Lincoln Elementary Student, Teacher Aid Salvage Bibles After Home Fires
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Lincoln Elementary student Gladys Bautista and teachers aid Lisa Valentine have been displaced from their homes due to home fires.
However, from all the fire destruction, they have something that was salvaged from their house fires that is important to them.
That is their Bibles, something that has provided both of them comfort from the reality of losing their homes.
Sharing their experiences with each other has helped provide comfort in a time of crisis.
On Oct. 31, Bautista’s home at 321 N. Cook St. caught fire. The home was a total loss with damages estimated at $150,000.
Valentine’s home at 316 W. Fort Wayne St. also had a fire in June that was a total loss after a roofer accidently lit the home on fire when he was doing roofing work with a torch to meld the roof together, Valentine has been living in temporary housing since the fire, and hopes to move to a new home by mid-December.
A Bible, family photos and a photo of Jesus hanging on her dining room wall was all that was left from Valentine’s home fire. The items are being restored from the fire.
Valentine said among the damaged home was her Bible that she got from an auction. It was opened to the 23rd Psalm.
“I’ve had to explain to Gladys she may be going through a rough time, but good things are to come and I am proof of that,” Valentine said. “It’s like miracles from the ashes when your whole life has been devastated by a fire and the Bible is salvageable.”
Lincoln Elementary School Student Council sold bracelets this week as a fundraiser for the Bautista family.
The fundraiser was organized by Pam Carroll, Lincoln Elementary Title 1 reading coordinator and student council coordinator.
Bautista, 11, a fifth-grader at Lincoln Elementary, was at school at the time of her home fire.
She has been staying at a Warsaw hotel with her family since the fire occurred. The family is working with insurance and does not know when they will be able to go back to permanent housing.
Her brother, Marco, 4, was sleeping in the home at the time of the fire.
Her mother, Maria, was outside and saw the flames shooting from the home and went back in to rescue Marco.
Maria and Marco were transported to Kosciusko Community Hospital. Maria was checked for smoke inhalation issues and was released.
However, Marco was transported to Fort Wayne via helicopter with burns to his hands and forehead. He was released Nov. 1 from the Fort Wayne hospital.
On Nov. 2, Bautista’s father, Rafael, and brother Rafael Jr., discovered the Bible at the fire-damaged home site.
The Bible that the family has had for 10 years was given to the family by Bautista’s grandmother, who lives in Mexico.
Bautista said she is glad the Bible was salvaged from the wreckage.
“It means God was taking care of us at all times,” Bautista said.
Bautista said it has helped to have Valentine share her story of the fire at her home.
“Having someone who has already had that experience of losing their home to a fire has helped me deal with the same thing,” Bautista said.
Bautista said she is glad her mother and brother survived the fire.
“I don’t know what I would do without them,” Bautista said.
Maria said it is a miracle that the Bible was salvaged and that she and her son escaped the fire.
