Tag Archives: Tsunami

Tsunami 2004 Book for Free!

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Books, India, tsunami 2004

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

For a short time, I’m offering a FREE Kindle eBook: Tsunami 2004 – Still Wading Through Waves of Hope to those who sign up for my Author Newsletter – occasional brief news about new releases and sales.

Click Here to sign up http://eepurl.com/5vTLP

(The woman to my right is the girl on the cover. Her "then and now" story is one of many in the book.)

(The woman to my right is the girl on the cover. Her “then and now” story is one of many in the book.)

Here’s an excerpt from Tsunami 2004 – Still Wading Through Waves of Hope

Chapter 1
Send Us

January 2005, just after tsunami

“Send us to the most devastated, remote villages where no one else has gone.”

My husband’s zeal was admirable, but concern reared its head in me. I glanced at Vicky, our parish member who volunteered to join us on the mission. She leaned forward in her seat, eyes bright with anticipation.

Brave soul, even the lizard on the wall didn’t faze her. But this was her first trip to India. Lizards would be the least of our difficulties.

Chennai’s sea breeze wafted through Father Michael Vyakulam’s open office window at St. Bede’s Orphanage and School. My husband (Anglican priest) and Father Vyakulam (Roman Catholic priest) faced each other from across a desk.

Nearly three decades ago, the elder led a vocations camp for boys interested in Holy Orders. He recommended Leo Michael, a zealous thirteen-year-old, for the junior seminary. The two clerics remained dear friends, regardless of their divergent paths.

Father Vyakulam glanced heavenward. Was he consulting God in some silent prayer for wisdom or asking forgiveness for where he was about to send us?

I breathed in the tangy air and hushed my fears. God wouldn’t let us down. He’d guided us from the moment we received the news that a major tsunami roared onto the shores of South India.

Ten days earlier, in a frantic but familiar Indian accent, the news came to us through the phone like headlines.

“Thousands feared dead. Seaside villages wiped out.”

I bolted upright.

My husband of two years put his hand over the receiver. “It’s Decruz. Turn on the news. Something terrible has happened back home.”

I grabbed the remote off the nightstand, then checked the clock. We had collapsed in bed only an hour earlier, exhausted after the busy Christmas season ended with the last Mass at a nursing home, followed by Holy Communion offered to a homebound member.

At the same time—given a twelve-hour time zone difference, making it Christmas Day evening—those in India were waking up to a catastrophic nightmare.

TV headlines matched my brother-in-law’s report. An earthquake in the early hours of the morning, near the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, caused a tsunami that had slammed the southern peninsular coast of India on Sunday morning.

Due to no warning system, many were feared dead.

Some of my husband’s family lived in Bangalore, Karnataka; others lived in a Tamil Nadu hill station. Neither locale was coastal. Our relatives were safe. Thank God. We said good-bye to Decruz and planted ourselves before the TV.

Just a few years earlier, my husband had lived and served as a Catholic priest to schools and orphanages in the affected coastal region. His shoulders slumped with each rising death count. Fellow clergy, friends, and children he’d cared for likely would have been among the casualties.

The next day, a local Northwest Arkansas newspaper reporter phoned. “Father Leo, is your family okay?”

A few hours later, in the reporter’s office, my husband shared his knowledge of the tsunami-affected area in South India. “Houses made of mud walls and thatched coconut leaf roofs would be decimated.

“Men would have been out fishing. Wives would be waiting for their husbands’ return to take the fish to market. Children would have been sleeping or playing along the seashore.” He lowered his head. “So many would have been caught unawares.”

“How would you help the victims?”

I think the reporter meant, how would a person help? In general or hypothetically—like, how would you like to help? But my husband accepted the question as a challenge. He leaned forward.

“We will begin a fundraiser.” He patted my knee. “We will go to any length, do whatever it takes to raise money, then we will go to India and personally take money to those most affected.”

*****

TEN days later, trekking into impassable villages and decimated shorelines, my husband devised an amazing plan to help widows and orphans and those most affected by the tsunami. TEN years later, we returned to the same villages and encountered surprising changes and a life-threatening situation.

Sign up here and I will gift you a FREE Kindle e-copy of Tsunami 2004. To purchase a print version of TSUNAMI 2004 for $6.99 click here.

Thanks!!

My Amazing Connection to Author Jan Pierce: What I Wish all Parents Knew

05 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Books, Christianity, Guest Author, Guest Blogger, Inspiration

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Alone in a foreign country, with my husband in a third world ICU suffering multiple organ failure, God summoned his angels. They are the Pierces: Jan and Roger.

Homegrown Readers coverToday, Jan Pierce is a guest on my blog. She will share her secrets about inspiring children to love to read. Jan is a retired teacher and freelance writer who specializes in writing about education, parenting and family life topics. She is the author of the newly-released book, Homegrown Readers: Simple Ways to Help Your Child Learn to Read

Last November, when my husband contracted dengue fever from a mosquito bite, I’d only known Jan vaguely as an author friend on Facebook. During our crisis in India, my only means of communication was via a hospital computer. I got on Facebook and asked for prayers.

Jan Pierce saw my message. Her husband Roger was in India, in Bengaluru, where we were. Deciphering my sporadic messages, the couple discovered our location.

A few days later, Roger stepped into the hospital room. With happy tears upon seeing my husband alive and well, he told us that God had prompted him to pray with fervency. He’d spent countless hours interceding before the Lord for us. Roger had never met us before, but we all held hands and prayed in that hospital room, so far from home. We were all overwhelmed at this amazing connection…

Because of God…

Because of prayers…

Because of…yes, Facebook…

…my husband recovered and I am able to introduce Jan Pierce to you, a wonderful talented compassionate author with a heart for India and a heart for helping kids learn to read.

I’m handing over my blog to Jan. And what’s really cool about her post today is that today March 5th, is UNESCO’s World Book Day. A celebration that encourages children to read. To celebrate, Here’s JAN!!!!!

Thanks, Holly. God is amazing and I am grateful for your husband’s recovery and for your welcoming me here today to talk about What I Wish All Parents Knew…

Jan-137acrop1

Today’s busy families are hard pressed to give their children everything they need. Schedules are packed. Kids join soccer and T-ball teams. Families enjoy the outdoors together camping and hiking. Parents take time to teach their children basic kindness and manners, but they often wait to get into that book learning, the reading and writing stuff, until their children enter school.

But here’s the thing. Reading is really important. Virtually all learning takes place through the written word. Children who haven’t been read to, who haven’t listened to fairy tales, poems, tales of curious monkeys and books about real animals, kids who aren’t familiar with books and what’s inside them–these kids are at a disadvantage when they go to school.

The solution is simple. Read to your children. Even if you had unhappy experiences in your own learning to read years, the price of entering school without lots of experience with books is too high. Kids soon learn that the other children know what’s going on. They don’t. They’ve just begun their school career and already feel like a failure.

Reading aloud to children is, ideally, a wonderful thing. It can be the ritual before naps and bedtimes. It can be what the family does on Saturday mornings while they eat their pancakes. Sharing favorite stories should be a positive experience for the whole family. If that isn’t the case, something needs to change. If reading isn’t enjoyable to you as the parent, suck it up and do it anyway. (You’ll change your mind.)

Regular read aloud times should be part of the family schedule. Let children choose some of the titles. Read a variety of fiction and non-fiction books and don’t forget that maps, comic books, the Sunday comic strips and even instruction manuals are all reading materials. It’s never too late to start because it’s just that important to success in school.

When your children enter kindergarten let them be the kids who have heard at least five hundred stories. Let them be the ones who understand that stories have characters and settings and plots. Let them know which way is up on a page and that writing goes from left to right. Teach them to love books and reading. Your reward? A happy, successful reader.

Holly: Thanks for that message Jan, could you share a little more about your background.

Sure, I’m a wife, mother and grandma to three terrific grandsons. I retired eight years ago from a long career in education. I taught all grades from kindergarten through fourth grade, but mainly taught first and second grade, so I had ample time to teach children to read. I earned a reading endorsement when I got my Master’s degree because I wanted to understand more about the nuts and bolts of reading. I spent the last two years of my career as a reading specialist.

When I retired, I determined to stay active and soon realized I had two new “jobs.” One involves Teams India, the NGO my husband and I founded to do missions work in India. The second is I became a freelance writer. I’d never published a thing before 2007, but soon found that I love the challenge and everything related to the writer’s life.

And getting involved in the writing life is what brought Jan and I together on Facebook. Isn’t this an amazing connection? And my blog is all about connections.

Holly: Before you go, Jan. I really want to stress the benefits a parent will get from reading your book? Can you tell us how it will help parents and their children?

Sure. Any parent who wants their child to gain reading skills in English will benefit from the information in this book. It’s important that parents understand English is not a highly phonetic language and because of that children need more than phonics to read well. They need to use thinking strategies to find the meaning in a text. If they read the words perfectly, but don’t understand the meaning, they haven’t really read. All the strategies they need to solve reading problems are found in Homegrown Readers.Homegrown Readers cover

And below are links to Jan’s site and to purchase her book: Homegrown Readers: Simple Ways to Help Your Child Learn to Read

CONNECT WITH JAN: Website: www.janpierce.net and www.onehandfulofrice.org / Facebook author page / Jan’s Amazon author page / Linked In / Pinterest

Amazon.com to buy Jan’s Book /  To purchase Jan’s Book from Barnes and Noble

Beautiful beach and seaHolly: If you’d like to hear more about our drama-filled visit to Tsunami-devastated Nagapattinam in our “then and now” book, Tsunami 2004 – Still Wading Through Waves of Hope, click here. The nonfiction book takes a look back at our visit ten years ago and our return trip this last November and the challenges and surprises we encountered. It also chronicles the lives of several orphans.

But, first, I urge you, parents, teachers, aunts, uncles grab Jan’s book from the links above. It’s a must for any one who cares about helping a child they love learn to read!

The Devil Marked Him for Death…

07 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by in Books, Christianity, Family, Holly Michael's New Releases, Holy Catholic Church - Anglican Rite, Inspiration

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I haven’t yet blogged in detail about that one heart-wrenching experience during our return trip to the 2004 tsunami-ravaged villages in Nagapattinam, South India.

My husband and I encountered many difficult situations and joyous ones too, but I’m writing today about the one that still nearly buckles my knees when I continue to hear statements like…

“The devil marked him for death.”

Or when a doctor friend recently said, “It is a true miracle the he survived a multi-organ failure.”

Or the heart tugging statements, said in several different ways:

“I prayed fervently.”

“I shed so many tears.”

“The spirit led me to pray deeply, like I’d never prayed before.”

(statements by even those I hardly know)

It gives me goosebumps, even now, almost three months later, when I think about what happened…in the spiritual sense of it all.

So…going back to late November 2014

…after my husband got bit by an affected mosquito.

…after we finished our mission work in Nagapattinam (my husband growing weak and feverish toward the end.)

…after we rode a bus for 12 hours from the remote villages in Nagapattinam with my beloved nearly lethargic from a spiked fever.

…after we arrived in a Bangalore hospital, my husband dehydrated with 103 fever.

…after the diagnosis of Dengue Fever (my sister-in-law died from dengue fever two years earlier).

…after we were left alone in a room with very little care.

…after I continued my attempts to communicate with the hospital staff that I didn’t think it was normal that my husband had swung from extremely feverish to unresponsive and almost completely cold (and they insisted he was fine).

…after the admitting Hindu doctor woke up in the middle of the night from a dream worried about my husband (one of maybe 200 patients she’d admitted that day) and called the ICU doctor to check on him.

…after he was rushed to the ICU blood pressure dropping and multi-organ failure.

…after I was stopped at the double doors to the ICU by a guard.

….after I sat in the empty hospital room in South India, alone, unable to communicate properly with hospital staff and no phone or means of communicating with anyone but God.

….after I’d finally got onto a hospital computer and asked for prayers through Facebook.

Which leads me to what I believe…

I BELEIVE….

…the heavenly realm, which is all around us always, was busy that night.

…the Holy Spirit touched the hearts of many to pray fervently after hearing my plea on Facebook (as many have testified).

…the Devil had slated my husband (a Bishop in the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite) for death.

…the prayers of the saints and all of the faithful allow me now to praise God for his full healing.

…Facebook is awesome and faithful friends and family are amazing. (I love you all).

…God is great, all the time, always!

I chronicled this experience and so much more from our trip to South India in my book, TSUNAMI 2004 – Still Wading through Waves of Hope. I share about the people and villages we visited and those we helped after the  2004 Tsunami, and the experiences upon our return, ten years later.

Ten years ago, after a major fundraiser, we went to the most devastated impassable villages in South India. My husband had a fabulous idea of asking the village headmen (hubby speaks the native language) to bring the orphans to the local bank. We established Bank CD’s in their names, so that ten years later, they would have funds to begin their lives–marriage, college.

Given the arranging of marriages and that the value of women is based on their dowry, the idea paid off literally in dividends.

I share these “then and now” stories and our experience in greater detail in TSUNAMI 2004 – Still Wading Through Waves of Hope. A percentage of the proceeds from the sales will go to support our continuing mission work in India. 

Some of our “then and now” pictures (the book also has more picture)

2004 Nagapattinam Harbor

2004 Nagapattinam Harbor

harbor now

harbor now

Nambiar Nagar boatmen discouraged, not wanting to go back to the sea. Boats are all destroyed

We had given funds to a man who owned a boat repair business. He put 50 people to work after the tsunami. Above, then...and now.

We had given funds to the man above on the left of my husband (in the blue shirt/khakis). The man owned a boat repair business, decimated by the tsunami. With funds we gave, he put 50 people to work after the tsunami. Some, (above in boat), after losing loved ones to the sea, did not want to go out and fish again.

Two friends (orphans) we'd helped then, and below now...

Two friends (orphans) we’d helped then, and below now…

IMG_0158

IMG_0498

Some then photos….IMG_0975FH000002Long lines in Nambiar Nagar for foodIMG_0832Some now photos…

IMG_0111IMG_0142

Awestruck Sabeen looking at her picture then

Seeing herself in the photo from ten years ago

IMG_0615IMG_0203IMG_0580

Below, some of the orphans we helped then…Tsunami orphans 2004 who received CD Bank Accounts for approx. $230.And some of those faces now…
Tsunami orphans now

My deepest heartfelt thanks to all of you who helped with fundraising then and all of those who prayed for my husband and to those who also support my writing. Because of you all, we can continue to do the good works that the Lord has prepared for us to do and to go wherever and to whomever He leads us. 

*Special thanks to Roger Pierce, the husband of a Facebook friend, who happened to be in Bangalore, had been praying for my husband, and showed up at the hospital later and prayed with us. 

IMG_0668

To purchase Tsunami 2004 – Still Wading Through Waves of Hope (nonfiction)

Beautiful beach and sea

and

Crooked Lines (fiction), based on some tsunami experiences. (on sale for .99 Cents now)

It’s My Birthday…

08 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in Books, Crooked Lines, Family

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

…so, I put CROOKED LINES, A Novel for sale  @ .99 cents. http://amzn.to/1r4gTrT AND its #1 in Inspirational, Fiction, Family on AMAZON.COM

book

Happy because…had a great time with the kiddos. Congrats to Jake on his engagement to Emma, on his right. (Just love her). Daughter Betsy (WTG 4.0 in Grad School) to the left of Jake. My husband, Bishop Leo Michael, to my right and Nick (WTG Winning the New Orleans Bowl! Go Ragin Cajuns). Nick is the bookend wearing the hat.

FullSizeRender

Counting my blessings at the beginning of 2015. There are so many. Started it out with a newly published book after our return from India. Tsunami 2004 Still Wading Through Waves of Hope: http://amzn.to/1AbgKXD

Beautiful beach and seaFeeling grateful to God that my husband survived dengue fever which resulted in a multi-organ failure situation. Truly, only prayers turned that around. We were at the tail end of a ten-year follow-up with the orphan children we helped after the 2004 tsunami. (thanks to those who gave during major fundraising effort back in 2004)

In the end, got the nonfiction book wrote and published. Tsunami 2004 – Wading through Waves of Hope is filled with inspirational then and now stories as we revisited the places and people in Nagapattinam, South India. $2.99 Kindle, $6.99 print.  http://amzn.to/1AbgKXD

Hope to get back to more blogging this year where I focus on connecting with others. Thanks for following my blog.

Holly

DEC 26th NEW RELEASE: TSUNAMI 2004 – Still Wading Through Waves of Hope

25 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Books, Holly Michael's New Releases, Holy Catholic Church - Anglican Rite, India

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Beautiful beach and sea“Send us to the most devastated remote villages where no one else has gone.”

My husband’s request diverted my attention from the lizards on the wall. Those creepy-crawlies and India’s lack of toilet paper would be the least of my worries during this trip to India, just ten days after the 2004 Tsunami.

When the 2004 Tsunami roared onto the shores of the Bay of Bengal, my husband Bishop Leo Michael, spearheaded a very successful national fundraising event. He promised to take 100% of the contributions to the most affected tsunami victims in the worst decimated areas around Nagapattinam, South India.

photo by Holly Michael

photo by Holly Michael

Children of Akkarapettai photo by Holly Michael

Children of Akkarapettai photo by Holly Michael

A pastor and native of South India, he had worked around the affected coastal region for more than twenty years. He understood the living conditions of the fisherfolk and could well imagine the horrible aftermath of the monster wave that took the lives of tens of thousands.

Being a former journalist, and current freelance magazine writer on assignment, I geared up to trek into impassable villages with my husband where the dead still washed up on the shoreline and massive cremation fires still burned.

photo by Holly Michael

photo by Holly Michael

Surveying each village and coordinating with the local headmen, priests, and one amazing school headmaster, my husband devised unique plans to help each community.

Giving bank certificate of deposits to the orphans of each community was one part of our help that paid back in greater dividends later.

photo by Bishop Leo Michael

photo by Bishop Leo Michael

Prior to the anniversary of the tsunami, in December 2014, we returned to the same villages and met the same orphans who would cash in their CD’s days later.

We encountered surprising changes, gleaned  deeper insight into the lives of the fisherfolk and tsunami survivors, and got slammed with an unexpected life-threatening situation.

Follow our journey in my THEN and NOW nonfiction book, TSUNAMI 2004 – Still Wading Through Waves of Hope published today on the tsunami anniversary, December 26, 2014 and available on Kindle. CLICK HERE $2.99 LINK Available in paperback soon!

Like Fiction?

bookMy debut novel, CROOKED LINES, inspired by both my husband and my experiences in India, is now on sale at Amazon for a limited time at $2.99.

Back cover blurb: On the shores of Lake Michigan, Rebecca Meyer seeks escape. Guilt-ridden over her little sister’s death, she sets her heart on India, a symbol of peace. Across the ocean in South India, Sagai Raj leaves his tranquil hill station home and impoverished family to answer a higher calling. Pushing through diverse cultural and religious milieus, he labors toward his goals, while wrong turns and bad choices block Rebecca from hers. Traveling similar paths and bridged across oceans through a priest, the two desire peace and their divine destiny. But vows and blind obedience at all costs must be weighed…and buried memories, unearthed.

Crooked Lines, a beautifully crafted debut novel, threads the lives of two determined souls from different continents and cultures. Compelling characters struggle with spirituality through despair and deceptions in search of truth. Crooked Lines has already reached #1 in Inspirational Fiction Category on Amazon.

Coming up by Holly Michael:

CROSSED LINES, a sequel to Crooked Lines, is slated for a June release. (Fiction)

FIRST AND GOAL: What Football Taught Me About Never Giving UP. My son (NFL player with type one diabetes) and I co-authored this devotional, published by Harvest House Publishers, and scheduled to be released in the fall of 2015.

The Crooked Lines of Life

04 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in India

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

A great look at the past, what’s new, and what’s to come in my life. Amazingly, they all tie in together. Going to be a great rest of 2014 and an amazing 2015! So excited! Thanks for the interview, Sylvia!

Silvia Writes

Holly1

After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Holly Michael of Wisconsin traveled to South India with her husband and joined hands with the army of volunteers to help in the recovery efforts. Holly’s husband is Bishop Leo Michael, a native of India, whom Holly met when asked to do an interview on the success of a small parish.

Two people from two different cultures, raised on two opposite ends of the world, found they are not so different when linked in the common goal of helping others. We need more like them in the world.

This is the story of Holly Michael, journalist, author, and to me: cherished critique partner. If ever there were a book that embodied love and compassion, a story written in such luminous, deeply personal prose, Crooked Lines is it.

Here is Holly sharing the inspiration behind her story — a short narrative complemented by photos.

Holly4 From…

View original post 465 more words