God’s End Time Message from Chile to the Whole World

In His discourse on the Signs of the End of the Age the Lord Jesus Christ prophesied, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Mt. 24:7-8)

An earthquake with a magnitude that measures 4.0 and above on the Richter scale, is considered a significant one. On April 15, 2010 an earthquake with the magnitude of 4.9 struck Utah, U.S.A. For the year of 2010 up to that date, there has been 27 earthquakes of that magnitude and above in the world. In this year 2010 alone there have been eight major earthquakes in different parts of the world.

January 10, 2010 – Eureka, N. California, U.S.A. – magnitude 6.5

January 12, 2010 – Port-au-Prince, Haiti – magnitude 7.0

February 1, 2010 – Papua, New Guinea – magnitude 6.2

February 18, 2010 – China/Russia Border – magnitude 6.9

February 26, 2010 – Ryukyu Islands, Japan – magnitude 7.0

February 27, 2010 – Maul Region, Chile – magnitude 8.8

February 28, 2010 – Hindu Kush, Afghanistan – magnitude 5.7

March 2, 2010 - Luzon, Philippines – magnitude 5.8

All these major earthquakes are Signs of the End Time and are the fulfillment of our Lord Jesus Christ’s prophecy that “All these are the beginning of sorrows”. Christians should take this warning seriously and prepare themselves for the Great Tribulation that is happening in the World.

The largest earthquake of the year so far took place in Chile on February 27, 2010.

The earthquake with the magnitude of 8.8 was felt in the capital Santiago . Tremors were felt in many Argentine cities, including Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and La Rioja.^[7][8] Tremors were felt as far north as the city of Ica in southern Peru (approx. 2400 km).^[9] The earthquake triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chile and damaged the port at Talcahuano. Tsunami warnings were issued in 53 countries,^[10] causing minor damage in the San Diego area of California^[11] and in the Tōhoku region of Japan, where damage to the fisheries business was estimated at ¥6.26 billion (USD$66.7 million).^[12] The earthquake also generated a blackout that affected 93 percent of the country's population and which went on for several days in some locations.^[13]President Michelle Bachelet declared a "state of catastrophe" and sent military troops to take control of the most affected areas. The latest death toll as of May 15, 2010 is 521 victims^[3] (down from early reports on March 3 of 802).^[14]

The earthquake in Chile with the magnitude of 8.8 on the Richter Scale is much more powerful and therefore should be more devastating than the one that hit Haiti that has a magnitude of 7.0.

The U.S. Geological Survey says eight Haitian cities and towns – including this capital of 3 million – suffered "violent" to "extreme" shaking in 7.0 magnitude quake, which Haiti's government estimates killed some 220,000 people. Chile's death toll was only 521 persons.

By contrast, no Chilean urban area suffered more than "severe" shaking – the third most serious level – February 27 earthquake in its 8.8-magnitude disaster, by USGS measure. The quake was centered 200 miles (325 kms) away from Chile's capital and largest city, Santiago.

Some people consider it is distasteful to talk about The Curse of Haiti with the loss of so many lives during the earthquake in that island. Then is it bad to compare the religions of Haiti and Chile? Not if it is the truth.

To every effect there is a cause. There is a contrast of spirituality between the two countries. Haiti has Voodoo as one of its main religions, while Chile has one of the highest percentages (87%) of Christians in the world, comprising of Roman Catholics (70%) and other Christians (17%).

The mining sector in Chile is one of the pillars of Chilean economy and copper exports alone stands for more than one third of government income. The 2010 Copiapó mining accident occurred on 5 August 2010, when the San José copper-gold mine, near Copiapó, Chile, collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped deep below ground.

Original rations: The men made rations intended for two days last more than two weeks. Every second day they would have two spoonfuls of tuna, a sip of milk and a bite each of a cracker and a peach. They managed to extract water from rocks. Rescuers say when the miners were found there was only enough oxygen left in the room for another 24 hours.

The emergency shelter: The room the miners are trapped in is big enough to comfortably house them all. They are able to walk through tunnels below the collapse. The room is hot, with temperatures reaching about 93.2 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius).

Difficulties: The mine tunnel from the entrance to the area where the miners dug for the gold and copper ore is in the form of a spiral with twists and turns. There is no escape tunnel. It was difficult for the rescuers on the ground surface to find the exact location where the miners were trapped.

The mine had a history of instability that had led to previous accidents, including one death.

Thirty-three miners have been trapped 2,300 feet below the earth’s surface in Chile’s San Jose mine for 69 days. The last of the Chilean miners, the foreman who held them together when they were feared lost, was raised from the depths of the earth Wednesday night October 13, 2010.

No one has ever been trapped so long, and in recent memory no group of people have been buried together underground and survived without a single loss of life. Families, miners and bystanders say it’s a miracle. Stories are emerging of how their faith in God brought them through the ordeal.

Luis Urzua, 54, was the shift commander at the time of the disaster, and used all his wits and his leadership talents to help his men stay calm and in control for the 17 harrowing days it took for rescuers to make their first contact with them.

It was no surprise, then, that Urzua was the last of the 33 miners to leave the San Jose gold and copper mine after more than two months of confinement.

Like a ship's captain, 54-year-old Urzúa was the last to leave after 70 days trapped below the Atacama desert. He was winched to the surface shortly before 10pm local time yesterday, amid extraordinary scenes of emotion and celebration across Chile.

President Sebastián Piñera greeted him with tears in his eyes. "You're not the same after this and neither are we," Piñera told him. "We will never forget this."

Speaking from a hospital bed at the San José mine, shift foreman Luis Urzúa - the man who kept the Chilean miners alive for two months - said his secret for keeping the men bonded and focused on survival was majority decision-making.

Villaroel said Urzúa tried to instill a philosophical acceptance of fate. "Every day [he] told us to have strength. If they find us they find us, if not, that's that. Because the probes [drilling towards the men] were so far away so we had no hope. Strength came by itself. I had never prayed before, but I learned to pray, to get close to God."\

José Henríquez leads a small group of men in prayer every evening in northern Chile – 2,300 feet below the surface of the earth. When the mine collapsed, only three of the miners – including Henríquez – were Evangelical Christians, the others are Roman Catholics. Since then, two more of them have made professions of faith. The wife of one of the miners who became a Christian since being trapped in the mine met with Pastor Marcelo Leiva over the past two weeks and also accepted Christ.

Henríquez sent a letter to Leiva on behalf of the trapped miners, calling him a blessing and thanking him for being there with their families. Leiva also has been sending down letters of encouragement to the trapped miners.

Besides Leiva, a Pentecostal pastor is the only other evangelical preacher allowed in the camp. The two have been working together when they can and have made a “good team,” Leiva said.

Leiva has had the opportunity to witness to family members, Chilean policemen and foreign press – including a Japanese reporter, Wolfe said. Leiva also wrote down a Scripture portion from Psalms and gave it to Mining Minister Laurence Golborne.

Mario Sepulveda was the second miner pulled from the collapsed mine. Having spent 69 days trapped inside the San Jose mine in Chile before being rescued, Mario says, he is a changed man.

“I buried 40 years of my life down there, and I’m going to live a lot longer to be a new person,” he said in a video conference hours after surfacing from half a mile underground.

Sepulveda has advice for those who take undue risks in their lives.

“I think I have learned a lot of wonderful lessons about taking the good path in life,” he said. “For those of you able to call your wives or your husbands, do so.”

During the time he was trapped inside the mine, Sepulveda said, he saw both good and evil.

“I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought, and God won,” he said. Sepulveda said he grabbed God’s hand, and later said. “At no point in time did I doubt that God would get me out of there.”

Mario Gomez is the oldest and most experienced miner amongst the 33 miners that were trapped in the collapsed mine for 69 days. Using maps and diagrams he became "the GPS we needed down there," rescuers said.

When the 63-year-old Mario emerged from the rescue capsule named Phoenix he grasped a Chilean flag and dropped to his knees to pray. Lilianett Ramirez, his wife of 30 years prayed with him. He had promised her in a letter written while trapped in the collapsed mine, that if he got through this alive they would finally have their church wedding – after three decades, four daughters and seven grandchildren.

Read on television by President Sebastian Pinera, Gomez's "Dear Lila" letter was filled with faith and determination, and showed the world the miners were holding strong.

"Even if we have to wait months to communicate ... I want to tell everyone that I'm good and we'll surely come out OK," Gomez wrote. "Patience and faith. God is great and the help of my God is going to make it possible to leave this mine alive."

And there's a wedding to plan.

Gomez's nephew, Roberto Reyes, himself a miner, said his aunt and uncle may get the honeymoon they never had by accepting a Greek mining company's invitation to all those rescued and their spouses for an all-expenses-paid trip to Greece's islands, and by accepting other invitations to visit Germany, France and Spain.

Omar Reygadas exited the rescue capsule with a wide smile to the tune of cheers from rescue workers and his brother and family.

He was donning a blue hard hat with the word "Vive," meaning "live," scribbled on it.

Reygadas then knelt to the ground and prayed as he raised a bible in hand towards the sky. As he was being taken away on a stretcher for medical examination he raised and waved a flag with his name on it.

56-year-old Omar Reygadas has emerged as the seventeenth miner to be rescued from the Chilean mine.

As Reygadas made the ascent in the rescue chamber his brother stood nearby videotaping the efforts and messages of praise and congratulations from rescue workers.

Reygadas was originally a bulldozer operator, but following the mine collapse he has taken on duties as the foreman of one of the work shifts.

During his time trapped underground his children have kept a journal of their life above ground - something we're sure he's likely to want to read as he catches up and reunites with his family after more than two months.

Ricardo Villaroel -- the 28th miner to be pulled to safety on Wednesday night -- said he was in the first part of the area where the Aug 5. mine collapse took place.  To him the experience renewed his faith in God.

"I felt fear. I was working and it fell [about 10 feet] from us and it blocked a machine and we were able to drive away," he told ABC News.

Villaroel, 23, said he and his fellow workers had to drink dirty water to survive.

"Water but not pure water, mine water ... it had taste of machine oil but we had to drink it because there was no food," he said.

Despite the tough living conditions, Villaroel credited his fellow miners and God for giving him the strength to survive.

"We had a boss and every day he would tell us we had to be strong and they ask us and we didn't have hope," he said. "Strength comes from internal energy and prayer and I never use to pray, here I learned to pray. I got closer to God."

Villaroel said his wife is due to give birth to their first child in a few days.

"I was scared of not getting to know my son; that was what I wanted the most," he said.

In the end, Villaroel thanked God and all the rescue workers for granting him a second chance.

"God and all the people who made this possible, all the people who found us," he said. "It was huge happiness for everyone."

The Time of the End is very near. You can see all the signs very clearly in the major earthquakes all over the world. The Lord Jesus Christ had prophesied that in the End Time people will also be very wicked just like in the days of Noah. In this year of 2010 alone we have witnessed two great man-made disasters. The B.P. Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mine Collapse in North Chile. Both these events were caused by the wickedness of men through their greed to gain power and wealth without any conscience whatsoever in causing harm to their fellowmen and the earth’s environment.

The successful rescue operation of the thirty-three miners in Chile is not only the result of mutual co-operation of different countries, but more importantly, it is the unity of prayers from Christians all over the world together with the 33 miners who were entrapped under the earth.

This inspirational event is the proof and evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ is not only alive in Heaven, but He is also a loving God who listens and answers the prayers of the faithful believers regardless of where they worship. It is our prayer that this Hub will bring many souls to salvation.

May God bless you,

Arkwriter