Claire’s Promise: A Mother’s Story of Faith-Filled Prayers

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This is a story of mothers who relied on their faith in Jesus Christ in the midst of the unimaginable. 

Hundreds of earthquakes moved the earth beneath signaling an alert to immediately evacuate Rabaul. Michael and Claire Bruder recognized they needed to leave their home. Claire left with the children to Vunakanau Teachers’ College on the mountainside. Michael continued warning and evacuating others to safety including members of his family, members of the community and members of his church congregation. 

Michael was the Rabaul leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ local congregation. Volunteer missionaries Kendall and Maudene Adams of Alaska, USA, Glenn Cockburn of New Zealand and Tossip Salaiau of Popendetta were among his evacuated congregants. The missionaries packed as much as could fit in their small Toyota Tercel and left. 

Mt. Tavurvur and Mt. Vulcan both erupted sending volcanic ash and mud raining down. Severe thunder and lightning minimized visibility, but all four eventually arrived at Vunakanau Teachers’ College to meet Claire, her children and about 100 others. Most evacuees began settling into an open air pavilion as a dark cloud filled the sky.

Mothers Who Love Their Children  

Maudene Adams noted, “Claire Bruder took her children in a circle, holding hands and had a prayer. She told her little flock that the Lord would blow the clouds away from them.” Claire’s daughter, Ivy, added, “As soon as she said, ‘Amen,’ this huge strong wind came and blew the cloud away.” Maudene witnessed that “The Lord kept her (Claire’s) promise,” as very little volcanic ash fell around the college.

Glenn Cockburn related the experience of a mother crying after being separated from her child during the chaos of the evacuation. She received a blessing (special prayer) and the next day was reunited with her little one. Tossip Salaiau recalled, “We could hear mothers in a group singing hymns in their native language, while some were sitting near the warm fire talking about the crisis.”

Other mothers were in distress trying to escape the volcanic fallout with their children. Claire’s other daughter, Marissa, remembered, “Early one or two mornings after the eruption and first volcanic acid rain, we were awoken by shouts from the corner of the college camp. A woman had barely any strength left, wearing a tattered lavalava (sarong) when she emerged from the line of coconut trees. She didn't have anyone to help her when the volcanoes erupted and had clung on to her baby, another toddler, one hanging from her back or shoulders, and the oldest child holding her hand as they had run through the bush for hours to get to higher ground.” 

Mothers Who Love Others                                                                   

Most who arrived did not have anything to eat, but Maudene and Claire knew the Lord would bless their efforts if they would try to help others. Maudene recounted, “Between Claire and I, we were able to feed the multitude with bread and fishes. We prayed it would be enough and that it would fill their hunger. To make the tin fish go far enough, we added tomato sauce and Weet-Bix. I put in a can of cream of chicken soup and some milk. We buttered bread and made 65 open faced sandwiches. When we ran out of bread we used some of the Weet Bix biscuits to make sandwiches. There was enough and some to spare.”                                                                                                                   

Above ground water tanks were polluted from the volcanic ash and acid rain. Water retrieved from an underground tank needed to be boiled to be suitable for dinner preparation. They gathered the rice and fish the Bruders had and the chicken and macaroni the Adams had. Both Claire and Maudene prepared a pot of fish stew, a pot of chicken stew and two big pots of rice using the boiled water.

Determining how to feed 100 people without plates, however, required resourcefulness. The answer? Banana leaves. The leaves were washed with water, sterilized over fire. Families were served rice and stew on the banana leaves. Hands replaced utensils. “There was enough and to spare. People who wanted to, got seconds,” recorded Maudene. The mothers felt God guiding them as they tried to help others.

By the next day, the number of evacuees at Vunakanau Teachers’ College had increased to 400. Claire and Maudene convinced all gathered to share their food. The people loved the idea. With a 25 pound (11.5 kg) bag of rice, 13 cans of tin fish, some odds and ends from Claire and one more can of fish from Maudene, an even larger pot of fish stew and rice were prepared. Claire’s daughters, Ivy and Marissa, served dinner to the evacuees.

Maudene reflected, “Today we fed the multitudes again. We are totally exhausted, but we are so grateful for this opportunity to serve. Service always brings its own reward. God loves these beautiful people.” 

Assessments of the devastation began to surface. Rabaul was partly covered in thick ash–the tropical paradise smothered in powdery gray. Those huddled at the college, however, experienced much less volcanic ash. Claire’s promise to her children that God would blow the volcanic ash cloud away was honoured by the Lord. 

God blessed the efforts of these mothers, named and unnamed, to bring comfort to the chaos, security to the insecurity and peace to the panic. 

Notes:

Adams, Maudene, diary dated September 19, 1994, in possession of Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Mission history.

Cockburn, Glenn, diary dated April 7, 2026, in possession of Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Mission history.

Pagere, Marissa Bruder, diary dated April 29, 2026, in possession of Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Mission history

Salaiau, Tossip, diary undated, in possession of Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Mission history

Stiefvater, Ivy Bruder, “Learning Journey”, Global Histories, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/global-histories/pg-05-learning-journey?lang=eng