The ADRA workers wound up stuck on a remote Fiji island.
, South Pacific Adventist Record, with Adventist Review staff
Hollywood
actor and director Mel Gibson played an unlikely role in rescuing three
female staff members from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency
after they found themselves stranded in Fiji.
The women had
distributed humanitarian aid in Vanua Balavu, Fiji’s eastern-most island
and one of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Winston, when their flight
to Suva, the capital, was abruptly canceled.
It was unclear when
the next flight would leave from the devastated island, which is
suffering severe water and food shortages after the storm destroyed
about 70 percent of all homes in February.
So a local government
official hatched an unusual rescue plan. The official arranged for the
three ADRA workers to be taken to nearby Mago Island, which is owned by
Gibson, and then flown on his private plane to Suva.
The ADRA workers spent the night at Gibson’s home and flew to the capital in the morning.
Gibson was not home at the time of the visit.
Gibson’s U.S.-based publicist said the director had no comment about the rescue.
The incident was not Gibson’s first brush with
Seventh-day Adventists. The Oscar-winning director’s newest movie,
“Hacksaw Ridge,” will tell the story of Desmond T. Doss, the Adventist
believer who became the first conscientious objector to win the U.S.
Congressional Medal of Honor. The movie, starring Andrew Garfield as
Doss, is expected to be released later this year.
The
three ADRA workers were determined to fly to Suva after making a
harrowing, 30-hour trip on an overcrowded boat to Vanua Balavu. One of
the relief workers, Anna Krikun from Germany, said she had feared for
her life.
“The boat was so overcrowded and unsafe,” she said. “I was just afraid we were going to sink.”
She
and the other ADRA workers delivered about 6,000 packs of Weet-Bix
breakfast cereal and So Good soy milk to remote communities that had
missed out on earlier food assistance following Cyclone Winston. The
food was donated by Adventist Church-owned company Sanitarium Health and
Wellbeing.
More than 10,000 people in remote Fiji communities
have now received food and personal hygiene kits from ADRA thanks to
donations exceeding US$155,000.
Further assistance is being
prepared for the South Pacific after ADRA secured funding through the
United Nations Flash Appeal ($110,000) and the European Union (€300,000)
to provide shelter and hygiene aid.
ADRA and the Adventist
Church’s Fiji Mission have been working closely together, with many
church volunteers assisting ADRA in distributing aid to remote
communities. AR
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