Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

 

God’s Provision

                They always say that in near death experiences your life flashes before your eyes. I don’t believe this. I have had some close calls in my life and nothing ever flashed before my eyes. Usually I realize how blessed I am and have been to be unharmed when situation occur where I could have been badly injured and praise God that I am OK……and yesterday was no different.

                Yesterday there were seven of us who went into town to pick up groceries, use the internet and run some other errands. Brett, Ben and Charmain(Our host and contact this month) were in her vehicle and Myself, Tyler, Johnfrank and Sabelo(another worker at El Shadai Ministries) were in the other vehicle. We had all finished our errands, one of which was for Sabelo to pick up a trailer and another of the ministry’s vehicles that was broken down in town, and we started heading back to El Shadai with Charmain and the other guys following behind us.

                We were 10 kilometers from home when it happened. We were going around a right hand turn and a car was coming from the other direction. I was in the front seat with Sabelo and because it was dark outside all we could see were headlights coming around the corner….and then headlights coming right at us. It happened in a matter of seconds…..not really enough time to react and only a few moments for some thoughts to run through my head. What I remember thinking is that I know that that car IS going to hit us……but I also KNOW that I am going to be OK…….

The next think I know I was asking if the others in the vehicle were ok.

 “Johnfrank, are you OK?”…Yes.

“Tyler, are you OK?”…Yes.

“Sabelo, are you OK”… Yes.

Thank God we are all OK.

                My attention next turned to the vehicle that hit us. I quickly got out and started toward the crumpled truck sitting in the middle of the road. On my way to it I realized that Charmain, Brett and Ben were following right behind us and did not know if we were injured or not. I quickly shouted out to them that we were all ok and then turned my attention to the vehicle that hit us. The man was pinned in his car and was unconscious. It was then that I saw more cars coming up the hill at us. I quickly got a light and started waving it at the oncoming vehicles so they saw us and did not cause any more accidents. I directed someone to the top of the hill to flag down traffic up top while I directed traffic at the bottom and Ben, who is an EMT back home with medical training and experience, took over assessing and caring for the man trapped in the vehicle.

                After about half an hour the first responder arrived at the scene and assisted Ben in stabilizing the man while we waited for the police and other emergency vehicles to arrive. About an hour after that, with the help of many bystanders, we were able to unpin the man from the vehicle and get him into the ambulance and onto the hospital. In the process of freeing the man we could both smell alcohol and see broken beer bottles inside the vehicle. He must have either fallen asleep at the wheel, or just drunkenly veered into us. Unfortunately we found out that the man did not make it through the night despite our efforts to help him and all our prayers lifting him up to the Lord.

 

                                                     This is the car that hit us.         

       This was my first experience being in an accident with another vehicle and it is kind of surreal. I remember coming around the corner and seeing a car coming up the hill, then I remember seeing the headlights of that car come straight at us. I knew we were going to be in an accident and yet I was not afraid. I did not cry out, I did not think about dying, and I did not have my life flash before my eyes. I was calm and at peace. I’m not sure what it was…..Either I was at peace that if God was calling me home at that moment then it was my time…or more likely I knew that God had his angels around me to protect me from harm. Right after the impact I didn’t really check to see if I was ok…I KNEW that I was OK…that I was not injured. I did not have a scratch or bruise on me. I knew I was OK and my concern turned to my brothers in the car with me, and then to the man who was in the other vehicle.

 
               This is our car and the result of the crash on Tyler(left) and Johnfrank(right)           

     I know that the accident could have been much worse. If the car had hit us a second later than it did, it would have impacted the side of the vehicle instead of the front and Sabelo and Johnfrank, who were on that side of the car would probably have been injured much more severely than they were(thankfully Tyler and Johnfrank only have bruises and soreness from the seatbelts and a few scrapes, and Sabelo just has some pain in his lower back). If we were not going as slowly as we were because of the vehicle on the trailer we were towing, and we did not have the extra weight of the car and trailer behind us, the accident could have been much much worse. God was truly watching out for us that night. He had his angels surrounding our vehicle and there on the scene of the accident as we worked to free the man from the wreckage.

                I want to thank you all for your constant prayers for myself and my squad. I truly believe that it was because of the those prayers of protection that I was not injured in the accident(I literally do not have a scratch on me from the accident…I barely remember feeling the impact at all, Praise God!) and that my brothers injuries are minor. Thank you for your blanket of prayer over us all. I praise God for his protection and blessing over everything that happened that night…. the bus that gave us a medical kit…. the nurses driving by who helped stabilize the man…. the bystanders who helped free the man. God is good and is watching over us.

                I know you all will continue to keep me and my squad in prayers, but I want to ask for more prayers as well. I ask that you keep the man’s family that passed away in your prayers. I ask that you keep El Shadai Ministries in your prayers as the only 2 vehicle that they own are now totaled, or unable to run(The vehicle we were towing also got damaged in the crash). El Shadai runs off donations and while they have supporters who take care of 2/3’s of their expenses, they rely on the Lord to provide for the other 1/3 of their expenses each month….and now they have no vehicles to run errands into town and provide transportation for the kids. They must now rely on Charmain’s personal vehicle to help run the ministry. Lastly please keep Tyler, Johnfrank and Sabelo in your prayers as they heal from their injuries. Pray healing over their bodies and that there be no lasting fear or damage, mentally or physically from the accident.

                Again, I cannot thank you all enough for all your prayers. While you may not be able to be here physically to do the ministry that we do every day, your prayers are felt, they are needed, and they lift us up so that we can continue to do God’s work. Thank you again and God Bless.

 
P.S. If you want different accounts of the accident please check out Johnfrank and Tyler’s blogs.