By Joyce Wu.
Windy Yeung was passing through Hong Kong’s northern district of Tai Po on November 26 after a work meeting when she received news that a fire had broken out at the Wang Fuk Court apartment towers. Wanting to see how she could help, Yeung headed to the area and found distressed evacuated residents gathered outside.
A man in his 30s told her he had been trying for more than six hours to reach his father, a resident of the apartment towers, but hadn’t heard from him. He asked Yeung if there was any hope left for his dad.
Yeung, the communication officer of the Hong Kong Church Network for the Poor (HKCNP), said she felt her heart break at the question. Maybe his father was in the hospital, she suggested. Even if they couldn’t do anything and no one could enter the fire, Jesus could, she told him. The man then nodded and teared up.
The blaze that started at one of Wang Fuk Court’s eight 31-story apartment buildings that afternoon grew into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades. Flames rapidly spread to six other buildings, destroying nearly 2,000 apartments. The fire has killed at least 156 people, including one firefighter, has injured dozens of others, and has displaced thousands of residents. More than 30 people remain missing.
Although firefighters extinguished the flames after more than 40 hours, Hong Kong continues to grapple with the devastation. Amid the grief, local churches have provided shelter and aid even as some church members mourn their own losses in the blaze.
At Tai Po Baptist Church, located minutes away from Wang Fuk Court, more than 60 members of the congregation lost their homes, according to pastor Dustin Yee. During worship services the Sunday after the blaze, senior pastor Root Chau preached on Psalm 46 to remind congregants God is their refuge amid devastation.
At the 11:30 a.m. service, about 300 attendees filled the pews of the second-floor sanctuary. Many congregants wore black, and several cried during the service, which included singing a Cantonese translation of the hymn “In His Presence.”
Chau told the congregants that one member had stayed in the bathroom of her 27th-floor apartment until firefighters rescued her. Church leaders had visited displaced members at temporary shelters. He asked congregants to pray for the church staff members who are helping those suffering from the catastrophe.