Wonder What An 8-Year Old Who Survives A Tornado Would Say?

Thanks for your continued interest in our family, several of whom were hospitalized and lost their home in last Friday’s Henryville, IN tornados. Today I’ll share the testimony of our 8-year old nephew Sam, who was in the school that got destroyed. But first, here’s a health update:

• Mia was released from the hospital yesterday and is doing fine. She was excited to get to visit her parents in their hospital room.
• Caleb is still in the hospital but was able to stand up for the first time yesterday. He’ll be in a back brace for awhile but could be released by the end of the week.
• Trish’s surgery on her broken pelvis went well. It was a major surgery so keep her in your prayers through the coming weeks of healing and rehab.
• Darrell’s surgery on his jaw went well. He can now eat soft foods, like pasta, soups and mashed potatoes. If you know the Gilles boys, you know they can put away a lot of mashed potatoes, so I’m sure that will be a real blessing.

As you read in our Sunday blog post, while Darrell and his family were in their house, which was destroyed by a tornado, Darrell’s nephew Sammy was in the Henryville school complex which was also hit. Here is Sam’s story:

“I went to Stay ‘n Play after school like every other day. We had our snack while other kids came in after school. Ms Katie and Mr Jeff were on their phones and on the computer watching the weather for a tornado watch. After a minute the sirens started to go off. We all went into the boy’s bathroom, with our heads down in a safe position.

Mrs Cole came by and took us to the office because it’s a safer place. We were sitting in chairs. We were all super scared. We got under a table and squeezed together to make enough room. I was by my friend Jackson. We were in that room under that table when we started to hear a sound that sounded like a train. It was the tornado. It was so loud I couldn’t hear anything else.

I think I heard a tree fall. The train sound faded away and it got real quiet again. Mr Jeff said we were going to get our backpacks and get out of that room. When we got out of that room we went out of the door, turned right and turned left. We were holding hands so we wouldn’t lose each other. Mrs Eply and Dr Riggs and another teacher that I didn’t recognize came running, waving their arms yelling “Go back! Go back! Go back!”

We all were freaking out. My heart was pumping. We ran back into that room and under that table as fast as we could. We all were so scared. We all were praying. I was praying for my cousins, and my family and my friends that we’d all be safe. We stayed under the table a little longer. We didn’t hear anything. Mr Jeff said to stay there while Mr Jeff and Ms Katie got up to look. They ran back when they saw hail coming and they ran back with us.

We heard the hail hitting and beating down. At this point, I had to use the bathroom. So I went to the nurses office, Ms Katie took me, there was no power so Ms Katie had to use her cell phone as a light. The door was cracked so I could get the light. Afterward we went back to the Stay ‘n Play kids. We went through the cafeteria. The windows were busted, tables were thrown, and stuffing was fallen from the roof.

We got out and went to a shelter. Kids were crying because they wanted their parents. The police and fire department couldn’t get in the building, so a firefighter had a sledgehammer and busted open the door. Mrs Pam found me, and I stayed with her. The policemen checked downstair to see if it was ok. It was so we went downstairs. I stayed downstairs with stay n play. After my dad got there, Mrs Pam saw him and came downstairs and got me and took me to him. I was very happy and not scared anymore.”

Yesterday’s My Song In The Night post contained links to video interviews by NBC and ABC affiliates

To Make A Donation Towards New Furnishings, Supplies & House For Darrell’s Family:

1. Deposit funds at PNC Bank for Darrell Gilles Catastrophic Relief Fund.

• Acct Number: 3023866564
• ABA/Routing Number: 083000108.

This was set up as a tax exempt account with an IRS IEN number. We were assured by PNC that the account is completely safe and only two people in the family have withdrawal permissions. No withdrawals can be made without identification and passwords. It has been red flagged for all transactions and is legally set up the way all memorial funds are set up. The account number and routing numbers are necessary for people outside the local area to be able to send relief funds.

2. If you’d prefer to mail a check, send it to Sojourn Community Church and write clearly “Gilles Family Tornado Relief” on the check:
Sojourn Community Church
930 Mary Street
Louisville, KY 40204

3. You can also donate securely online through Paypal, via our diasinger _ @ _ gmail account. In addition, all Noisetrade.com “tips” we receive for the “My Song In The Night” mp3 download will go to this Paypal account. To donate through Paypal, click here.

If you’re local, here is a place that is taking physical product donations specifically for the Gilles family:

Flip C Gymnastics & Cheerleading
1404 Bell Lane Suite 2, New Albany, In 47510,
Times: Friday 5pm-10pm, Saturday 9a-2p

Go to the back garage entrance for the drop off. They will have dollys, bags, containers, and are working on getting more storage space, so just bring anything and everything.

But when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you…You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book. My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help.
This I know: God is on my side! I praise God for what he has promised;
yes, I praise the LORD for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?…
I will fulfill my vows to you, O God,
and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light. (Psalm 56:3, 8-13 NLT)

Tagged as: family, story, testimony