Cell Leaders in the Midst of Tragedy

by | Jul 24, 2008 | Cell Church Ministry | 0 comments

marioby Mario Vega

On the night of July 3rd one of the buses that was bringing back home several families of our church was dragged by an overflowed river. The tragedyCROSS happened a few minutes after 9 pm.

About three hours later I was at the place where the bus had disappeared swallowed by the overflowed river channel. Around 40 buses had taken people to the churches’ celebration service that night. How could we know who were the probable victims riding that bus?

Each of the buses that carry people to the church are hired by sectors of 1 to 5 cells each. The bus of this tragedy had been hired by two sectors headed by a supervisor each. One of the supervisors was inside the bus and the other one was a little further back driving his own car.

Right after the incident the pastor of that area began to make a list of missing persons based on the information that is handled through the cell leaders. At about 2 a.m. there was already a preliminary list of 23 missing people. As the supervisors continued to contact the rest of the leaders the list continued to grow.

When it was nearly dawn the number of missing persons had risen to 31. We had their names and ages. The information was collected through the cell structure.

In the early hours of the next day, the Red Cross contacted me to ask if we had a missing persons list. I handed to them the full list of 31 people with their names and ages. They were surprised by the accuracy of our information and received it with disbelief. Unfortunately, the days that followed only served to confirm that our information was correct. Our 31 brethren died in the tragedy.

If it wasn’t for the cell structure it would had taken a lot of time to identify the victims from among the thousands that went to church that night in the same type of transportation. The closeness and intimacy that small meetings in houses allow is useful even in the middle of a tragedy.
Mario

Translation in Spanish:
Lderes celulares en medio de la tragedia.

La noche del pasado 3 de julio uno de los autobuses que llevaba de regreso a casa a varias familias de nuestra iglesia fue arrastrado por un ro desbordado. La tragedia sucedió unos minutos después de las 9 de la noche.

Unas tres horas después me encontraba en el lugar donde el bus haba desaparecido tragado por el cauce desbordado del ro. Esa noche alrededor de 40 autobuses haban llevado personas a la celebración en la iglesia. ¿Cómo saber quiénes eran las probables vctimas que iban en aquel autobús?

Cada uno de los autobuses que llevan a las personas a la iglesia son contratados por sectores de 1 a 5 células cada uno. El bus de la tragedia haba sido contratado por dos sectores a cargo de un supervisor cada uno. Uno de los supervisores se encontraba dentro del transporte y el otro viajaba un poco más atrás en su vehculo particular.

Al darse el incidente el pastor de esa zona comenzó a levantar una lista de los desaparecidos sobre la base de la información que manejan a través de los lderes de células. A eso de las 2 de la madrugada se tena ya elaborada una lista preliminar de 23 personas desaparecidas. En la medida que los supervisores continuaban contactando a los demás lderes la lista continuaba extendiéndose.

Ya casi amaneciendo el número de personas desaparecidas haba subido a 31. Tenamos sus nombres y edades. La información se haba recolectado por medio de la estructura de células.

En las primeras horas del nuevo da, la Cruz Roja me contactó para preguntarme si tenamos un listado de desaparecidos. Les entregué el listado completo de 31 personas con sus nombres y edades. Ellos se sorprendieron de la exactitud de nuestra información y la recibieron con incredulidad. Lastimosamente, los das que siguieron solamente sirvieron para confirmar que nuestra información era correcta. Nuestros 31 hermanos fallecieron en la tragedia.

Si no fuese por la estructura celular hubiese tomado mucho tiempo identificar a las vctimas de entre los millares que esa noche fueron a la iglesia en el mismo tipo de transporte. La cercana e intimidad que permiten las pequeñas reuniones en casas es útil hasta en medio de la tragedia.

 

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joelcomiskey

joelcomiskey

Joel Comiskey, Ph.D., founder of JCG Resources

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