Lessons from a Miraculous Rescue

This week, the world has followed with amazement of the miraculous rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped for 69 days in a collapsed mine nearly a half mile underground. Last night like many Americans, I watched with wonder the inspiring news reports about this daring rescue effort. It was refreshing to hear of the unified effort that transpired both underground with the miners and above ground with the rescue workers.

It has been reported that when the mine initially collapsed that there were a number of chaotic and confusing days. These first few days appeared to include some pretty intense disagreements between the miners, but eventually the group of workers came together with an incredible unity. The unity was attributed to strong leadership of the 54 year-old foreman, Luis Urzua and the miners’ collective focus of surviving in spite of their dangerous situation.

Above ground the Chilean government carried out a successful rescue effort attributed to their willingness to act with urgency and with humility. Their urgency was demonstrated through successfully redirecting the necessary resources to aid in this project (an estimated one million dollars per miner). Humility was seen in their willingness to accept help from numerous foreign countries including equipment, expertise, supplies, and volunteers.

As I reflect on this successful effort, I believe there are many inspirational lessons to observe from this good news story. One lesson is that a truly unified effort among people can accomplish what at first glance seems impossible. Secondly, for people to remain unified and focused, it takes strong, consistent leadership. In the case of the miners, their foreman (Urzua) demonstrated selfless leadership throughout the ordeal insisting on being the last man to be pulled to the surface. Finally, the shared victory was accomplished through the answer of countless prayers and the unified focus of a singular goal of successfully rescuing all 33 men.

The above observed lessons resonate in my heart during a week that our small groups are examining the unified focus of the earliest followers of Jesus. Let’s take to heart the example of the earliest Christians and remember to keep our collective focus on our selfless leader, Jesus. Let’s make every effort to protect unity within the church, so that God can be glorified through our fellowship and through our collective ministry efforts. Remember the early church was described in the following way: “All the believers were united in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32 NLT).

It would have been great to have been present during the celebration that occurred in Chile last night as the men were successfully rescued. But let’s remember that we have all been invited to embrace a mission to rescue as many people as possible who are presently living in spiritual darkness who can be raised to a new life in Christ. This is a rescue mission that is worthy of our prayers, our resources, and our unified effort!