Called By My Name Called By My Name | Page 72

Soon afterward it was discovered that this was not an ordinary landslide, if it could even be called that. The mountain literally exploded and hundreds of tons of earth and rock flew through the air across the river and landed on top of the village houses. The houses weren’t pushed ahead by the earth; rather they were crushed and then rolled and tumbled by the force of the explosion before all the material came to rest on top of them. The earth was 15 to 25 feet deep over the village and part of the airstrip near the village. Al Pence talked to a geologist who worked about five miles away from the site helping develop a copper mine. He too had heard the sound of the explosion. Later he visited the site to confirm what had happened. Others reported there had been a significant earthquake in the area six months before. However, the geologist explained that there had been months of very wet weather in that area. There was a mountain opposite the village and a hundred feet below the top of it was a wide shelf with a stream at the back. Large amounts of water had been percolating down into the interior of the mountain for all the time of the rainy season. The explosion was precipitated by the firmer earth on the surface of this shelf beginning to collapse. The slurry of mud and rocks in the interior of the mountain was pressurized by this collapse and because it happened suddenly and with such tremendous force, the interior of the mountain literally exploded. The river between the mountain and the village was not blocked. Almost all the earth and material had flown over the river and landed directly on top of the village which was completely destroyed. There was no evidence by air that there had ever been a village in that location. Later, reflecting on this unusual explosion, Alan Healey, who with his wife Phyllis, were the “support team” for the Steinkrauses, wrote: … Other people have mentioned many little incidents that demonstrate very clearly that the Lord was preparing for the landslide on Sunday. At a time like this we are tempted to think perhaps of the landslide as the devil’s work, but the earth is the Lord’s and I am very sure that it was the beginning of some big thing that God is doing. Here are some of the reasons why I think so. 1. Vonnie returned to the tribe Friday and the landslide was Sunday, so they were all together when they went to meet the Lord. 70 | P a g e