Calming Nowa’s Storm

The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Luke 8:24-25.

In March 2019, Cyclone Idai devastated communities across Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar leaving 1,593 dead and thousands more missing. It is still the 2nd deadliest cyclone ever recorded, and 15 year old Nowa watched it happen. 

Nowa and his family scrambled to safety while the waters uprooted trees and the winds reduced his family's home to nothing. All he could hear was screams carried by the wind. Nowa's family escaped physically intact, but the horrors of that evening still echoed in his mind every time the sky turned dark. When he closed his eyes to sleep, Nowa pictured the street where he used to play washed away by a raging river. 

But praise be to God that Nowa's mother heard about the RiverCross Kid's Club in their community and Nowa, now 19, is learning to process the trauma of that day and is taking steps towards healing from his fear and anxiety. 

*Although the stories we share are true, identifying details have been changed.

An aerial view of the aftermath of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. Photo via the National Institute of Disaster Management Mozambique.