Pastor Bob Ewert found it difficult to deliver his sermon onSunday. It probably had something to do with the fact he and hisfamily lost nearly all of their possessions in a fire that consumedtheir home on Sept. 20.
"I feel so much emotion right now as I'm trying to preach,"Ewert said Sunday morning, "but I'm just thankful that nothingmatters, the belongings I have don't matter. The peoplematter."
Bob Ewert, pastor at Union Grove Church of the Brethren, and hiswife Sylvia Ewert, an administrative coordinator in the Departmentof Accounting in the Miller College of Business, are currentlystaying at a local hotel and will be moving into a furnishedapartment Tuesday.
"Scripture says we hope with perceverence," Bob Ewert said."That means it doesn't come easy. Perceverence means you have tohold on, you have to hold on to your hope."
THE FIRE
Although firefighters aren't yet sure of the cause, they knowthe fire started on the rear deck, Sylvia Ewert said. It thenspread up the back of the house into the attic, where it smolderedfor a while before setting the entire house ablaze. A 911 call wasplaced at 5:03 p.m., and the first firetruck of eight arrived at5:12 p.m., she said.
Fortunately authorities arrived quickly, but the house was notempty when the fire started.
"We have a 21-year-old foster daughter who was asleep and wasrescued by a stranger about one minute before the roof collapsed,"Sylvia Ewert said.
At first, she thought it was a neighbor, and he did come over tohelp, but it was the stranger who went in the house to get her, shesaid. No one, including the daughter, knows the identity of theman, she said.
"I think it was an angel," Sylvia Ewert said. "Whether it was areal angel, or whether it was a man acting as an angel, he's anangel in our eyes."
Sylvia Ewert was just leaving her job in the Miller College ofBusiness when she received the call that said her house wasburning. Bob Ewert was in Upland, where he works part-time as amortgage broker.
The heat from the fire was so intense that it melted the sidingon the Ewerts' shed and the siding on a neighboring house. Despitethe intensity, the Ewerts were able to save some of theirpossessions.
"The most important items we needed were salvaged," Sylvia Ewertsaid, referring to several photo albums and some importantpaperwork.
"It's just something that happens to other people," Sylvia Ewertsaid. "It's kind of like the chances of winning the lottery. Youjust never think it's going to happen to you."
While the fire seriously affected their lives, they are gratefulthat no one was seriously injured, she said.
"But in the end we're just so thankful that everyone is okay,it's just a house, it's just stuff. It was our dream home, butwe'll get another one," she said.
THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE
Losing everything put the Ewerts in a place where they didn'teven know where to start rebuilding. After leaving the scene of thefire, the Ewerts went to IHOP for a meal and to Wal-Mart to getessential items.
"Our initial expenses were over $600," Sylvia Ewert said.Although the Ewerts had insurance that would reimburse them fortheir loss, they had little to work with at first. That's when thecommunity came to the rescue.
Beverly Rowe, an assistant professor in the Department ofAccounting and a member of the Ewert's congregation, is helpinggather money for an unofficial fund to assist the family in theirtime of need.
"Bob and Sylvia had greatly underestimated their need," Rowesaid. All of the Ewert's daughter's clothes were burned or smokedamaged, and she had been able to buy some clothes right away, butthey were only cool weather clothes, Rowe said. She said she thenwalked up to Sylvia Ewert with $400 cash.
Rowe said the next day Bob was in need of a suit, because he wasofficiating a funeral. She walked up to the Ewerts that day andgave them $700 cash.
"There was just an outpouring among community members," Rowesaid. "People are just giving a great deal."
Rowe sent the original request out as an email to faculty andstaff of the Miller College of Business, but after checking withthe dean sent an email to all BSU staff Friday morning, and theresponse was overwhelming, she said.
Within 15 minutes of sending out the e-mail, her inbox was fullwith offers to help, Rowe said.
"Sylvia and her family are so completely overwhelmed by the loveand support that they received, that there aren't enough words tosay thank you," Rowe said.
Other organizations on campus have also been taking upcollections, Rowe said, including staff council members.
"There's so many groups, I hate to just start listing names, itall adds up to a lot of help," Sylvia Ewert said. "Everybody's justtrying to do something to help us. We've really been touched byBall State."
Rowe said that the community also reached out to her last summerafter her mother died.
"One of the charactarisitics about Ball State is that there is aspirit of kindess abundant in the university community," Rowesaid.
WHERE TO NOW
The family plans to move into a furnished apartment on Tuesday,and from there will begin to arrange for a new, permanent home.
"We were just thinking 'Oh, we love our new house,' and we werefinishing up things; an extra lamp here, a little table there, youknow, those finishing [touches]," Sylvia Ewert said.
The Ewerts had lived in their home for about a year and fourmonths. She and her husband have already been talking tocontractors, and they currently plan to rebuild on the same spot,she said.
"When there's a thousand things to do there's just no time,"Sylvia Ewert said. She said there are hours and hours of thingsthat need to be done, from paperwork to working through the damagedhouse to try to recover items to simply transferring photos fromdamaged albums to new ones. She said the outpouring of help she hasreceived from the community has encouraged her and her familytremendously.
"It's been overwhelming. If people say they don't like Muncie,they haven't seen the Muncie we have," Sylvia Ewert said.
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