Let me tell you a story about how my friends & I should have died yesterday.

My team & I were about to start a 4-hour journey to a little beach town on the Caribbean Coast to run a women’s retreat. We had to split up to get there, 4 girls were going to go with our ministry partner in her car & 3 girls would catch the bus.

Jackie, our team leader said she doesn’t usually think like this in situations but got the sense she was to divide us so that 1 girl in each group would have a phone & 1 girl in each group could speak Spanish.

The group that was going in the car was Jackie, Amy, Molly & I, the other 3 (Hannah -squad leader, Christa & Megan) were riding the bus.
Our ministry partner- Lucy* came around at 6 am to pick up my group.
We were all very tired & as we were trying to leave Jackie accidentally locked us in the front courtyard… we had to call someone with a spare key to come around & let us out.
We all sat there kinda bummed. Then, Amy, had a sudden urge to pray & we all gathered & prayed “Lord we are at your mercy for this journey, please protect us today”.

Someone came around with the key so we all jumped in the car to start the journey. Since I have started getting car sick Jackie asked if I wanted to sit in the front. I had the thought that if I did, I should probably stay awake to talk to our driver but then I soon fell asleep.
As we were driving, Amy had the same thought that someone should stay awake & talk to Lucy but then everyone fell asleep.
Lucy was driving for about an hour & she sensed twice that she should stop for coffee but shrugged it off, not wanting to inconvenience the journey. As we were driving, every time I readjusted I would pray “Jesus, protect us”. That is unusual, but I felt the urge to do so. 

We all awoke to different shocking senses as Lucy had fallen asleep at the wheel.

We had a head on collision with a truck that had only recently started to slow down & pull over. I awoke on impact, in my head I knew immediately “We have just crashed” but I didn’t know much else. Then a huge weight pressed against me & as I had my eye mask on I couldn’t see so in my shocked state I thought the worst, I thought there was a dead body on top of me. I started screaming over & over. All I could hear was someone screaming in the back “I’m bleeding” and I couldn’t hear anything else so I thought people had died. That was the most horrifying few moments of my life. Then as the air bag pressing against my chest deflated I slowly started to realize it wasn’t a body. But I was still screaming in shock. 

Amy & Jackie were both sitting in the back with Molly but didn’t have seat belts on. Amy was the one screaming & saying she was bleeding. She had hit her head on something & blood was dripping down her face. Jackie’s adrenaline kicked in & she couldn’t feel anything yet so turned to each girl to hug them (because that’s what you do? haha oh Jack). Molly & Amy both refused her hug as they were in pain. 

Then a big man covered in tatts opened Amy’s door & carried her to the side of the road. I was in pain, but I couldn’t move. I was winded by the airbag so I struggled to breathe & my knees had hit something hard. People started to get out of the car & as I started to smell strong gas I started to try & open my door, it wouldn’t open. As the big man on the other side struggled to open it I started to panic more. Then he jacked it open somehow & carried me across to the side of the road with Amy. Both Amy & I were in shock & dizzy. I couldn’t see properly & we were both on the ground trying to make sense of everything.

Then Molly & Jackie stroll over seemingly as if nothing had happened & both start communicating with everyone like normal. Jackie gets on the phone & calmly tells our squad leader on the bus what had happened. The paramedics arrive & Molly starts translating for everyone. They put Jackie on a stretcher first & all of a sudden after her initial adrenaline & duties were fulfilled she realized all of her pain in her back & wrist. She started to groan in pain as they lifted her into the ambulance, then one by one took us all. Except for Molly, who was still running on adrenaline bossing all of the police & paramedics around making sure our belongings were taken with us & not left on the side of the road. Her pain finally kicked in & she casually told the paramedic she is done with the police, please take her to the hospital now.

We had only seen Lucy once during this time but she was seemingly okay, she stayed back to communicate with police but after awhile her son had come to pick her up & take her to the hospital. 

I wish we had a camera following us around at the hospital. We were a comedic show. Jackie turned into a wild animal, we could hear her screaming from another room because they kept grabbing her sore wrist, not understanding her English. She then started screaming as they cut open her shirt & jacket so they could put an IV in. She was mad at them ruining her jacket she wears every day & that’s all we heard about for the next 10 hours. They put her on a bag of morphine & plonked her in the corridor to chill. She has only a sore back & arm but nothing serious.

I started cracking up laughing as I spent 10 minutes trying to tell them my name. Molly hadn’t arrived yet so we had no way of communicating. My duo lingo app tells me I am 15% fluent in Spanish but I couldn’t even speak the basics. They wheeled us around from room to room giving us injections, taking our blood, taking X rays & ultra sounds.
By the amazing grace of God, there were no serious injuries. For whatever reason they left the blood all over Amy’s face for about 2 hours, she would roll past us in her wheel chair every now & then with her bloody face and say “Hey girls”… Finally, they cleaned her up with 6 stitches.

We spent a long time just cruising in our wheel chairs in the corridor. They put me in front of Jackie as I pointed to her & said “Amiga” so we spent about 3 hours just staring at each other. Her in her new scrub outfit, straight chillin on her morphine drip. You can see Molly in the background after being rolled in after having all of her checks.

Me with a spew bag because I felt sick since the accident thinking about my initial horrific thoughts. I looked at the wall & there was a disgusting SNOT whipped across it, making me feel sicker.

But the reason I want to share all of this isn’t to share how horrific & scary it all was. It was to share about the countless miracles that occurred.

The driver of the truck we had crashed into was a Christian & he said that he sensed something to tell him to slow down only moments before we hit him. If we had crashed into a moving vehicle it would have been fatal for everyone. If we didn’t crash into him, we might have flown off the hill into a tree on the other side. We had sensed something prompting us to pray before leaving & as we were driving. God actually locked us in the courtyard to make sure we didn’t leave the house without praying. That still small voice telling us to stay awake & talk to Lucy, or telling Lucy to pull over & have a coffee, was the Holy Spirit. And even though we didn’t listen to him, God protected us anyway. That’s love. There is no explanation, except for a miracle, for why Jackie sitting in the middle seat, with no seat belt on didn’t fly through the front window. We know there was an Angel there holding her back. It’s a miracle that we have all walked out of this wreck with only cuts & bruises.

After spending hours at the hospital laughing at each other, our amazing host, who had driven to sort everything out took us home & stopped for pizza, chicken soup & ice cream on the way. I haven’t stopped eating since, apparently near death experiences make me really hungry.
We all walked into our beautiful home here at Transforma Ministry & thanked the Precious Lord for our lives. We spent time just sitting in his presence praising His Holy name.
We are in awe of Him & his loving protective arms. Thinking of all He did brings me to tears at his feet. The other 3 girls who had arrived in Puerto Viejo caught a bus back to be with us. We all sat in the lounge room marvelling at all God had done & shedding some tears together.

It’s easy to start blaming ourselves for not listening to his voice directing us on the way but instead, I am thanking him that he protected us anyway, through other means. I know that those first few horrific moments of me thinking that death was the reality I was in, was the enemy wanting me to see what he had planned. He didn’t win. He has no power against God & I have replaced those thoughts with the reality of Gods love in keeping us safe. But the thing is, when leaving for the World Race I knew that there is the possibility of danger. And if God had chosen to take me home in this crash, I have the security of eternity with him.

The doctor said we would all wake up with pain 4 times stronger & would feel it for 15-20 days. I am writing this the day after & although my chest is still in pain, my knees that were going blue last night have only a tiny scratch on them. My friends are still sore but nothing like expected. Bruising on most of us have completely disappeared over night. Apparently, we had over 1000 people praying for us & our recovery.

This is a reminder to listen to the Holy Spirit. If you are a sensing something is not quite right or that you should do something, listen, and act on it. It’s a reminder to always cover yourselves in prayer before leaving the house, better yet – the second you wake up.
And it’s a reminder of Gods unfailing love & grace that covers us even when we don’t listen to his promptings. 

What the enemy purposes as your destruction, God uses for your good.

Genesis 50:20
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

 

*Lucy’s name was changed to protect her identity.