<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Thank you everyone, for the prayers!<br><br></div>It is frightening to watch everything burn around you. From my office windows at work, I can see huge clouds of smoke billowing up as the Tokai forest burns. A few kilometres behind that is the Constantia Shrine. The wine farm across the road from the Shrine is already on fire. Firefighters and farm workers are battling the flames before it reaches the vines of South Africa's oldest wine farm. Last night I watched Muizenberg burn from my kitchen window till about 1am when the fire fighters stopped the flames just before it reached the houses. The wind then blew the flames south to St James and Fishhoek, and before morning a few houses in Noordhoek were caught. To give you an idea of the fires, about 4,000 hectares of mostly mountain and forest have burnt down already. <br><br></div>Today the temperatures are cooler and there were a few drops of rain which has helped to settle the ash, but news reports say it's not enough to put out the fires.<br><br></div><div>United in solidarity,<br></div><div>s-l<br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 2:02 PM, Maria Fischer <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:maria.fischer@schoenstatt.org" target="_blank">maria.fischer@schoenstatt.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:110%" lang="EN-US">Dear friends and
collaborators of <a href="http://schoenstatt.org" target="_blank">schoenstatt.org</a> <br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:110%" lang="EN-US">Our collaborator, Sarah
Leah Pimentel from South Africa, shared some minutes ago that
the Schoenstatt Sisters at Constantia have been
evacuated early in the morning of March 4, as </span><span lang="EN-US">firefighters
are focusing their efforts on Noordhoek, Clovelly and Tokai this
morning as
well as assisting Groot Constantia residents evacuate as the
flames fan out
towards their doorsteps.<span> </span>The
massive
blaze broke out in Muizenberg on Sunday, prompting evacuations
from houses and
retirement homes. Scores of people have also been treated for
smoke inhalation
this week. The entire Table Mountain is on fire… <br>
<br>
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:110%" lang="EN-US">Extremely high temperatures and then a very
strong wind set large areas
of the Table Mountain afire on Sunday, and made the fires spread
rapidly to
surrounding areas.<span> </span>Over
300 firefighters
have been working almost non-stop since Sunday, but as fire
seems under control
at one side, it starts somewhere else.<span> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Meanwhile, firefighters who have been
battling the massive blaze say
they’re overwhelmed by all the generosity of the public.
Donations are
streaming for exhausted emergency crews and those who have been
affected by the
fire. It is in moments of extreme need, that humanity`s best
quality,
solidarity, proves to be the force that creates heroes… and a
better world.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><b><span lang="EN-US">Let us go on a
pilgrimage of covenant solidarity to
the shrines in Cape Town… Let us pray for strength for the
fire fighters, for
rain to fall in the right places and for the South East wind
that is expected later
not to reignite fires that had already been doused or burn
new areas.<u></u><u></u></span></b></i></p>
<i><b>
</b></i>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><b><span lang="EN-US">Let us pray in
thanksgiving that no lives have been
lost yet and only a few homes. <u></u><u></u></span></b></i></p>
<i><b>
</b></i>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><b><span lang="EN-US">Let us be in Covenant
Solidarity with Cape Town. Now.<u></u><u></u></span></b></i></p>
<i><b>
</b></i>
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<font size="-1"><font face="Trebuchet MS">Read and share, and
motivate prayers in your shrine and Schoenstatt groups and where
ever you can. <br>
<a href="http://www.schoenstatt.org/en/news/2365/53/Massives-Fires-in-Cape-Town-a-moment-of-Covenant-Solidarity.htm" target="_blank">http://www.schoenstatt.org/en/news/2365/53/Massives-Fires-in-Cape-Town-a-moment-of-Covenant-Solidarity.htm</a><br>
</font></font>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Sarah-Leah Pimentel<br></div><div>"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." Nelson Mandela<br></div></div></div>
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