A Busted Bus & Big-Hearted Believers

Once again, we have found ourselves on a road trip across America’s heartland on the way to our Bible Conference in Chandler, AZ. This morning, we drove through the bustling capital of the music industry, Nashville, TN. I couldn’t help but be transported in my mind to almost exactly one year ago, when we experienced one of the greatest miracles of God’s provision. I decided to share it with you today as a testimony of God’s awesome power. Check this out:

At that time, we were traveling with a group of about twenty people in our ”legacy” church bus. About twelve hours into the trip, we had almost made it through Nashville at around 7:30 AM on a Sunday morning. Suddenly, we were all awakened by a loud bang, followed by a clang, clang, clang. When we were able to safely pull over to the shoulder, one look under the bus confirmed our fears; the drive shaft had sheared off and was scraping on the pavement. I had a group of faithful church people counting on me to get them to Chandler in time for a Bible Conference! What was I going to do?

What appeared to be a major setback and disappointment, was actually a fantastic set up for God to prove Himself faithful.

That time when the drive shaft on our old bus busted in Nashville.

Here are all the miracles that occurred next:

1. One Google search revealed that there was a heavy wrecker company less than half a mile away. They were able to get to us in only fifteen minutes.
2. There was a Jack In the Box restaurant within walking distance for all of our people to have a nice breakfast while we waited to find out what was going to happen next.
3. As we were emptying the bus, a Good Samaritan pulled over to see if he could help us with anything. We explained that we were a church group traveling cross-country to get to a Bible Conference. It turned out that he was on his way to church too. He went on to ask us if we’d like to come to the church service with him. What an opportunity!
4. This possible angel in disguise started making phone calls and arranged for four separate cars to come and transport all of us to the church service. It turned out that the chuch building was only about one mile away from where the bus broke down. Coincidence? I think not..
5. In the meantime, the bus was hauled away by the wrecker to their shop, where they just happened to have a mechanic available and the part that we needed on-hand. They only needed a couple hours to complete the repair. 
6. The church service was great, a welcome break from being on the road all night. We all cleaned up a bit and had a cup of coffee. We worshipped together at the West End Community Church and heard an encouraging message from the pastor who even greeted us from the stage.
7. As soon as the service was over, I called the shop to check on the bus. They had literally just finished the repair and the bus was road worthy once again. 
8. Our angel organized a second convoy to get us all back to the bus's location. 
9. As if all of that wasn't enough, our friend who had found us on the side of the interstate slipped me $200 to put towards the repair! So amazing!
10. We were physically and spiritually refreshed and back on the road in les than four hours.
11. We made it to Chandler just in time to be there for the Monday night service. 

Be encouraged today: when you think it's all falling apart, God will show Himself faithful.