Omar Reygadas was the 17th miner brought up. After breathing fresh air for the first time in 70 days, he did not hesitate to thank God for saving his life. Photo courtesy of The Bible Society of Chile.

One rescued miner, Carlos Mamani, had written on the front of the uniform used to carry him through the escape duct: “Thank you Lord,” and on his back was written verse 4 of Psalm 95, which begins: “He rules over the whole earth, from the deepest caves . . .”

Since the beginning of this odyssey, the Bible Society of Chile kept firm to its mandate of making the Bible available to every person, in every circumstance. First, to family members and friends and then to the miners, who all received not only a small contemporary American Bible Society Reina-Valera New Testament but also Bible Portions that were able to
fit through the communication tube. These resources helped them
face adversity.

Another one of the rescued miners, Jimmy Sanchez, the youngest at 19 years old, wrote on a note that he was able to send through the communication tube: “In reality, there are 34 of us because God never abandoned us below.”