God Is Not Finished With Us Yet

Written by Denise:

It's been nearly a month since the car accident and I've been wanting to write this blog post for some time to share what happened with everyone.  Writing about it means re-living it, which we all have been individually.... processing the events of that day & week over and over in our minds.

Jim, Bernie, Cori, Ellie, Jonathan, and Denise

August 4th, 2012 The Manchesters were all packed and ready to travel with our friend Bernie Anderson and his two children Cori & Jonathan in their Land Cruiser to the Mongolian Secret History Camp, which is about 2 hours away from the city of Ulaanbataar (UB). I sent a quick facebook message to Renee' Anderson telling her the "Manchester Family is packed and ready to roll!" I had no way of knowing that 2 hours later I would literally be rolling!  We were going to spend a week in the country side with all of the other CAMA families from around Mongolia at the annual Field Forum.  A week of rest, prayer, reflection, worship, business meetings & planning, and fun with one another.

We were almost there, only 10 miles away from the camp,  when the rear passenger tire exploded and sent our vehicle into a series of skids.  When the back tire dropped off the asphalt and onto the dirt we all knew what was going to happen next.  We were going to roll and the passenger side was going to take the first impact.   Except Ellie who was sitting in the very back of the vehicle and couldn't see what was coming because of all the luggage packed in around her.  Bernie was driving with Jim riding shotgun in the front seat.  I was sitting behind Bernie, his daughter Cori was in the middle and son Jonathan was sitting behind Jim.

As the land cruiser began to tumble Jim said he felt a strong sense to go limp and relax his body.  I put my hands up near my face and silently asked God, "Is this it?"   I felt the thud of the first impact.  I was still alive, and we were still tumbling and I could see Cori's body in front of me on the ceiling.  I asked God again, "Is this it Lord?", seriously questioning whether or not today would be the day I met my maker.  The second impact was harder than the first because we had caught air and landed hard on the drivers side.  My shoulder stung a bit and the top of my head was now sore where my sunglasses had been resting.  The car came to a sudden stop and the dust quickly settled.   Bernie was crouched over and  lifted his head from between a small space where the roof had caved in above him and met the steering wheel.  He rose up stuck his head out the wide open moon roof and turned around  to look back at all of us at the same time Jim did.  Almost in unison they both asked if everyone was alright.  Everyone answered they were okay, but no one heard Ellie way in the back.  Jim panicked for a second and then she shouted, "I'm alive!" and we all exhaled a breath relieved because EVERYONE was still alive!

Considering the airbags never deployed, things could have been so much worse and overall the injuries were minor.  We all sustained some minor bruises & rashes, small cuts, and general soreness from being in a car accident.  Six people walked away from the crash without any broken bones or major injuries.  I am still amazed that our friend Bernie was not more seriously injured.

People who saw the vehicle after the accident were asking, "how many died?".  We were able to say, none!  God didn't take our lives that day.  He wasn't finished with us yet, and for that I am thankful.

But there is more to the story than just telling about the crash itself.  It was fortunate that no other vehicle was following closely behind us or oncoming at the time the tire blew.  But there was an oncoming car further up the road who saw the whole accident happen from start to finish.  The driver was the Head of the Mongolian Secret Police.  His position would be equivalent to whomever is in charge of the US Secret Service in the United States.   He was traveling back to UB with his family and they stopped to help us after our accident.  The officer helped flag down a vehicle to take Bernie, Cori, and Jonathan to the camp we were headed to.  The top of Bernie's head was bleeding and our field doctor, Dr. Nia Pham, was there and could assess their injuries.  After ensuring everyone else was okay, the officer and his family left to continue driving back to UB.  Jim, Ellie, and I stayed with the vehicle and began picking up all of the items that had been thrown out of the vehicle during the crash.

Luggage Rack & Front Windshield

The first impact of the crash tore off the luggage rack and blew out all of the windows.  Anything small and loose inside of the vehicle went flying out the windows.  Cash, receipts, ipods, ipads, stuffed animals, backpacks, shoes, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.....it was all scattered several hundred feet in the ditch.

As we were picking up debris, another vehicle stopped to help us.  We quickly realized we knew these good Samaritans!  Our next door neighbor Tony, who lives in our apartment building with us on the 15th floor!  What are the chances that your next door neighbor would be driving two hours outside of the city on the same day as you and stop to lend you a hand?  God sent him and his co-worker Mark to help us on that day.  God knew we would be comforted by having someone who spoke English in our time of need, and they helped us unload the packed land cruiser and put all of the luggage into the back of their SUV.  They even helped pull our vehicle off the road so it was no longer blocking traffic.

Mark, Tony, and Bernie at the Mongolian Secret History Camp

An on duty Mongolian police officer showed up at about the same time as some of our team mates who had driven from the camp to help us.  It was a blessing to have team mates who spoke Mongolian to help Jim answer the police officers questions.  The officer let Tony and his co-worker take Ellie and I onto the camp with all of the luggage while Jim stayed with our team mates and the officer.  It is not uncommon for people to be fined money or lose their drivers license for a period of time following an accident here in Mongolia.

Dr. Pham

The next morning, we heard this police officer had showed up at the camp around midnight wanting to question some of us about the accident.  We were all asleep and he left angry.  The next morning our team mate Esther Yim received a phone call from the head of the secret police, the gentlemen who first stopped to help us.  He was driving back thru our way again and asked if she would meet him at the police station near the accident sight in an hour.  Esther and Dennis Maves, our Field Director, went to the police station.  The secret police gentleman instructed the other police officer to close the police report & investigation and write the driver was not at fault for the accident.  This was wonderful news for Bernie!  And an affirmation that God was at work in every aspect of this accident.

At the end of the week we all had to get back into a car and drive back to UB.  Everyone was a little bit anxious, especially when we passed by the area where the accident had occurred.

The day after we got back from Field Forum, I had to go into work at UBean.

Ayuna & her daughter.

The staff and I were busy cleaning all morning around the cafe, and around 11 o'clock I said, it's time for tea!  Four of us ladies were sitting around a table taking a break and I started to tell the story of what happened in the accident.  Ariuka, UBean's coffee barista was translating to Ayuna (the cleaner) and her daughter.  I told them how I had asked God if this was it.  If this was my time to die?  And I told them that if God had decided to end my life that day I would have been okay with dying and at peace because I know where I am going after this life.   I asked Ayuna a question.  I asked her if she wanted that same kind of peace that I had and to know she would be in heaven if her life were to end unexpectedly.  She and her daughter both said yes they wanted this same peace and to know more about Jesus.  After much discussion, we all prayed with Ayuna and her daughter and they made a decision to become followers of Jesus.

I have so much to be thankful and grateful for.  The accident "could have" been so much worse but it wasn't, and I refuse to mull over the "what if's".  I still have my family here with me, and that God's not finished with us yet.

 2 Corinthians 4:8-12    But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

2012 CAMA Mongolia Field Forum (missing 5 families).