Milligan couple requests prayer, support after Guatemala volcano erupts

CRESTVIEW — Milligan residents Kim and Rick Shelley are requesting prayers and support for their family and the people of Guatemala since the Fuego volcano erupted there June 3.

The couple has two sons, Chris, 30, a project manager who lives in Crestview, and Stephen, 27. Stephen and his wife, Michelle, are missionaries in Guatemala.

Kim, Rick and Stephen answered the following questions.

When you first learned your son was moving to Guatemala, how did you react?

KIM: At first, I didn’t want him to go because it is so far away. As his mom, I wished he lived closer, but I know God has called Stephen and Michelle to the mission field.

RICK: Stephen was called by God to the mission field back in 2014. He went on an 11-month mission trip called "The World Race" that took him to several countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, including Guatemala. I remember being apprehensive, and prayed at first only for his safety, but one day stopped in mid-prayer. If I wanted him just to "stay safe," I should have tried to talk him out of going in the first place … Shortly after (the World Race and a) few months of training, he returned to Antigua, Guatemala, high in the mountains just west of Guatemala City. He has been there ever since.

How did you first hear about the Guatemala volcano?

KIM: We were talking with Stephen and Michelle on FaceTime right as the volcano was erupting! They were driving, held up the phone, turned the camera around, and their windshield was trying in vain to wipe away the volcanic ash.

RICK: Volcan de Fuego ("Volcano of Fire") is about 10 miles west of where Stephen and Michelle live … [They] were headed home due to respiratory and other concerns associated with the volcanic ash, but were not in any immediate danger otherwise. They described it as tiny rocks falling from the sky.

We checked back a couple of hours later, and they were hunkered down indoors until the ash fall stopped. Note that Antigua, Guatemala is on the east side of Volcan de Fuego; the devastation we have heard about and seen on the news is primarily on the west side, as the lava and pyroclastic flows head toward the Pacific Ocean.

How did you end up living in Guatemala? What do you do there?

STEPHEN: My wife and I both felt called to come to Guatemala when we were still single. (They met in 2016 and got married in Antigua in January 2018.) We both originally were sent through an organization called Adventures in Missions. We recently transitioned into a staff position with an international church plant called Shoreline City Antigua. Their main campus is in Dallas, Texas. We work with their church plant in Guatemala, Shoreline City Antigua. It launched officially about 15 months ago. We lead worship for the church, as well as are heading up the church's relief efforts in response to the eruption.

How much danger were you and the people you work with/assist in when the volcano erupted? How has it affected your day-to-day life there?

STEPHEN: The volcano erupted Sunday around noon. We were finishing our Sunday service in Antigua when ash and debris began to fall on the town for about an hour. We drove home through the ash fall thinking it was a bigger eruption than normal. (Fuego erupts often, but not at this magnitude.) We found out the next day that areas west of the volcano were hit hard and covered heavily from the pyroclastic flow (this is the fast moving mixture of rock, gas, and lava with scorching temperatures close to the eruption). Antigua is … still susceptible to more ash from further eruptions. Some major roads near the affected areas were closed for safety concerns as damage is still being assessed and rescue efforts continue.

What's the top priority for yourself and the mission organization you work for now?

STEPHEN: Over the next few weeks, we will be contacting disaster relief groups, as well as various other ministries and organizations, to see how we can best allocate any disaster relief funds we have collected. Shoreline City Dallas has set us up for people to give online toward our volcano relief fund.

How to help

Visit shorelinecity.church/pushpay and use the Guatemala Volcano relief tab to give easily and quickly online, Stephen Shelley said. All funds will go toward the relief efforts in helping Guatemalans who were affected.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Milligan couple requests prayer, support after Guatemala volcano erupts