My Resurrection Experience

When Miracles Happen, God Is There

Dear Friends in Christ,                                                From July 30, 2004

On the beautiful, sunny afternoon of Sunday, July 11^th, I was driving TX 170 on my way to teach a young couple about baptism, when this maroon pick-up trick blew a stop sign at Roanoke Road.  Never slowing down he hit my SUV broadside. The impact caused my Mercury Mountaineer to roll over 5 times, I was ejected from the vehicle, was thrown approximately 20 feet.  The other driver drove away with a tire missing. Fortunately Gennifer Wall, stopped, called 911, and stayed with me until emergency personnel arrived. The other driver was arrested later by the police because his front license plate had come off from the collision. He had no license and had warrants for previously driving on a suspended license.

Hwy 170 was temporarily closed, so that Care-flight could land and transport me to Harris Methodist Hospital downtown.    I suffered a fractured skull, a broken left pelvic bone, broken tail bone, broken and fractured ribs, a punctured and collapsed lung, a compound fracture of my left elbow (10 pieces), and a hematoma on my left hip. I lost four pints of blood at the accident. An EMT said he did not think I was going to live.  I was in ICU for eight days and the trauma unit for another 2 weeks. The reconstructive surgery saved my left arm, but locked my elbow in a permanent 100* angle. Through God’s grace and the miracle of prayer and faith, along with the immediate skillful medical care I received, I recovered.

It may sound strange, but I am emboldened by this ugly episode.  Out of what was intended to be bad, God brought so much good.  This traumatic accident became for me a spiritual mountain top experience. Through this Church of the Resurrection has lived out its charter to be a community of disciples living out the power of the risen Christ. We hope in a power that transcends human efforts. We trust God can take the ugliest, nastiest and deadliest events in our lives and transform them into God’s power, grace, and glory.

Through this traumatic event I have had the privilege of living the scripture.  Shining through my weakness, through my battered body has been the power of God.  Working through the trauma and grief of this situation was God to give us spirits of gratitude and praise.  My prayer is that in my life God is glorified.  I believe God is being glorified because I have not stopped being a witness to what he has done.  (I told everyone who came in my room.) The Lord works most powerfully in our alleged weakness rather than our self-assumed strength.

I know God was looking out for me.  While I was significantly injured, God protected me.  I am not paralyzed.  I haven’t lost a limb, not even a pinkie.  Nor am I anymore brain damaged than before the accident. 

Throughout scripture we are warned we will be attacked.  What we are doing at Church of the Resurrection is not establishing a new business to sell widgets.  We are establishing a church to claim people who are lost in darkness of sin, claiming them for the light of God.  As St. Paul says, we are up against the powers and the principalities of this world. We are up against the spiritual forces of evil. (Eph. 6:11-12)  The only reason I was on TX 170 that day was to proclaim the Gospel to a young couple who are ready to commit themselves to the Kingdom.  I drive that road all the time with no incident.  The road was practically empty.  Two seconds one way or the other and he would have missed me.  There was just nobody on the road. As I consider my sole purpose to be on that road was to share the Gospel and the weirdness of the accident, I am convinced of who struck me. I was attacked by the evil one. As St. Peter warns,  our adversary, the devil, is always prowling around like a lion looking for an opportunity to pounce against us. (1 Pet. 5:8-11)

 We should be aware of the opposition we face for bearing the Gospel.  But more than facing opposition, this accident is about the power of God shining through us. 

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” Romans 8:11

Your Fellow Witness to the Gospel,

Douglas J. Schoelles