Stange but true

Group, Jul/Aug 2001 by Smith, Clinton

the winding road

During our summer camp two years ago, we took an afternoon off to go whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River in east Tennessee with several other churches from our camp. The two-and-ahalf hour trip down the rapids went without a hitch, but we still had a rough ride ahead.

We were being ferried back to our vans in a bus owned by the rafting company. Some kids were still hyped up from our whitewater adventure, while others were totally exhausted. One of our youth workers noticed that our bus was traveling rather fast around the curves on this mountain road. I noticed it as well because I was holding on to the seat in front of me just to stay in my seat.

Then it happened. As we were rounding a curve in the road... ka-blooey! A blowout in the left front tire on this old school bus. The bus had to be doing at least 50 mph. There was a mountain on the right side, and no place on the left side to pull over-only a steep cliff that overlooked the rapids we had just "defeated."

The blown tire caused the bus to swerve to the left. The driver tried to keep it on the road. As he rounded the curve, an 18-wheeler loaded with timber came barreling toward us. The bus swerved to the right and then back again to the left, narrowly missing the truck. Then out of nowhere we saw a clearing up ahead. The driver pulled over alongside the road. We were shaken up, but safe and sound. All of this happened in less than 30 seconds.

We know that God was watching over us that day. Why? Forty or 50 years ago, he gave the highway planners the idea of putting that clearing on the side of the road. There was no apparent reason to have the clearing there. It wasn't a scenic stop. You couldn't see the river very clearly. The clearing was in the middle of a curve. It was just there.

A lot of our kids examined their hearts that day. During the week they'd been learning how to worship God. They'd also learned the many names of God and how he helps us. At that evening's worship service, they started really opening up about how their lives weren't what they needed to be. Kids committed to a stronger walk with Christ that night. The close call on mountain road and the truths taught to them by the Holy Spirit led to a spark of revival in our youth group that still carries on to this day.

In fact, at last count, seven of our young people are considering entering the ministry as a direct result of that week's experiences.

Clinton Smith is a youth minister in Memphis, Tennessee.