Thank you from the ‘Dana’ disaster zone of Valencia

Because of everything we experienced here in what they call “ground zero” of the DANA, we almost missed the date. I was saying goodbye here in Paiporta to my friend Chus, who came from Barcelona for 4 days with a work permit to serve as a volunteer. As he said goodbye, he told me that his goal was to get home in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family.

Now that my schedule and routines have totally blurred, I hadn’t even realised that we are already at this time of the year.

And yet, don’t those of us who live here in the Horta Sud region of Spain where the water destroyed so much still have reasons to give thanks? I think we have. These are some that came to my mind today.

1. Thanks for God’s mercy. We are well, He has protected us. That afternoon, my wife and our girls’ dance teacher decided to suspend the class because of the strong wind, although the official notice would arrive hours later. I decided not to go down to the underground parking lot to take the car out. None of the 70 neighbours in our building were missing, nor are there any fatalities among friends we have in town. More than 60 people lost their lives in our town Paiporta alone, a figure that is hard to assimilate. But as a father of the school who joined the Guardia Civil looking for survivors told me, only in our neighborhood there were dozens of rescues that night.

2. Thank you for the glimpses of the Creator in every neighbour. In the midst of the chaos, we have all seen “the best of the human being”, as they say: the ‘imago Dei’, as theologians define it. The neighbours who sheltered people from the first floors in their homes. Those who went out to unblock the muddy doors. The one who called his fellow firefighters in other parts of Spain to come urgently. The one who delivered medicines in a shopping cart because the pharmacies were wrecked. The one who got bilge pumps from his contacts, the one who called his friend with the 4x4 to help drag destroyed cars out. The one who organised the urgent arrival in the neighborhood of boots, bleach, hot food. The one who walked to the emergency military command post outside of town to ask for help... Everyone did what they do best in those early days, every neighbour showed aspects of God’s character.

And all this not to mention the volunteers who crossed from Valencia over the footbridge of the Turia river to come and do what the authorities had not yet managed to organise.

Esta mañana a las 7'25h recibiendo a amigos de la iglesia, los primeros que han entrado en Paiporta al salir el sol. Agradecido por poder ser familia en medio del desastre. Material para unas 5 familias, amigos y vecinos que no tienen familiares cerca. pic.twitter.com/jGnSH2QPc4

— Joel Forster (@joelfwal) November 1, 2024

3. Thank you for the church. What a great idea of God to create this almost infinite body! It is impossible to count all the expressions of affection we have received. Hundreds of people identifying with what we have experienced, honestly expressing their prayers, their lament, and their support. It has been overwhelming and at the same time something that has sustained us in moments of emotional downturn. Our local church in Valencia, who on the second day arrived with 2 cars at dawn to bring water, food and toilet paper for our family and a few others. The church of Medina del Campo in Valladolid that brought women’s boots to distribute in the neighbourhood. Those from Alicante who parked in the rain and crossed Paiporta in the mud with boxes of Kärcher cleaners on their shoulders.

The transports coordinated by the churches of Valencia city that responded accurately to the changing needs of the day to day, in contact with the believers on the ground. The friends who gave me the courage to empty the storage room full of mud. The ones who came by bike to take dirty clothes and bring them back clean. Those who came simply with sweets and the desire to talk and pray. And the church also at the international level, which has given generously to help people who have lost much more than a car or a storage room.

4. Thank you for the laughter of the children. Some families took them home to grandparents, others have stayed. But all the ‘nens i nenes’ (as we say in Valencian language) have lived all this in first person. A month later, there are no parks to go to in my neighborhood and no school has opened. And yet, what an answer to prayers are their joy, their games, their drawings of firemen and tractors, their songs, even when they fight. I will remember well the excursion by shuttle-bus 20 days after the flood to go to a playground in Valencia city for the first time. Crossing the bridge with the girls and finding the tranquility of normality, them climbing the “castles” and on the swings, us parents watching with a smile and enjoying the calm of a place without mud or sirens.

Today, 3 weeks after de floods in #Valencia. An update from the town centre of Paiporta, where parents ask for the reopening of schools and much has changed but the confusion and anxiety continues among neighbours. pic.twitter.com/5WNTeWNP0q

— Evangelical Focus (@Evan_Focus) November 19, 2024

5. Thank you for living in a country with resources. It is true, everything in the public system failed that day, and the frustration is very great in our towns. And yes, how unbearable how in Spain even a natural disaster is seen by some, especially on social media, as just another excuse to throw mud at the adversary. Government aid arrived very late, and even today we still have many questions. But despite all this, I am thankful to live in a country that has tools to respond and a system that, although slowly, works. Thank you for the aid available to those affected. And thank you for the mayor of my town, and her work in the midst of so much tension. I am also thankful for the authorities at higher levels, including the president of the Valencian Community region, who like all the other government officials has been burdened these weeks with the stress and pressure of his own mistakes in a situation that overwhelmed absolutely everyone.

6. Finally, I give thanks for the good news of the Gospel. The most read children’s book in our home in the days leading up to the flood (and also the first few nights after the!), was one called “Seven Promises” by Rebecca Paramio, a believer here in Valencia. In a simple way, it features a Bible verse on each page, with a rainbow colour. Reading this little book with my daughters before bedtime was my main dose of Bible after the disaster, when it was hard to concentrate because of anxiety. “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), was written on one of the pages, adding: “God is always at your side”. Another: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1)”, which points to the fact that “God gives you everything you need”. It is fascinating to see how the Word of God shines without rival in times of despair and fear like the present.

So yes, it is Thanksgiving Day, even in Paiporta or Picanya, Alfafar, Aldaia, Massanassa, Benetússer, Sedaví, La Torre, Castellar, Riba-Roja...

The Bible calls us to give thanks at all times and in all places. The first supermarket in Paiporta re-opened two days ago, just in time to buy a good meal. I’m already looking forward to hearing the reasons for thanksgiving from those of us who will be sitting at the table.

Joel Forster, director of Evangelical Focus.