SIBLINGS REMEMBER: From left, Olivia Bray, Marcus Mulder, Lauren Mulder, Ben Bray, Janis and Judah
Fernandes being prayed for at the launch.

Doco about brothers and sisters of those who died in Mangatepopo tragedy

A new DVD has been launched telling the story of the siblings of those who died in the Elim Christian College tragedy in 2008.

The Silver Lining DVD, produced by Creation Films, was launched at the Waipuna Conference Centre last week.

Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Tara Gregory, Tom Hsu, Anthony Mulder and Floyd Fernandez and teacher Tony McClean lost their lives while taking part in an outdoor adventure course run by the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre near Turangi in April 2008. The group was caught in a flash flood in the Mangatepopo Gorge.

One of those siblings featured in the DVD is Janis Fernandes, whose brother Floyd died in the tragedy. Miss Fernandes now lives in Australia and has come back to New Zealand especially for the launch of the DVD. She says she struggled to get her head around what happened four years ago. “I remember being so lost and so broken,” she recalled. “Every time I’d walk past my brother’s room, I’d be like, “I’m never going to hear him play his guitar again.”

Miss Fernandes says the whole experience has brought her closer to God. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is that there is always hope. It doesn’t matter what I feel, God is always holding me,” she explained. “I can’t do things in my own strength, but with God I can do anything.”

There is a song called Skies will Roar and a music video on the DVD composed by Miss Fernandes that is also available on ITunes. “I wrote it for a friend of mine who was going through a really tough time, but it was for me as well. It was pretty much all the stuff I’d learned through the tragedy and through that time.”

The chorus of the song has the line, “Winds will change and skies will roar but God will put you on the shore…In everything we just need to rely on God”.