Cee Josephs: CBlog

Alex Vega, Bible in hand, proudly displays his shirt after exiting the capsule.

Photo: Hugo Infante / Government of Chile Michell Bruguerolles From the San José mine, Copiapó, Chile COPIAPÓ .

- Excited and surprised have been relatives of the first miners pulled from the San José mine, but the impact not only to see them again. Another surprise was the shirts that most of them wore on top of the special suit they used when they emerged to the surface. The shirts, which have a large white star on a blue square and red on the chest, have written the phrase "¡Gracias Señor! Thank you Lord.“ On the back it reads another sentence that says: “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him… For Him is the honor and glory", which corresponds to verse 4 of Psalm 95.

Pastor Carlos Parra, of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Atacama Region, told Terra TV that the message of the T-shirts is "precious" and that while he knew his church had sent them, the miners kept them as a surprise and wore them. "And (the miners) kept from telling him because it was a surprise."

Alberto Segovia, Segovia's brother David, one of the "33", was pleasantly surprised. We did not think they were going out with them, only with green special suits, but when we saw the first miner's shirt; I was surprised" he said. Segovia believes that the use of the shirt with that message makes it clear that the miners come spiritually renewed from the bottom of the earth. "(David) told me out of here the first thing I would do is go to church and thank God." The local Adventist church has played a vital role attending and assisting the families of the miners spiritually at “Camp Hope” during the 70 days.