On October 21, 1966, after heavy rain, a colliery spoil tip above the Welsh mining village of Aberfan collapsed onto Pantglas Junior School and the houses around it. 116 children and 28 adults died. Sixty years later, Christians who were there are telling their stories.
What they remember
- Methodist minister Irving Penberthy, now 96, was driving the other way when a thought kept coming: “you must turn back.” He says, “Looking back on it, I’d say it was the voice of God.”
- He went into the chapel with fathers, the dads of his own Sunday school kids, as they identified their children. The memory still brings him to tears.
- Churches became places of comfort for a village carrying a grief nobody should have to carry.
My take
I don’t have neat answers for a day like that, and I don’t think we’re supposed to pretend we do. But I notice the Holy Spirit nudging one pastor to turn the car around, so somebody would be in that chapel to weep with the fathers. That’s the God I know: close to the brokenhearted, sending His people right into the worst places. Today, let’s pray for Aberfan, and for anyone carrying a loss that still hasn’t healed.
Have a blessed day! And Happy Hacking!
