This collection of stories comes to you directly from the website of the HKBP. The Indiana-Kentucky has secured the services of an Indonesian translator to help make this information available for you to read. In order to retain the authenticity and "flavor" of these accounts, we have chosen to retain the grammar and spelling as we have received it.

"From 7 of My Family Members, only 3 survived"

We were already out of the house when the first earhquake hit the ground.
We actually lived near the airport in Blang Bintang, however, we stayed
for a while at my mother-in-law's house for Christmas eve since it is
quite far from Blang Bintang to my mother-in-law's. Our planning was to
celebrate Chritmas eve and go to the church at the time. There were 7 of us in that house. After the earthquake, we still had time to clean up those things ruined by earthquake and not so long after that, we started to hear people shouting from the beach, "waves…waves…!" Most of people thought that it was impossible that waves could come as it happened then.
When the waves of water almost reached us, all of us run away to the
second floor of DPRD (the Provincial House of Representatives) office. I took my daughter with me while my wife took our youngest son with her
behind me. My wife is from Manullang clan. Unfortunately, only me and my daughter with her aunt could manage to reach the second floor. The rest were blown and thrown by big waves of water. After waiting a few hours, when the waves were calmed, I stepped down from the second floor to find out if there were people alive. There were still a lot of people injured by waves being rescued. I found my wife injured and since none of us could help her at that critical condition, she finally died. When I was quite busy taking care of my wife, I was separated from my daughter and her aunt for one day and night. I did ask people in the second floor of that DPRD building to be together with my daughter and her aunt. I had to take care my wife and at that time, people started to reach the refugee camp and that's why I couldn't stay with them. From 7 of my family members, just three of us survived.