Families' faith in God evident during service

While a legion of mining experts employed millions of dollars worth of drilling technology in a desperate struggle to save nine men trapped 240 feet underground near Somerset, more than 300 people in a small town nearby put their faith in God and prayed for a miracle Friday night.

Family members of trapped miners and those who have lived their lives in mines and mining towns gathered for a candlelight prayer service at All Saints Church chapel in the little town of Acosta, just two miles north of the portal for the Quecreek Mine that still holds the trapped miners. Many of those who walked out of the chapel held onto each other and did not want to talk to the media gathered outside.

Inside the old country chapel were nine white coal miners' helmets at the foot of the altar, just below nine American flags. Nine candles were given to the families of the trapped miners. The families held their own private prayer service at the Sipesville Fire Hall last night.

The family of one of the trapped miners, Bob Pugh, attended the prayer service but declined to comment afterward. Pugh's father stood surrounded by family members and friends who hugged him to give him encouragement.

One of Pugh's cousins and a fellow miner, Jim Mayak, 51, of Stoystown RD1, said Pugh was a crew boss with about 25 years of experience underground. Mayak described Pugh as a man who will keep his cool in the most dire of circumstances.

“They train you exactly how to do it (survive),” Mayak said.

Donald Matsko of Jenners Crossroads, a retired coal miner who worked in the mines with Pugh, also said he was confident that Pugh can survive the ordeal.

“He can get them out,” Matsko said of Pugh.

The mood inside the service was “very, very somber,” said Christine Morgan, a native of Acosta who now lives in Wichita Falls, Texas.

With so many of the people involved in mining and knowing miners, the disaster at Quecreek “sent shock waves through the community,” she said.

The Rev. Jack O'Malley, a labor chaplain from Pittsburgh, said those attending the service showed the kind of resilience that coal mining families have shown down through the years. They have kept their faith in God in the most trying circumstances, he noted.

“These folks have deep, deep faith. They have faith in each other and faith in God,” O'Malley said.

O'Malley said he told them how people all over the state and country are keeping the miners and their families in their prayers.

“They are praying that time doesn't run out,” O'Malley said.

O'Malley explained that those who live in a mining community are special people who well know the dangers of mining.

“I think no one can understand what they are going through except the miners (and families),” O'Malley said.

Morgan recalled how her sister would pack a sandwich for her father, a coal miner, every morning because she never knew if he would come home in the afternoon.

“What I am witnessing at the fire hall is how important it is for them to be neighbors (and friends). They really want their privacy,” O'Malley said.

Those at the prayer service were not forgotten by families of the victims of United Airlines Flight 93, which was downed by terrorists near Shanksville last Sept. 11.

A Salvation Army officer read a letter from the families of United Flight 93 saying, “Your prayers were with us 10 months ago. Now, ours are with you.”