This is the World Race. A blog from the field by Joel Dutton
There
are moments in life where sometimes you just act… Thinking and
reasoning go out the window and actions are all that come about. You
do whatever it is that’s needed, in a situation where every minute
counts. Then you look back wondering if it was really you who just
did that, at least I did.
started like any other “day off” on the World Race, I slept in
till about 9 (which is late for us), made some legit pancakes for
breakfast, laid around for a while, ran a few miles to the gym with
two teammates, ran back because the gym was closed, opted out of
taking a shower and went to the pool instead , swam, laid around the
pool and read a few chapters of “Radical” by David Platt
(everyone from the States should read it), went home, took a long
(10mins) cold shower, and got ready to go to dinner with my team.
Then it happened…
Who is
a fan of a good ole divine appointment? Maybe some divine
intervention here and there? Who loves punctuality? I love to be on
time, then I came on the Race… You see, our dinner plans were to
leave at 6 to go to this taco restaurant, not just any taco
restaurant, the best chicken tacos I have ever eaten in my life (so
far) taco restaurant. My teammate Lacey had left earlier in the day
to run some errands and we hadn’t seen her for a while. The clock was
ticking past 6 and my stomach was running on empty (no bueno). At
about 6:20 p.m. we decided to go ahead and head out and hopefully
cross paths with her on the way. Then it happened…
When
I left the house yesterday evening for dinner I left a man on his
“day off” just going to enjoy dinner with my teammates… I left
a man that was just coasting through my last few days in the D.R.
before ministry starts in Ecuador, but the events that soon
transpired changed everything… When leaving the house me and my
team leader Daniel noticed a man sprinting down the road like he was
trying to keep up with Hussein Bolt, when I looked to see where he
was going I saw smoke billowing out of the window from the house on
the corner and flames starting to trickle out… My first reaction
was shock, but before it fully hit me I found
myself sprinting and leaping over the spiked fence that barricaded the house. As I made a
rough, flip flop cushioned landing the Dominican man kicks the door
in as a wall of smoke make its escape. Once the burning in my eyes
subsides I see a boy, probably 8 yrs old, standing there naked and
helpless. We are yelling for him to come out but he hesitates… All he
can do is cough and point to the back, then it hits me:
Everyday
that we would pass this house we were always greeted by the cutest
twin faces. There were two little, twin girls who lived there who were
probably around 4 yrs old. They would always come outside when the
heard us come by and say “hola” in a voice that reeked of
innocence.
I run
to the side of the house to see my female teammates jumping the fence
and pointing hysterically, behind them the fire that was once a
trickle out the window was an inferno kissing the sky. Without
thinking about it I sprint into the house and run towards the back
with one thing on my mind, those two faces. As
I’m running it is getting hotter and hotter, I see a bright
orange glow and flames shoot out of the back bedroom hugging the
ceiling. I look to my left and hear the cries of the two girls as
they stand on their beds trying to squeeze through the barred windows
(all buildings here have barred windows). I see the hands of my
teammates reaching in as the hands of the little girls are reaching
out. Choking on smoke I grab the girls and run out…
After
that everything is kind of blurry, I remember my squad out there
working along side neighbors putting out the fire with buckets and eventually a garden hose. For the most part my mind was just
racing to catch up on all that had taken place. Did I really just
pull to girls from a burning building…? I mean, I am no hero… I
don’t feel any different… I just did what anyone of my my V-Squad
Men would have done…
try and filter through this God starts to reveal some things to me. I
am always on mission and better be ready to be used in any situation
at any time. God doesn’t operate on my idea of a schedule. Everything that took place was not a coincidence:
weren’t just late for dinner and leaving right about the time when a
fire breaks out across the street and goes from campfire status to
Hell in a matter of seconds. The parents who locked the kids in the
their house to protect them didn’t do it thinking they might doom them.
The two propane tanks located near the room just happened to not
explode. The fire just happened to get put out with a few buckets of
water (the water hose didn’t come in until it was only smoldering) .
to God, He set that appointment for us to be there. He made me go
from walk to sprint. He carried my feet right to where those girls
were. He gave me that last gasp for fresh air before I grabbed the
girls to run out. He kept those flames contained long enough for us
to make it out safely. Everything that just happened was God’s divine
plan in action and I was what I had been praying for God to let me
be… A WILLING VESSEL…
careful what you pray for… Your thought for what God will use them
for and His are usually different. The scary thing is that His are
generally much bigger. I mean, how would He be glorified if it was
something I could have done on my own? Cause let me tell you, there
is no way in Hell I would have done that without Him… I am no
“hero”, He is.
Support Joel so God my continue to use him on the mission field.
