Chapter 29 - A Broken-Down Van and a Salvation

“But my God shall supply all your need according

to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

—Philippians 4:19

Linda, the children, and I had just finished presenting

our ministry to Africa in a meeting near
Birmingham, Alabama. I was driving I-20 toward
Winston-Salem, NC where we lived near our parents.
As we neared Atlanta, our van started missing
and losing power. An exit was near; I decided to
get off before the van completely stopped. As we
approached a red light at the exit, the van started
bucking like a bronco. The light turned green just in
time, and the next light was green. As we approached
a service station, the van gave up and we coasted in.
    We praised the Lord that we had made it and
were all safe. We were grateful for that, but it was
now nine in the evening. I knew little about this van
because we had not had it for very long. I did look
under the hood but could see nothing wrong. There
was nothing to do in this situation but pray, which
we did.
    An area pastor whose church supported us came
to my mind. He was about two hours away; when
I called him, he gave me the numbers of several
pastors who were closer. If we were not successful
in getting help from one of them, he promised to
come get us. I was able to reach only one pastor, and
he was not in a position to render any assistance. I
called the first pastor again. True to his word, he left
right away to come get us. But, of course, it would
take two hours for him to arrive. Nevertheless, we
were all praising the Lord for this answer to prayer.
    We decided to go inside the station while we
waited. The clerk, a woman, asked questions about
who we were and why we were sitting outside. Our
answers seemed to ease her mind. I thought it might
be a good time to introduce her to Jesus. She was
not a Christian. I started with the book of Romans
and explained the plan of salvation. She readily
accepted Jesus as her personal Saviour, and we all
rejoiced that she was now a child of the King.
    Around midnight, the pastor and another man
arrived in the church van. We loaded up our luggage
and headed back onto the expressway. They took
us to a Holiday Inn close to the pastor’s church,
booked us a room, and told us to get breakfast in the
morning. The church would take care of the bill. We
gave him a big thank you, and he said he was glad
he could help. He also said that at nine tomorrow
morning, he would send a mechanic with the church
van to accompany us to our van to repair it.
    In the morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast,
and at the appointed time, the church van
pulled up. It was a hectic two-hour drive through
Atlanta traffic, but we made it. When we arrived at
our van, the mechanic began checking this and that
and explaining things. I did not know what he was
talking about, but I was willing to learn. Soon he
was off to an auto parts store and later returned with
what appeared to be an electrical part. He installed
it, and the van fired right off. I asked the man how
much we owed him; His reply was that the pastor
had said that the church would take care of everything.
We thanked him, loaded up, had prayer for
the pastor, the mechanic, the woman that was saved
and thanked the Lord for people who are willing to
go out of their way to help those in need.

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)