“He Was There”

Two weeks before Tropical Cyclone Idai hit Beira, stake president Freeman Dickie was preparing his family and the Church members under his stewardship for the worst. He and the other members of the presidency called together the bishops of the eight wards and instructed them to prepare to care for the members of the ward, including buying food and other supplies and storing them at Church meetinghouses. Members were told that if their houses were going to be unsafe, they could take shelter in their ward buildings during the storm.

On March 14, 2019, Idai struck. Dickie and his wife, Sukoluhle (Sue), opened their home to family, friends, and neighbors who needed shelter. That evening, President Dickie received a call from a young member couple with a two-month-old baby. The roof of their house had been torn off by the wind, and they needed help. Dickie and another brother left immediately to drive to their home. Eventually, fallen trees forced them to abandon their car and hike through the violent wind and rain. When they arrived, the father was huddled in the doorway of his ruined home holding his baby. With difficulty, President Dickie led the group back to safety at his home.

While the cyclone raged outside, the Dickies’ home felt peaceful and calm. “Sometimes Heavenly Father doesn’t stop the storm, but He calms His child,” Sue observed. Many of those who found shelter in the Dickie home that evening noticed the peaceful atmosphere there. Even small children were calm and slept most of the night despite the raging storm.

Other members of the stake also witnessed miracles during Idai. One father felt a spiritual prompting to flee his home with his family. As soon as he shut the door behind them, the house collapsed. The stake patriarch’s home was severely damaged; only the corner of the home where he stored records of patriarchal blessings and recording equipment was unharmed.

When the storm ended, Dickie and the other local leaders began the work of contacting each member of the stake. No members were killed in the storm, but many lost significant property. Almost immediately, the members began reaching out to their communities and helping with cleanup efforts. That Sunday, each ward held only a short sacrament meeting service, and then members organized into groups, donned yellow vests, and began cleaning the areas around the local hospitals. The Saints in Beira had lost much in the cyclone, but their burdens were made light as the gospel brought them together. “There is a God in heaven, and He loves His children,” President Dickie said. “Yes, He lets us suffer, but He knows why. And He was there.”

President Freeman Dickie surveys the damage caused by Cyclone Idai, 2019.