To a non-Christian, my life’s experiences with the Lord would probably resemble a fantasy from a writer with a highly vivid imagination. Yet it is true to say that especially in the three years subsequent to my coming to faith in Christ in 2002, I was witness to the extraordinary and the supernatural on a regular basis. These experiences changed my life and marked the reason I came out of full-time business to pursue a roller-coaster journey with the Lord.

Feeling a failure

To give just one notable example; Thursday, July 28th, 2005, began like any other day. I was working in my business, a classic car dealership situated just a couple of hundred yards from the main York to Scarborough A64 trunk Road.

I was outside in the yard, when I heard a sudden screech of brakes and the sound of a crash. I ran up to the nearby A64 and could immediately see there had been a collision between two cars. In those days it was a national speed limit road. A car had collided with a stationary car waiting to turn right into a caravan park, and a lady was badly injured. Emergency services attended very quickly. I remember asking myself what should I do - should I pray for her? Should I lay hands on her?

I then prayed, “Please Lord, if anything like that ever happens around me again, give me the courage to do what you would have me do.”

I felt both inadequate and weak. I had already witnessed our Lord work in extraordinary ways on a number of occasions, yet as I walked towards the accident scene, my response was feeble. I offered the attending officers a cup of tea. An old lady was being given CPR and then I heard the North Yorkshire helicopter air ambulance, which then landed just across the road. Sadly, the lady didn’t survive and soon afterwards flowers were placed on a bench close to the scene.

I felt pretty ashamed. I said I was sorry to the Lord for not even having prayed properly. I then prayed, “Please Lord, if anything like that ever happens around me again, give me the courage to do what you would have me do." Three weeks later to the day, the Yorkshire ambulance would land in that same spot at West Knapton, the little North Yorkshire hamlet where I live.

‘I don’t want to die’

Thursday, August 18, 2005, just after my daughter Gabriella had headed off to the bus stop, I heard another terrific screech of brakes and a sound like the crushing of a plastic pop bottle, followed by silence. As I ran to the main road my first thought was, ‘has something happened to my daughter?’. It wasn’t Gabriella lying in the grass, but a 15-year-old girl called Anneka Rogers who worked part-time as a waitress with my daughter.

As Gabriella had climbed onto the westbound bus, Anneka had alighted and run across the road straight into the path of coach from Bradford, taking tourists to Scarborough. Press accounts later said that Anneka had been knocked fifty feet into the air. Quite literally she had been thrown from the westbound bus stop to the eastbound one. Shoes and bits of broken phone were strewn across the road.

Press accounts later said that Anneka had been knocked fifty feet into the air.

When I arrived, the coach driver was just standing there in shock and Anneka was lying in the grass next to my daughter, who stood over her. “I am Gabby’s daddy, help is coming” I said. “I can’t breathe, my stomach hurts. I don’t want to die” was the reply of the ashen-faced girl. 999 had been called and the air ambulance was on its way. I remember thinking this just can’t be a coincidence, Anneka landed just a few feet from the flowers commemorating the victim of the accident three weeks earlier. Quietly I prayed for guidance. Anneka then repeated “I can’t breathe, my stomach hurts, I don’t want to die”.

Miracle recovery

I then reached down and touched her saying “You shall not die.” I felt a strange rush, like a lift in my spirit and a sense of assurance that I had spoken the truth. Moments later the air ambulance helicopter arrived. The crew came across and after a quick assessment they asked me to help them lift her onto the plastic stretcher. The girl then looked up and said, “I’ve never had so much attention from so many good-looking men!” I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. What had just happened?

Anneka was whisked into the helicopter and flown to York hospital. A pal then arrived – John Gaughan, a Christian singer/songwriter/evangelist, former member of pop band, The Herman’s Hermits. We walked back to my house, praying, carrying the blood-stained pillow that I’d used to support her head. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. One moment she looked like she was dying and the next minute, she was totally different.

One moment she looked like she was dying and the next minute, she was totally different.

Curiosity got the better of me. Around 7.30 in the evening, I rang York General Hospital. I said, “I’m not a member of the family, just someone who was at the scene of the accident and I’d like to know how Anneka Rogers is” .The switchboard operator’s response was extraordinary “Mrs Rogers would like to speak to you, can you call again at 8pm when they’ll be on the ward?" I didn’t understand. How did they know who I was and that I would call?

I rang again at 8 pm. “I know you don’t I?” asked Mrs Rogers. “You have a daughter with Down’s syndrome - I often serve you Sunday lunch at the Dawnay Arms." I asked about Anneka. “They can’t believe how remarkably uninjured she is. She has no facial injuries. No chest injuries. The speed of the impact was so fast that it burst her spleen and she’ll have to have an operation. Her lungs are bruised from the impact with her chest wall. She has a hairline fracture on the hip but she’s going to be fine”. My response was to ask if she knew what had happened. “Yes, I do and the very first thing we are doing when we come out of the hospital is to come see you at Corner Farm.”

Exactly ten days later, Anneka and her mum walked up our path. I gave them a cup of tea in the kitchen and Anneka gave thanks to Christ for her life. The local press covered the story, though they wouldn’t mention anything about faith. The article they published was entitled ‘Anneka‘s miracle recovery.’ It simply said, “the family would like to thank the people there for what they did.” They know a miracle happened and three years later Anneka sent me an 18th birthday card. In it she wrote “Thanks to the prayers of a believing man I got to be 18”.

Durable and substantive faith

I told this story to my closest friend Ken three or four years ago when he come down to us from Scotland. I told it over lunch in a local restaurant and he looked at me with an expression that said, “I know you believe that Nick, but…..”. Moments later, a lady came to the table. For a moment or two I didn’t recognise her and then she said “Remember me? I’m Anneka‘s mum, you know I never really said a proper thank you” and she brought a large bottle of champagne to our table. I explained I’d just been telling my friend Ken her daughter’s miraculous story. I didn’t know she worked in that restaurant and Ken was visibly shocked. He gave his life to Christ last year.

The re-telling of God’s work in Anneka’s life has helped many make their own journey into faith.

Initially I wondered why I was allowed to witness the remarkable power of God in that way. A collision between a person and a speeding motor coach on the A64 is a predictable fatality. The impact with Anneka had smashed in the fibreglass front and windscreen of the coach. I know what I experienced and I also know that our God is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. The re-telling of God’s work in Anneka’s life has helped many make their own journey into faith.

In last week’s article I quoted Arthur Burk. “We will need a faith more durable and substantive to transcend the process of God dismantling secular humanism’s structures and fantasies”. In the days ahead, we will need that substantive faith if we are to be the people God is calling us to be, for the sake of those around us who do not yet know Him.

Next: Part 4, Parable of a salesman.