What must be going through the minds of 33 Chilean miners who are trapped 2,300 feet below the surface of the Earth?
They must be wondering whether they will survive the three- or four-month process that it reportedly will take for rescue crews to reach them and pull them to freedom – through a 26-inch-wide hole that is being dug! The trip from the depths of the silver and gold mine to freedom and fresh air will take an estimated one hour per miner.
Conditions in the mine are difficult, to say the least. It is hot and damp, and there is only artificial light. And the anxious waiting!
Incredibly, the men survived 17 days before they could even make contact with the outside world. They somehow endured during that time period on what were supposed to be only enough rations for 48 hours. They had to dig into the ground to get water. Now, there are three small bore holes through which they are being supplied food, water and medicine from the surface.
But the situation is still highly unpredictable. The men will not be able to wait passively for rescue. They will have to clear away thousands of tons of rock that surely will fall as a result of the drilling that is necessary to reach them.
To their credit, they are showing amazing courage in awful adversity.
“I’ll never leave you. I will fight to the end to be with you,” one of the miners vowed to his family in brief video recordings that the men were able to make and send to loved ones. He seemed to reflect the views of the rest of the miners.
We offer prayers of thanksgiving for their survival so far, as well as prayers that they will be freed soon from their dark prison far beneath the Earth.