Bill’s Car: Back axle drops out on the way to Soroti

This past week, we anticipated meeting International Teams worker Bill Fitch who was travelling here to Soroti with two Kenyan pastors, Francis and Henry. Their purpose here was to set up “Listen to Learn”- a ministry that provides resources for pastors. They had all the equipment needed and we were looking forward to their arrival… a place was awaiting them.

Little did we know that it would be a miracle to actually meet Bill, Francis and Henry. On the stretch between Kumi and Soroti, the back axle broke. This sent them spinning twice in the air until they crashed into a tree. We got a call about the accident and Tim went to pick them up. Once they arrived, we welcomed the bruised men and tried our best to clean them up as we pondered what to do. The x-ray technician at the local hospital had already left for the day and we were unsure about the damages done to the men’s bodies, especially Bill’s hand, arm and neck. He had definitely broken his hand in several places and had severe bruising behind his ears, which possibly meant internal bleeding or a fractured skull.

We were thankful to have a visiting nurse in our midst… Jennifer, a skilled nurse used to working in the late night ER. She created a makeshift cast for Bill and warned us of the severity of his bruising. Kampala was a 6 hour trip and fairly dangerous to travel to at night.

So we prayed.

It’s difficult to express how intense this evening was. We sensed there was a great spiritual struggle. Almost everything for the Listen to Learn ministry was destroyed in the wreck, yet all three men walked out with fairly minor injuries. In a chaotic situation, the atmosphere of the room was calm as each man smiled and considered each other’s need and took time to get to know us. While we could have been spent our hours panicking, we swapped stories and prayed.

God was present… it was a miracle that they survived the wreck and all woke up in the morning feeling better. They took Bill to Kampala, found out that he had broken his hand in 5 places and that the only damage to his head found by the doctors was from a stroke he had had years previous.

This whole situation spoke to us of the measures Satan will go to attack us, yet the supreme protection God places around His people.