God's hand is guiding the trapped Beaconsfield miners, says a Sydney evangelist to the mining industry who has mobilised 60 colleagues to pray for their rescue operation as it enters its 11th day.
Richard Fortune, who runs a ministry to Australian miners, Out of the Pit says "it's been an absolute miracle' that the men, Brant Webb, 37 and Todd Russell, 34, are still alive after 11 days stuck in a cage almost a kilometre underground in the Tasmanian gold mine.
"It's been a great blessing," says Mr Fortune, who is a recruitment consultant to the mining industry and a member of Church by the Bridge, a fellowship of St Thomas’, North Sydney.
"We started praying at the start of last week when it [the accident] happened," he says.
Mr Webb and Mr Russell's colleague, father of three Larry Knight, 44, was killed by falling rocks after the earth tremor 11 days ago.
Hopes of finding the other men alive were initially seen as remote.
Trusting in the power of prayer
Christians across Australia are praying for the trapped miners and those involved in their rescue operation.
The Bishop of Tasmania the Right Rev John Harrower said in a statement that "Todd Russell and Brant Webb and their family and friends are in the constant prayers of Anglican Christians across the state'.
"Their safety and physical and emotional wellness and a quick return to the surface are in our fervent prayers," Bishop Harrower says.
"After the joy of finding Brant and Todd alive, we pray for quietness of heart for their families as they wait and for Larry Knight's grieving widow and family.
"We continue to pray that Todd and Brant keep strong in spirit and that the rescuers are well supported."
"We must pray for the families " that's our immediate response," agrees the Rev Canon Brian Roberts, National Director of the Bush Church Aid Society, which supports ministry in mining towns across the country.
"A crisis of this nature immediately drives us all back to our reliance on God and our relationship with Jesus, to make sure that we've got those things in order."
The two men have been praised by many sectors of the community, including the Prime Minister John Howard, for their strength of spirit and positive attitude towards their precarious situation.
"Why they have this strength of character is because of God's hand," Mr Fortune says.
"What will triumph ultimately is how fragile we all are and how much we need [him]. From what I can see of the accident it's certainly turned people to God."
The ABC reports that paramedics say the men are in good shape as they wait for rescuers to drill a 14-metre escape tunnel.
The national broadcaster reports that the trapped miners have had their first warm meal in about 10 days and remain positive about their situation as the rescue operation continues.
Email Richard Fortune at info@outofthepit.org
Photo: AAP
