As the morning progressed we gathered around outside the convent, collecting our items from the pile of bags and asking the guys going in and out for missing objects like laptops and journals. I remember Matthew lifting the window to Mother Superior’s room and tossing out some pillows. I found my phone buzzing in my hiking backpack with my 7:30 am alarm and turned it off.  

Just as my boss and coworkers decided we’d have to stay on the floors of the staff house and office, despite some cracks in its walls and foundation, a camper van drove into the driveway. My pastors from New Life, Brian and Lisa, hopped out. I was still standing off to the side with Elise, but I could tell that Brian and Lisa’s experience of the earthquake was different from ours. They took in the damage calml...

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