Sixty-eight-year old Gwen Beck, a member of the Central Coast Evangelical Church, is one of a number of church families known to have narrowly escaped bushfires that hit Phegans Bay on Sunday.
The Phegans Bay resident and her husband, Richard, were evacuated from their home on Sunday as fires came within one hundred meters of their home.
Mrs Beck is disabled from arthritis and unable to walk by herself, which made the escape even more harrowing.
"There was such a shocking heat and shocking wind that the fire came down from the ridge towards the houses," she said.
"A neighbouring family was on a small stretch of grass down on waterfront, then I saw the kids turn around scream, looking out over our house."
"I asked my husband to run down and have a look. He ran down and saw the fire on the mountain behind us," Mrs Beck says.
Her husband, Richard, was able to flee with the couple's most valuable possession " a Bible.
"He took things we knew were irreplaceable like photo albums, a file with insurance papers and I told him to put his Bible in because he would never get another Bible marked the way his was," she says.
The couple could not exit because the only road into Phegans Bay was closed off due to the fires.
The Becks, along with other local residents were evacuated across the water to Woy Woy Leagues Club.
Mrs Beck says she appreciates the way Christians and non-Christians alike helped one another throughout the ordeal.
"When we arrived at Woy Woy Leagues Club, the Salvation Army was there with food. Friends from church were happy to come and get us and let us stay at their place," she says.
Mrs Phegan says the experience helped her realise the common grace that all people share in.
Junee farmers suffer devestating losses
Meanwhile rural fire crews are continuing work today in Junee, southwest NSW, after a fire that started on Sunday ripped through 25,000 hectares of land.
The Rev Brett Watterson, Rector of St Luke's, Junee cut short his holidays to arrive back in town this morning.
Mr Watterson says he is unable to contact a number of parishioners because telephones are inoperable, while those he has spoken to are suffering losses to property and livelihood.
"A lot of people have lost livestock and fodder," he says. "The paddocks have been swept clean."
"There's a lot of devastated people here."
Stock losses from the blaze could be as high as 20,000 a head.
A meeting is being held later today between local clergy, including the Regional Bishop of Wagga Wagga, the Rt Rev Allan Ewing, and representatives from Anglicare and the NSW Farmers Association to coordinate emergency relief efforts.
The State Government is calling for donations for farmers who have lost fodder.
Coordination from Sydney
Sydney-based Jenni Davies is employed by Anglicare as Manager Emergency Services to coordinate the activation of Anglican disaster recovery teams across the whole of NSW.
Jenni has been communicating with DoCS Managers and local Anglicare Team Leaders to provide assistance to individuals and parishes affected by the bushfires in both Junee and the Central Coast.
“It times of disaster, it is heartening to see people from local Churches trained to reach out with practical support and encouragement to those affected in Christ’s name," she said. “Every year Anglicare Emergency Services prepares more than 1,500 volunteers across the NSW Anglican dioceses to be trained, prepared and equipped to deal with such emergency situations.
During the recovery phase assistance provided by Anglicare volunteers may include accommodation, feeding, clothing, doorknocking, personal support and pastoral care. During "peacetime' Jenni conducts a training calendar, writes Emergency Plans and develops resources and equipment that assist our teams in preparation for operational emergencies.
“It is this work done in peace-time that enables many volunteers from our parishes to play their part effectively during an emergency. The well-developed arrangements in NSW are based on the experience of disasters over 20 years and we would encourage more parishioners to be part of that,” she said.
