Part of the Story

This is a rough draft of the speech/introduction I had before our program at Campion Academy in Loveland, CO, Sabbath the 28th of March.

Welcome to Sabbath School

We are so glad to see you all here today. We come from the southern most part of the Conference in Farmington, NM.

Knowing what our school group went through and hearing tid-bits from other school’s adventures, we all seem a bit crazy. But you know, God looked out for each of us anyway – fender benders, rear endings and all.

Our school’s original plan was to leave Farmington early Thursday morning. However, the storm predictions had many parents and drivers urging us to leave Wednesday. So after school, we loaded up, had prayer together and planned to arrive at Campion around 11:30 pm or so and stay ahead of the snow storms.

Our journey started great. The roads were clear all the way through Wolf Creek Pass. We were sailing along making great time.

Some of our group had left an hour and a half, maybe two hours ahead of us so a few of our students were texting back and forth our locations and weather conditions. So we knew there was some snow coming up, but the group ahead of us didn’t have any trouble so we weren’t concerned. The major storm was behind us. We arrived in Fairplay, CO after dark, and that snow we were told about started and began sticking to the road.

We filled up our gas tanks and started on our way. In our caravan there were four vehicles: two trucks, my SUV and a car. As we began down a hill, I thought maybe we were going a bit to quickly. The roads were starting to get slippery, but not to bad.

In my 4Runner were four of our girls, three whom are in The FEW, performing today. We were the third vehicle in the caravan. The first truck was driven by our principal who was carrying most of our luggage, the second a family in which one of the members is a part of our drama team and choir and last was the car following with the guys.

The truck, right in front of myself and the wide awake girls in my 4Runner, started to fishtail and then turned and slid sideways toward the left of the road. Thankfully there was no on coming traffic. I figured they would stop sideways and I slowed down more not wanting to run into them as they were pulling out of it. But their vehicle didn’t stop. It began spinning and sliding to the right side of the road toward drop off.

“Oh God! Help!” I screamed in my head as I was slowing my car, attempting to stop it slowly.

The next moment was the most frightening one I have ever had in my life as I know it was for the girls in my vehicle, as well as my mother who was watching from her rear view mirror in the lead truck. I won’t even try to imagine or explain what it was like for those in that truck.

We watched, helpless as the truck with this family we all love and call friends fall right over the edge of the road into blackness. For all we knew it could have been a 20 to a 100 ft drop into a river or rocks below.

Only with God’s help was I able to pull over and stop my car and put on the emergency brake.

I was screaming in my head “OH GOD! Please let them be alive, please let them be safe, please help them, please help them, please!”

I got out of my car, and hurried up the hill praying the whole way, “Please Lord, Please” As I reached the point where they went over the car that was bringing up the end pulled up next to me and I barely got out that they went over, when I saw the headlights of the truck.

There, was that big white truck, facing the same direction our cars were going down the road, resting, just before another steep embankment. Standing in the back of the truck, silluetted by the bed light was, the driver, A...

I can’t describe the wash of relief that flooded me when A… shouted up to us “We’re ok! We’re all Safe and OK!”

Now I have a question for you, how many of you carry wire cutters with you in your vehicles? I wouldn’t have thought to do so before now. You see, where the truck fell over was through a fence and there was a gradual incline parallel with the road. So in order to drive out, was through a fence.

Thankfully a young man had come along with us, practically last minute, and he had with him the best tool ever! A Leatherman with wire cutters. Between him, sponsors, teachers and our amazing 8th and 9th graders who jumped in to help with removing the fence and pole, transporting luggage and people from one truck to another, change a shredded tire with only little flashlights for light and cold temperatures, the truck was back on the road in just under an hour.

Now if that truck had gone over where it first started to slide, or 100 yards down the rad, there weren’t any inclined ledges, just drop offs . . . strait down.

The truck didn’t roll. It stopped just before another steep incline and faced perfectly the way it needed to, to drive out and there was only one tire that was shredded and no luggage was lost.

We know Angels carried that truck and safely landed them.

We found a hotel on the south eastern part of Denver, and started out a little late and experienced the storm that most of you went through to get here on Thursday. We had so many more miracles, it would take to long to share, but we experienced one mile and hour driving for several hours before we finally figured a way through town and made it here yesterday.

So we are so glad to be alive and share with you today. The Piñon Hills Christian School Drama Team had no idea how fitting the name they had chosen for our team, The FEW: Fearlessly Exposed Witnesses really was before this weekend.