fires burned in Sicily (Italy) in recent weeks. Saturday, August 3rd, was a sad Sabbath for the Seventh-day Adventist church in Monreale, a town near Palermo.
"A terrible fire broke out last night and destroyed the mountain above the town, attacking the homes of three families of our church. The fire burned one of the houses to the ground and rendered the other two unusable,” came the explanation from Pastor Constantin Dinca, director of the Sicilian Field of the Italian Union of Churches Conference.
“All they worked for their whole life disappeared in a nightmare of a dark night and flames, in which tears mixed with dust and smoke.” He added, “We have no words but the encouragement from Deuteronomy 31:8 which we have been telling ourselves since last night: ‘And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed’.”
Arson is suspected in the fires that flared up around Palermo at the same time, according to the forest rangers of Sicily. On the island, the flames burned 356 hectares of Mediterranean scrub in just three days. Sixty hectares of wood, three houses, and an unspecified number of cars are the first evidences of damage assessed from the fires that have surrounded Monreale on Friday night, August 2nd. Part of the 70 evacuees have already returned to their homes.
"We thank God that the Adventist families are safe as well as all the residents of the town. We also thank God for the firefighters and the volunteers who worked throughout the night tirelessly," said Past. Dinca.
“Now it is necessary to rebuild. The affected families built their only asset with difficulty and sacrifices. We especially need your prayers and thank you for your support,” he ended.
