Chapter 9 - God's Man to the Rescue

“Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to

Hospitality.”

—Romans 12:13

We always traveled as a family when we presented

our ministry in local churches, and
this time was no exception. We were driving down
I-75 heading toward Tampa, Florida, for a meeting.
It had been a perfect day, and all was going well
until one of our children exclaimed, “Dad, smoke is
coming out from behind us!”
    Now I liked our Ford van, our vehicle at the
time, but not when it smoked. I thought jokingly to
myself, This cannot be. I have already taught this
van not to smoke—that it is bad for the health and
that secondhand smoke is bad for others. But it was
no joking matter, because when I looked in my rear39
view mirror so much smoke was pouring out that it
looked as though we were spraying for mosquitoes.
    We dared not keep driving for fear all the oil
would drain out. We pulled over to the side of the
expressway to see if the oil leak could be located.
Discovering that it is was leaking around the oil
filter, I concluded we must have blown a gasket.
Checking the oil I found it low, and unfortunately,
we had no extra oil with us.
    About this time a car hauler came by and offered
to take our van to a truck stop about two miles away
for $125. We declined, but when he offered to take
us all to the truck stop, we accepted. It was not much
of a truck stop, and as expected, they did not have
an oil filter for our van. Not knowing what to do, I
called our mission board to get the phone numbers
of some pastors in our area. I called the one nearest
to us, and he graciously agreed to help. In about an
hour, he met us at the truck stop, and we were off to
get a filter.
    After installing the filter and adding the oil, we
conducted a test drive with the pastor following us.
However, the problem was not solved. Oil was still
pouring out, as evidenced by the black windshield
on the pastor’s car. Since it was now getting dark, he
suggested we take the next exit, which was near an
abandoned service station, and check out the situation.
Closer inspection revealed that the fuel pump
was pumping out oil, and it was running down the
filter.
    The pastor kindly offered to get a fuel pump for
us, arriving back in about two hours with the new
pump and more oil. By now a storm was raging,
with thunder, lightning, and rain pelting down hard;
we finally got the pump installed and the oil added.
Not only did we have a new fuel pump but also
we would not need to change the oil or filter for
sometime.
    It was time to settle up with the pastor. “Pastor,
how much did all this cost, and how much do we
owe you?”
    To our amazement this man who had made two
trips to buy all these supplies for us, answered, “You
do not owe me a thing. I am happy I was able to help
you so that you can continue on to Tampa to present
your ministry to the church there.”
    Wow! We were truly amazed at God’s faithfulness;
thanking the pastor we were soon on our way.
He said he would follow us for a few miles to make
certain all was well. We headed down the highway
and he followed behind until he reached his exit.
Praise the Lord for a pastor who was willing to help
out in our time of need!

Hold the fort, for I am coming!

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)