Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. This has been an interesting stretch of time for us. It has been evident to us that many of you have been praying for us. God is always looking for ways to show off, and He sure had the chance at the end of January!
We left on a Sunday morning to travel to a new church a couple of hours away. As we were traveling down the highway only 11 minutes from the church we were going to stop at, there was a loud bang, and black smoke started billowing out the right side of the motor home. We were just passing an exit, and I managed to get off the freeway. We were coasting with no power steering or power brakes, since the engine had stopped. There was one safe stopping place, and we just made it. We spent that Sunday in the motor home and are thankful that we had a safe place to stop and that we were able to see church services through live streaming.
After some investigation, I found that the engine had thrown a rod and was going to have to be replaced. My emergency towing company would only tow us (12 miles back the way we came) to a shop that said they had no room for us, so I called the nearby pastor. He was welcoming and said we could have it towed there to work on it. As I was working on the arrangements, his secretary called back and told me that the pastor was on the phone with a church member who had a business just down the road from where we had broken down. He was on his way to see if he could help.
We met him a few minutes later and found out that he owned a trucking company a few hundred yards up the road from where we had broken down. He towed us there and helped us out with water and electricity. While talking to him, he asked if it was really worth it to put a new motor in our motor home. I said, “Not really, but I don’t have any choice right now.” He thought for a few minutes and then said, “God told me to help you. I also have a Ford dealership, and they just took a motor home in on trade. You can use it until you are finished with your deputation.” Needless to say, we were shocked at his offer, since we had only known him for about 15 minutes! God had worked everything out in an amazing way that we did not expect!
God loves to work through people. I believe that your prayers for us were a direct cause of us breaking down exactly at the right place. It did not seem like a blessing at first, but it was turned into a great blessing when we trusted in Him.
Please continue to pray for our safety while traveling. It makes a difference!
Your partners in Christ,
Chris and Irene Williams