I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Removing pain
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Lord, let my words
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Heal a heart that hurts
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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Hello, friends.
Welcome to 3ABN Today.
00:01:08.73\00:01:11.10
My name is John
Lomacang and you probably know
00:01:11.13\00:01:13.23
who's to my left, my sweetheart.
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Angela Lomacang,
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and we are glad
to be together...
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That's right.
Doing this interview.
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It's gonna be an
exciting program, isn't it?
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Oh, it is.
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As a matter of fact,
I want you to just pause
00:01:24.08\00:01:26.51
whatever you're
doing right now, sit back,
00:01:26.55\00:01:28.95
you do not want to
miss this interview.
00:01:28.98\00:01:32.39
What happens when your
day just turns upside down,
00:01:32.42\00:01:36.39
inside out
00:01:36.42\00:01:37.76
and you find
yourself hanging on to life,
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literally by a thread.
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I know.
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We're not talking
about bad medical report
00:01:43.50\00:01:45.63
or some unusual
turn in your health.
00:01:45.67\00:01:49.47
But our guest today is going
to talk about this miraculous,
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amazing...
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Totally miraculous.
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Survival and we'll give you
more details on the other side.
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I don't want to give
you too much of it now.
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That's true, but you
don't want to miss this program.
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You do not want
to miss this program.
00:02:02.95\00:02:04.29
No. It's encouraging.
00:02:04.32\00:02:05.65
We just heard the
story's encouraging to us.
00:02:05.69\00:02:07.69
So encouraging, devastating,
and yet encouraging.
00:02:07.72\00:02:10.96
And also talks
about God's providence.
00:02:10.99\00:02:13.73
How the enemy is
never a step ahead of God.
00:02:13.80\00:02:17.37
But God is always a
step ahead of the enemy.
00:02:17.40\00:02:20.34
Many, many steps
ahead of the enemy.
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Oh, many.
00:02:21.74\00:02:23.07
And sometimes you do things
and you wonder why you do it
00:02:23.10\00:02:24.71
or why you didn't do it.
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This program will
give you encouragement
00:02:26.11\00:02:28.48
to know that nothing
happens coincidentally,
00:02:28.51\00:02:31.08
and we'll meet our
guests in just a moment
00:02:31.11\00:02:32.68
but, Honey, what
do we have for music?
00:02:32.71\00:02:34.45
Well, we have a great
00:02:34.48\00:02:36.79
piano player
named Kendol Bacchus
00:02:36.82\00:02:38.92
and he's going to share with us
00:02:38.95\00:02:40.99
a selection
called "Give Thanks."
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Thank you so much
Kendol for that song.
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That's a perfect segue
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to what we're
talking about today.
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And at the end of the program,
at the end of the program,
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you'll discover that give thanks
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is really why our
guest is here today.
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I want to introduce you
to Dr. Neil Watts right now.
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Dr. Watts, you're so close.
I'll just shake your hand.
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Good to have you here.
Good to be here, thank you.
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Not just a doctor but a pastor.
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Yes. And you're from?
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Give us kind of, for those
who are watching the program,
00:06:39.16\00:06:41.23
they may say, "Hey, I know him.
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He's a chap from Down Under."
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But for those who may
not even know who you are,
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give us an
overview of who you are,
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where you're
from, and what you do.
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Okay, well, I was
born in Western Australia
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in the city of Perth.
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And after my high school years,
I worked for a little bit,
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went to Avondale College.
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Wow. And graduated in 1970.
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So I've been in ministry
00:07:04.62\00:07:06.45
48 years or something like that.
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Yes. Wow.
00:07:08.46\00:07:09.79
And started off
as a young pastor,
00:07:09.82\00:07:11.93
and after four
years I was called to
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what we call a mission field
to the South Pacific Islands,
00:07:14.66\00:07:17.87
and I went there to a
little town called Kavieng
00:07:17.90\00:07:21.30
in the New Britain
New Ireland Mission.
00:07:21.34\00:07:24.01
Know exactly where
that is, well not Kavieng,
00:07:24.04\00:07:25.71
but I know where New
Britain is, we've been there.
00:07:25.74\00:07:27.91
Well,
headquarters were in Rabaul
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where the big volcano...
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Yes. Oh, yes, yes.
00:07:31.51\00:07:33.25
And I stayed
there for three years
00:07:33.28\00:07:34.92
and then
transferred to Port Moresby
00:07:34.95\00:07:38.15
as evangelist and
university chaplain,
00:07:38.19\00:07:41.56
after that to
Fulton College in Fiji
00:07:41.59\00:07:44.46
and that's where
I was Bible teacher
00:07:44.49\00:07:46.90
and district director
and pastor all in one.
00:07:46.93\00:07:50.97
And after that, I went
back to Avondale College
00:07:51.00\00:07:52.90
and did some more studies.
00:07:52.93\00:07:54.97
And then from there,
00:07:55.00\00:07:56.34
went back to
Western Australia to work.
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Okay.
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And worked there
for a couple of years
00:07:59.44\00:08:01.58
then I was called to the union,
00:08:01.61\00:08:03.75
which was started
union in Melbourne,
00:08:03.78\00:08:08.05
and from there South Australia,
I was president for four years.
00:08:08.08\00:08:12.09
And then from
there I was sent out to
00:08:12.12\00:08:16.93
Papua New Guinea again,
00:08:16.96\00:08:18.56
no, sorry Solomon
Islands, no, Papua New Guinea.
00:08:18.59\00:08:22.76
I just started a new
college, which is now Adventist,
00:08:22.80\00:08:26.23
Pacific Adventist University,
00:08:26.27\00:08:28.67
and I was there as one
of the theology lecturers
00:08:28.70\00:08:32.41
for a couple of years
and then back to Australia
00:08:32.44\00:08:36.11
and then
pastored for several years
00:08:36.14\00:08:39.38
and then became
president in South Queensland,
00:08:39.41\00:08:42.65
and you know I'm semi-retired,
00:08:42.68\00:08:45.55
but in between
those last two jobs,
00:08:45.59\00:08:48.92
I was asked to go
to the Western Pacific,
00:08:48.96\00:08:52.93
where I was union
president for three years
00:08:52.96\00:08:54.83
in the Western
Pacific Union Mission.
00:08:54.86\00:08:57.83
And that's the period
where my story happens.
00:08:57.87\00:09:01.57
Now do you have a family?
00:09:01.60\00:09:03.27
I have a wife, yes
and two grown up children,
00:09:03.30\00:09:06.31
three grandchildren.
00:09:06.34\00:09:08.01
Very good.
00:09:08.04\00:09:09.78
And yeah, so that's
kind of my brief story.
00:09:09.81\00:09:13.25
I like that.
00:09:13.28\00:09:14.62
I'm walking with
you as I'm listening
00:09:14.65\00:09:15.98
to the places you've been.
00:09:16.02\00:09:17.39
And we're talking about today,
00:09:17.42\00:09:19.82
actually the
background was really good
00:09:19.85\00:09:21.52
to give us an idea
00:09:21.56\00:09:23.02
of how the Lord has
been leading you in missions,
00:09:23.06\00:09:25.43
as well as ministry
00:09:25.46\00:09:26.80
and from the
teacher's perspective
00:09:26.83\00:09:28.73
to pastor's perspective,
the president's perspective,
00:09:28.76\00:09:31.80
well very well rounded.
00:09:31.83\00:09:34.37
The Lord has been putting
you together as a tapestry,
00:09:34.40\00:09:37.21
but now let's
zero in on Vanuatu.
00:09:37.24\00:09:41.21
Now talk about
Vanuatu for little bit
00:09:41.24\00:09:43.45
because maybe some of our guests
00:09:43.48\00:09:45.55
may not have heard about it.
00:09:45.58\00:09:46.92
It's a beautiful place.
00:09:46.95\00:09:48.28
We had a chance to
go to, at least we did.
00:09:48.32\00:09:49.65
You've been there physically.
00:09:49.68\00:09:51.45
Tell us about Vanuatu
00:09:51.49\00:09:52.82
and what was
happening in Vanuatu.
00:09:52.85\00:09:55.32
Well, I visited Vanuatu
because as I was saying,
00:09:55.36\00:09:59.19
I was president of this union
00:09:59.23\00:10:01.03
and Vanuatu is part of the union
00:10:01.06\00:10:04.27
and lived in Honiara,
00:10:04.30\00:10:05.90
which is in the Solomon Islands,
00:10:05.93\00:10:07.90
and used to come down to Vanuatu
00:10:07.94\00:10:11.07
fairly frequently
to conduct meetings
00:10:11.11\00:10:12.84
and district meetings
and that sort of thing.
00:10:12.87\00:10:15.51
Vanuatu is a small
nation, island nation,
00:10:15.54\00:10:18.88
scattered islands,
very volcanic area.
00:10:18.91\00:10:23.08
It's called the Happy Isles.
00:10:23.12\00:10:24.75
The people are
basically peaceful people
00:10:24.79\00:10:28.49
although
there's been some, yeah,
00:10:28.52\00:10:31.59
less peaceful times in the past.
00:10:31.63\00:10:34.10
It was originally in the
last hundred or so years,
00:10:34.13\00:10:38.13
governed by two
powers France and Britain.
00:10:38.17\00:10:41.30
And then some years
ago, it became independent.
00:10:41.34\00:10:44.77
So it's scattered
others over many islands
00:10:44.81\00:10:49.28
and different kinds of people.
00:10:49.31\00:10:51.28
Some were fairly primitive.
00:10:51.31\00:10:53.62
Some are more
educated and sophisticated,
00:10:53.65\00:10:56.79
shall we say.
00:10:56.82\00:10:58.15
But I used to like going there,
it was a nice place to go to.
00:10:58.19\00:11:01.82
How's the church,
the Adventist Church?
00:11:01.86\00:11:03.93
The church is quite
strong and it's growing rapidly.
00:11:03.96\00:11:08.76
The last several years
it's been growing very rapidly.
00:11:08.80\00:11:12.87
Few years ago,
they had a big cyclone
00:11:12.90\00:11:14.80
and while the
place was devastated,
00:11:14.84\00:11:17.21
well, the
rebuilding churches destroyed
00:11:17.24\00:11:19.54
and houses and villages,
00:11:19.57\00:11:22.01
but at the
moment it's going well,
00:11:22.04\00:11:24.15
I'll say just a few months ago.
00:11:24.18\00:11:25.51
Wow.
00:11:25.55\00:11:26.88
And therefore because
it's in the South Pacific,
00:11:26.92\00:11:29.82
beautiful beaches,
beautiful clear water,
00:11:29.85\00:11:32.52
warm weather.
00:11:32.55\00:11:33.89
Yeah. Now that's true.
00:11:33.96\00:11:37.26
Port Vila itself,
00:11:37.33\00:11:38.66
which is a
capital is quite a nice,
00:11:38.69\00:11:40.13
here it's got a
beautiful bay and resorts
00:11:40.20\00:11:43.03
where tourists go to
00:11:43.06\00:11:44.40
and big ships come
in there with tourists.
00:11:44.43\00:11:46.74
So it's a beautiful
place to just stand there
00:11:46.77\00:11:49.94
on the foreshore and look
out at these different islands
00:11:50.01\00:11:51.94
and resorts just nearby.
00:11:51.97\00:11:53.98
Oh, Honey, we
have never been there.
00:11:54.01\00:11:56.51
Maybe that'll be
on our next itinerary.
00:11:56.54\00:11:59.15
But now take us
to that fateful day
00:11:59.18\00:12:02.15
that we talked about
00:12:02.18\00:12:04.12
and as we talked about this
to our viewers and listeners,
00:12:04.19\00:12:07.36
'cause we have
viewers and listeners,
00:12:07.39\00:12:09.72
you're going to not only hear
00:12:09.76\00:12:11.96
how God sustained and
protected Pastor Watts,
00:12:11.99\00:12:17.70
but this is one of those,
00:12:17.73\00:12:19.50
I am amazed that
we're talking to him
00:12:19.53\00:12:20.87
because this is
one of those stories
00:12:20.94\00:12:22.27
where you kind
of, you watch a movie.
00:12:22.30\00:12:23.64
It's like a
cliffhanger, isn't it?
00:12:23.67\00:12:25.01
Yeah, well, you see this
documentary and you think,
00:12:25.04\00:12:27.61
could that
actually have happened?
00:12:27.64\00:12:28.98
Exactly.
00:12:29.01\00:12:30.35
And then you think
of where it happened
00:12:30.38\00:12:31.71
and the conditions
under which and how
00:12:31.75\00:12:34.12
sometimes peace can be
interrupted immediately
00:12:34.15\00:12:37.19
by the storms of life.
00:12:37.22\00:12:38.89
Take us to the reason
why you were in Vanuatu
00:12:38.92\00:12:42.49
and I think it was, it
is Longerville I might say?
00:12:42.52\00:12:46.70
Luganville. Luganville, okay.
00:12:46.73\00:12:49.43
Luganville was on the island
of Santo or Santo Espiritu,
00:12:49.46\00:12:53.20
which is basically Holy Spirit,
00:12:53.23\00:12:57.51
that's the name of the island.
00:12:57.54\00:12:58.94
It's a place where
there was a lot of fighting
00:12:58.97\00:13:02.78
during Second World War.
00:13:02.81\00:13:04.38
There are
shipwrecks, American ships
00:13:04.41\00:13:06.15
and others around
about the harbors out there.
00:13:06.18\00:13:09.78
But my wife and I had flown down
00:13:09.82\00:13:11.52
from Solomon Islands to go there
00:13:11.55\00:13:14.26
for district meetings.
00:13:14.29\00:13:16.02
So we flew into
Port Vila, the capital,
00:13:16.06\00:13:18.46
and flew up to Santo
00:13:18.49\00:13:20.80
and to Luganville which
is kind of a headquarters
00:13:20.83\00:13:23.80
in that area.
00:13:23.87\00:13:25.43
And we were
conducting a week of meetings.
00:13:25.47\00:13:29.00
My wife was having
some for the women.
00:13:29.04\00:13:31.11
She was church
women's ministries director
00:13:31.14\00:13:34.51
and prayer coordinator
for the union at the time.
00:13:34.54\00:13:38.11
And, yeah, so we
had meetings there
00:13:38.15\00:13:41.48
and I had to leave
on the Saturday evening
00:13:41.52\00:13:43.89
to come back to Port Vila,
00:13:43.92\00:13:45.79
to go to Sydney
for division meetings.
00:13:45.82\00:13:50.13
So I left for the airport
00:13:50.16\00:13:51.73
and got there just
after sunset and...
00:13:51.76\00:13:57.07
Do you want me to
go for the story here
00:13:57.10\00:13:58.53
or need a break?
00:13:58.57\00:13:59.90
Yeah, well let's look at
the plane that you got on,
00:13:59.93\00:14:01.27
I want to start with just
kind of feature this airplane.
00:14:01.30\00:14:03.81
It was a... That's a Twin Otter.
00:14:03.84\00:14:06.07
It's a fairly common
plane for the islands, you know,
00:14:06.11\00:14:08.81
short hops between islands.
00:14:08.84\00:14:11.35
Yeah, the Twin Otter,
00:14:11.38\00:14:13.15
that by the way is
the original plane.
00:14:13.18\00:14:15.65
Even though it
came from Scotland
00:14:15.68\00:14:17.32
and had come to Vanuatu
and they put different...
00:14:17.39\00:14:20.56
Decals on it.
00:14:20.59\00:14:21.92
Decals on it, yes,
00:14:21.96\00:14:23.29
but that plane
holds about 19 people,
00:14:23.32\00:14:26.39
including the pilot.
00:14:26.43\00:14:28.00
And on the flight
00:14:28.03\00:14:29.36
that I got onto
there were just 12 people,
00:14:29.40\00:14:31.63
including the pilot,
and an engineer from Vanier,
00:14:31.67\00:14:36.24
who was just
coming home from leave.
00:14:36.27\00:14:39.54
So he was just
accompanying the pilot.
00:14:39.57\00:14:41.51
All right.
00:14:41.54\00:14:43.75
When we got on the
plane, it was just after sunset,
00:14:43.78\00:14:48.98
the weather was still fine.
00:14:49.02\00:14:51.19
And we took off
00:14:51.22\00:14:53.76
and thought
everything was going to be okay.
00:14:53.79\00:14:55.69
So the weather was good?
00:14:55.72\00:14:57.06
Yeah. So at that time.
00:14:57.13\00:15:00.40
After about 30 minutes,
00:15:00.43\00:15:02.63
I guess about
halfway through the journey,
00:15:02.66\00:15:06.57
we ran into a storm
and there was lightning,
00:15:06.60\00:15:10.14
and thunder, and heavy rain
00:15:10.21\00:15:13.07
and began to get turbulent.
00:15:13.11\00:15:15.81
And I don't like too,
00:15:15.84\00:15:17.18
but my guess no person does
00:15:17.25\00:15:20.02
but I remember
tightening my seatbelt.
00:15:20.05\00:15:22.68
And just beginning to wonder,
00:15:22.72\00:15:25.82
am I going to be
able to handle this
00:15:25.85\00:15:27.46
without being
sick or getting to,
00:15:27.49\00:15:30.93
you know, too stressed out.
00:15:30.96\00:15:32.73
I began to just
pray and say, Lord, this,
00:15:32.76\00:15:36.16
if you want us
to get through this,
00:15:36.20\00:15:37.70
please help us to get
to the airport safely.
00:15:37.73\00:15:41.57
This went on for some time
00:15:41.60\00:15:42.97
and the plane was jumping around
00:15:43.00\00:15:44.61
and I was getting a
little bit concerned,
00:15:44.64\00:15:47.51
especially as I looked
at the clock or the watch,
00:15:47.58\00:15:50.15
and we were due to land,
00:15:50.18\00:15:52.21
we should have been landing
00:15:52.25\00:15:54.15
and there was no indication
00:15:54.22\00:15:56.28
that we were
starting to descend.
00:15:56.32\00:16:00.46
So, after a while...
What was the pilot saying?
00:16:00.49\00:16:03.06
That's what I was just thinking.
00:16:03.09\00:16:04.43
Well, this is a strange thing.
00:16:04.46\00:16:06.26
What happened was,
00:16:06.29\00:16:07.73
the pilot when he
got into the plane.
00:16:07.76\00:16:09.96
He was a little bit late
00:16:10.00\00:16:11.33
which was
apparently unusual for him.
00:16:11.37\00:16:13.97
And he got
straight into the plane,
00:16:14.04\00:16:15.80
shut the door behind him,
00:16:15.84\00:16:17.34
which was at the
back of the Twin Otter,
00:16:17.41\00:16:19.57
walked straight down the
aisle, shut the door behind him,
00:16:19.61\00:16:22.84
started the
engines and took off.
00:16:22.88\00:16:25.35
There was no welcome aboard,
00:16:25.38\00:16:27.85
no messages about
putting your life seatbelt on
00:16:27.88\00:16:31.39
or the time that's
going to take for the flight
00:16:31.42\00:16:35.09
or anything, nothing.
00:16:35.12\00:16:36.73
He didn't say anything
at all during the flight
00:16:36.76\00:16:40.10
and didn't say a word
even when it got turbulent,
00:16:40.13\00:16:43.57
he didn't say anything.
00:16:43.60\00:16:45.27
And then about 10 minutes
after we should have landed,
00:16:45.30\00:16:50.21
we're getting quite concerned
00:16:50.24\00:16:52.71
and the couple in front of me,
00:16:52.74\00:16:54.78
it was a man who
was an Australian,
00:16:54.81\00:16:57.88
air force man and his
wife Dr. Leeks who is a doctor,
00:16:57.91\00:17:02.15
a young couple were out
there on their second honeymoon
00:17:02.18\00:17:04.39
apparently,
00:17:04.42\00:17:05.82
and they were
looking at their watches too
00:17:05.85\00:17:07.36
and looking around
00:17:07.39\00:17:08.72
and trying to see
outside the window
00:17:08.76\00:17:10.53
to see if there any lights,
00:17:10.56\00:17:12.03
but we couldn't see anything.
00:17:12.06\00:17:14.00
And then suddenly the pilot
00:17:14.03\00:17:16.97
put full power onto the engines,
00:17:17.00\00:17:19.10
really loud noise and revving,
00:17:19.13\00:17:22.24
and I thought, oh,
what's happening here?
00:17:22.27\00:17:25.37
As he seen a
mountain in front of him
00:17:25.41\00:17:27.58
and he's trying
to get out of the way
00:17:27.61\00:17:29.38
or perhaps he's
just about to land
00:17:29.41\00:17:31.91
and too low and he
needs a bit more power.
00:17:31.95\00:17:34.22
I didn't know what it was.
00:17:34.25\00:17:36.99
Well, that's lasted
for about five seconds,
00:17:37.02\00:17:40.46
just pretty short
00:17:40.49\00:17:41.82
and then
suddenly the engines cut,
00:17:41.86\00:17:44.39
it was dead silence
00:17:44.43\00:17:46.70
and then couple of
seconds later, crash.
00:17:46.73\00:17:50.50
A big bang and I
was thrown forward
00:17:50.57\00:17:53.64
and my laptop and everything
just flew on the floor
00:17:53.67\00:17:56.60
and in this split second,
00:17:56.64\00:17:59.67
I kind of worked out,
where we on land or water,
00:17:59.71\00:18:02.21
I didn't know.
00:18:02.24\00:18:03.85
And immediately the door
00:18:03.88\00:18:06.45
between the cockpit and
the passengers burst open
00:18:06.48\00:18:09.85
and water flowed up the aisle
00:18:09.88\00:18:11.39
and was up to my
knees in seconds.
00:18:11.42\00:18:13.39
Wow.
00:18:13.46\00:18:14.79
And that was, you
know, like a nightmare,
00:18:14.82\00:18:16.76
I just couldn't
believe what was happening and.
00:18:16.83\00:18:20.00
You were having no idea
00:18:20.03\00:18:21.36
how far you
from land or nothing.
00:18:21.40\00:18:22.83
And it's dark. And it's a storm.
00:18:22.86\00:18:25.03
Yeah. Storm.
00:18:25.07\00:18:26.40
You found out later,
was a typhoon or monsoon?
00:18:26.43\00:18:28.37
Yeah monsoon they
call it, a cyclone,
00:18:28.40\00:18:30.61
whatever
similar thing out there.
00:18:30.64\00:18:33.14
So that's when the panic began
00:18:33.17\00:18:35.54
and the water
filling up the plane quickly
00:18:35.58\00:18:38.58
with the plane was sort
of on an angle obviously.
00:18:38.61\00:18:42.12
And I'm very fortunate
that it didn't tip over
00:18:42.15\00:18:44.95
because with the
fixed wings on a Twin Otter,
00:18:44.99\00:18:48.62
if it had hit the wheels
first, it could have flipped.
00:18:48.66\00:18:52.23
But it was up the right way,
00:18:52.26\00:18:53.80
about just
sinking into the water.
00:18:53.83\00:18:56.46
So the couple in front of me
00:18:56.50\00:18:58.20
were the first to be
able to open their seatbelts
00:18:58.23\00:19:00.74
and go to the door.
00:19:00.77\00:19:02.40
Another man, a
local man, Wesley Ross,
00:19:02.44\00:19:04.61
who was sitting
right next to the door,
00:19:04.64\00:19:06.68
he was able to open it.
00:19:06.71\00:19:08.38
And he jumped out.
00:19:08.41\00:19:09.74
The other two in
front of me jumped out.
00:19:09.78\00:19:11.75
No life jackets?
00:19:11.78\00:19:13.62
Not then, no, we got too
late, two people got them later.
00:19:13.65\00:19:17.92
But I was
struggling with my seatbelt
00:19:17.95\00:19:21.49
'cause I did it so tightly.
00:19:21.52\00:19:24.36
And eventually I was
the number fourth one out
00:19:24.39\00:19:26.39
I think, number four.
00:19:26.43\00:19:27.76
Were the lights in
the plane on or just?
00:19:27.80\00:19:29.13
The lights were still on
in the plane fortunately.
00:19:29.16\00:19:32.87
But I jumped out and outside
it was stormy and the rain
00:19:32.90\00:19:37.11
and waves were hitting the plane
00:19:37.14\00:19:39.77
and hitting us in the face.
00:19:39.81\00:19:41.14
Oh.
00:19:41.18\00:19:42.51
And I could see the
wing, by this time the wing
00:19:42.54\00:19:44.68
which is on top of the plane
00:19:44.71\00:19:46.05
was basically
almost at sea level.
00:19:46.08\00:19:48.78
So I swam across to the wing
00:19:48.82\00:19:50.92
and sat up on it
00:19:50.99\00:19:52.89
and tried to get
out of the confusion
00:19:52.92\00:19:55.22
of other people
coming out of the plane.
00:19:55.26\00:19:58.23
And I remember thinking then,
00:19:58.26\00:19:59.76
wow, I don't have a seatbelt.
00:19:59.79\00:20:01.90
I mean a life jacket, sorry.
00:20:01.93\00:20:04.90
And so I called out
00:20:04.93\00:20:06.27
in the noise of
the wind and storm,
00:20:06.30\00:20:08.84
I said, "Please, someone
try and get some life jackets."
00:20:08.87\00:20:11.91
So I think Wesley Ross
00:20:11.94\00:20:13.27
who was able to put his hand in,
00:20:13.31\00:20:14.81
just inside the
door where he was sitting
00:20:14.84\00:20:16.61
and he got one,
00:20:16.64\00:20:18.35
another one floated out
00:20:18.38\00:20:20.42
and another man got that.
00:20:20.45\00:20:22.75
And that was that was all.
00:20:22.78\00:20:25.05
Where was the pilot?
00:20:25.09\00:20:26.42
The pilot didn't get out.
00:20:26.45\00:20:28.79
There were four
people left in the plane
00:20:28.82\00:20:30.73
who unfortunately didn't make it
00:20:30.76\00:20:34.00
and I'll tell you why.
00:20:34.03\00:20:36.23
I'm very privileged
that I wasn't sitting there
00:20:36.26\00:20:38.47
'cause I usually did.
00:20:38.50\00:20:39.83
I'll tell you that later
00:20:39.87\00:20:41.20
but, yeah, so in
this storm and confusion,
00:20:41.24\00:20:45.11
I took off my
shoes and anything else
00:20:45.14\00:20:48.41
that I thought might
hinder me if I had to swim.
00:20:48.44\00:20:50.48
Oh, yeah.
00:20:50.55\00:20:51.88
Now the one blessing
00:20:51.91\00:20:53.25
we had was we could see
way off in the distance.
00:20:53.28\00:20:57.19
We were told
about six miles away
00:20:57.22\00:20:59.09
were these lights of Port Vila.
00:20:59.12\00:21:02.12
But other than
that, there was no moon,
00:21:02.16\00:21:04.93
no stars, just
rain, wind, and waves.
00:21:04.96\00:21:08.93
So it was a very
traumatic experience,
00:21:08.96\00:21:12.40
I can live it as
though it was yesterday.
00:21:12.43\00:21:16.00
And in that confusion
with people screaming,
00:21:16.04\00:21:19.14
several could
climbing out of the plane.
00:21:19.17\00:21:23.18
I remember God
put on my heart to...
00:21:23.21\00:21:26.82
I saw these people,
00:21:26.85\00:21:28.18
I thought we must
pray for them, I must pray.
00:21:28.22\00:21:30.62
I didn't know any of them
00:21:30.69\00:21:32.19
and I called out with my head
00:21:32.22\00:21:34.89
above the wave
as loud as I could,
00:21:34.92\00:21:36.83
and I cried out something like,
00:21:36.86\00:21:39.73
you know, we're in
trouble here, folks.
00:21:39.76\00:21:41.10
I'm a pastor, I'd
like to pray for you.
00:21:41.13\00:21:42.73
Yes.
00:21:42.76\00:21:44.10
And a couple of voices
in the dark called out,
00:21:44.17\00:21:46.13
"Yes, please."
00:21:46.17\00:21:47.64
So I lifted my voice
up as high as I could
00:21:47.67\00:21:51.47
try not to get too
much salt water in my face
00:21:51.51\00:21:53.81
and just cried out
a short prayer to God
00:21:53.88\00:21:57.71
that if it was His will
00:21:57.75\00:21:59.18
we could somehow
get to shore safely.
00:21:59.21\00:22:02.55
And with that, the
plane began to sink.
00:22:02.58\00:22:07.36
And so I jumped off
the wing of the plane
00:22:07.39\00:22:09.79
and we swam a little bit away
00:22:09.82\00:22:11.73
and realized that
not everyone was out
00:22:11.76\00:22:14.43
and the pilot was
there, there was no steward
00:22:14.46\00:22:17.30
or flight attendant
to tell us what to do.
00:22:17.37\00:22:19.93
We're just on our own.
00:22:19.97\00:22:21.34
Really so there was not
a flight attendant saying,
00:22:21.37\00:22:23.41
"Welcome aboard."
00:22:23.44\00:22:24.77
Nothing. Flight number.
00:22:24.81\00:22:26.14
Not in a small flight like that.
00:22:26.17\00:22:27.51
I doubt, yeah. Yeah.
00:22:27.54\00:22:28.88
So that hit me,
I said to myself,
00:22:28.91\00:22:31.45
well, we're on our own here,
no one to tell us what to do.
00:22:31.48\00:22:34.22
But I jumped
away from the plane,
00:22:34.25\00:22:37.72
we saw it go down
with a little light
00:22:37.75\00:22:39.55
at the back just
spinning and into the darkness
00:22:39.59\00:22:42.89
and then we're in
complete darkness.
00:22:42.92\00:22:45.46
What about the couple,
the husband and wife couple?
00:22:45.49\00:22:48.30
They got out with us.
00:22:48.33\00:22:49.66
Okay, so they were one of the...
00:22:49.70\00:22:51.03
How many of you
were outside the plane?
00:22:51.07\00:22:52.40
There were six of us
outside of the plane.
00:22:52.43\00:22:54.24
And the couple was included?
00:22:54.27\00:22:55.60
That couple and Wesley Ross,
00:22:55.64\00:22:57.61
the local man who
happened to be a lay pastor
00:22:57.64\00:23:01.61
for another
church or lay preacher.
00:23:01.64\00:23:04.35
And he was head
of the postal service
00:23:04.38\00:23:06.48
in that country.
00:23:06.51\00:23:08.22
And the other
two men were working
00:23:08.25\00:23:11.65
for some humanitarian agency.
00:23:11.69\00:23:13.66
One was a
British anthropologist.
00:23:13.69\00:23:16.02
Another man was from,
00:23:16.06\00:23:17.73
I think it was
Denmark or Norway,
00:23:17.76\00:23:19.76
I found out later.
00:23:19.79\00:23:21.56
I couldn't see them at the time
00:23:21.60\00:23:22.93
and I didn't know who they were.
00:23:22.96\00:23:25.30
And as the plane sank,
and we got into the darkness,
00:23:25.33\00:23:28.77
Wesley Ross who was
trying to put on his life jacket
00:23:28.80\00:23:33.17
and it was not working properly.
00:23:33.21\00:23:36.31
We tried the
whistle, that didn't work.
00:23:36.34\00:23:38.28
The straps didn't work.
00:23:38.31\00:23:39.85
And it didn't inflate.
00:23:39.88\00:23:41.58
Excuse me.
00:23:41.62\00:23:42.98
And so he was trying to
get on and I was next to him
00:23:43.02\00:23:46.19
and I had to actually
blow up his life jacket.
00:23:46.22\00:23:51.26
And fortunately,
the little light shown,
00:23:51.29\00:23:55.10
the other man from
Denmark, he had a life jacket
00:23:55.13\00:23:58.20
but the light didn't work.
00:23:58.23\00:24:00.84
We found out later the
whistle did but not the light,
00:24:00.87\00:24:04.01
so as we had this little glow
00:24:04.04\00:24:06.88
from this one little
light on the life jacket,
00:24:06.91\00:24:09.31
I remember calling
out, let's stay together,
00:24:09.34\00:24:11.11
try and keep within the light.
00:24:11.15\00:24:13.35
And let's head off
toward the lights of Port Vila,
00:24:13.42\00:24:16.89
so at least we knew
the direction to head for.
00:24:16.92\00:24:19.09
Right. You have a map of it?
00:24:19.12\00:24:20.99
Wow, now let's show a picture
of the map here of Port Vila
00:24:21.02\00:24:24.33
where actually you were
somewhere five miles from shore
00:24:24.36\00:24:28.96
and that's the inside
which would you say the port?
00:24:29.00\00:24:33.47
Yeah, that's a
good way of saying it.
00:24:33.54\00:24:35.04
That's where you
were supposed to be,
00:24:35.07\00:24:36.40
that's where the
plane was supposed to land
00:24:36.44\00:24:38.74
and but it just was not
what was going to happen
00:24:38.77\00:24:41.28
and here you are
out there somewhere.
00:24:41.31\00:24:45.38
All you know as you have a
little light on your shoulder
00:24:45.41\00:24:48.05
and there's some
lights in the distance
00:24:48.08\00:24:50.29
and estimating
five to six miles away.
00:24:50.32\00:24:54.26
Now, I know you talked about,
00:24:54.29\00:24:57.93
you prayed and you
ask the Lord to intervene,
00:24:57.96\00:25:01.46
Father, but then
your wife wasn't with you.
00:25:01.50\00:25:06.17
I want to just talk
about the providence here,
00:25:06.20\00:25:08.04
because where was
your wife at this time
00:25:08.07\00:25:10.64
because you
both were in Vanuatu,
00:25:10.71\00:25:13.78
where you, where
the plane took off from,
00:25:13.81\00:25:16.01
but why wasn't she with you?
00:25:16.04\00:25:18.71
Well, strangely,
00:25:18.75\00:25:20.42
they had asked her to stay back.
00:25:20.45\00:25:22.32
It was Mother's Day, you know,
00:25:22.35\00:25:23.99
the next day, May 9,
00:25:24.02\00:25:25.99
and she was asked to stay back,
00:25:26.02\00:25:28.49
could you take a meeting
for the women the next day.
00:25:28.52\00:25:32.03
And it wasn't planned that way
but she decided to stay back.
00:25:32.06\00:25:36.87
And so, she wasn't with
me and I praise God that,
00:25:36.90\00:25:40.34
that was what happened.
00:25:40.37\00:25:42.27
I'll talk later
on about, you know,
00:25:42.30\00:25:44.74
the providence of God of how
He could see things in advance
00:25:44.77\00:25:47.61
and how He
planned things in advance
00:25:47.64\00:25:50.05
that I couldn't
have planned myself,
00:25:50.08\00:25:53.08
but it worked out for the best.
00:25:53.11\00:25:54.68
Yes I thank God for that.
00:25:54.72\00:25:56.79
So let me... Go ahead.
00:25:56.82\00:25:58.15
No, I'm just
saying what happened next,
00:25:58.19\00:25:59.52
you're out there in
the water, I don't know,
00:25:59.55\00:26:02.12
I can't swim so I'd be,
"Give me the life jacket."
00:26:02.16\00:26:05.63
Did you have a life jacket?
00:26:05.66\00:26:07.00
I didn't have a life jacket, no.
00:26:07.03\00:26:08.36
Wow.
00:26:08.40\00:26:09.73
And so I, I kind of realized
00:26:09.76\00:26:12.30
that it was possibly
going to be very miraculous
00:26:12.33\00:26:16.84
if I did make it.
00:26:16.91\00:26:19.24
And I knew that God
doesn't always save people.
00:26:19.27\00:26:23.95
You know, I knew that,
00:26:23.98\00:26:26.61
whether you're
good or bad, people die.
00:26:26.65\00:26:29.05
And so I'm often a little bit,
not embarrassed but I think,
00:26:29.08\00:26:33.19
well, why me Lord, you know,
00:26:33.22\00:26:34.99
but I have a reason I think
00:26:35.02\00:26:36.83
why God saved me and
I'll mention that later.
00:26:36.86\00:26:39.39
Did your life
flash in front of you?
00:26:39.43\00:26:41.16
People do always say that.
00:26:41.20\00:26:42.90
Yeah, it did and it was
just such a traumatic thing.
00:26:42.93\00:26:49.00
I just couldn't
believe it was happening.
00:26:49.04\00:26:51.24
By the way, once I
started swimming, I had to,
00:26:51.27\00:26:54.18
I'd never swam more
than 100 meters in my life
00:26:54.21\00:26:57.45
before without
stopping, you know
00:26:57.48\00:26:59.51
and so I couldn't
have done it on my own,
00:26:59.55\00:27:02.92
but I kept going.
00:27:02.95\00:27:04.29
We didn't swim fast.
00:27:04.32\00:27:05.65
Of course, we
tried to keep it steady.
00:27:05.69\00:27:07.16
We thought at the first that
00:27:07.19\00:27:08.52
someone would
come and look for us.
00:27:08.56\00:27:10.73
And we saw these
lights in Port Vila.
00:27:10.76\00:27:12.69
And we, we knew that the mission
00:27:12.73\00:27:15.50
general secretary would be
at the airport waiting for me.
00:27:15.53\00:27:17.80
And so I thought
00:27:17.83\00:27:19.73
or someone's got to
know that the plane's crashed
00:27:19.77\00:27:22.10
and they'll come looking for us.
00:27:22.14\00:27:23.51
But it's in the
midst of the storm
00:27:23.54\00:27:24.87
also at the same time.
00:27:24.91\00:27:26.24
Yeah, yeah.
00:27:26.27\00:27:27.61
So we kept swimming thinking
00:27:27.64\00:27:29.18
that eventually
someone would come.
00:27:29.21\00:27:32.08
And, you know,
after a couple of hours,
00:27:32.11\00:27:36.05
I swallowed a lot of salt water.
00:27:36.08\00:27:38.99
My tongue was swollen.
00:27:39.02\00:27:40.59
I was cramping,
00:27:40.66\00:27:42.59
things were
stinging us on our legs.
00:27:42.62\00:27:45.79
And I remember
after a couple of hours
00:27:45.83\00:27:50.30
calling out to the other saying,
00:27:50.37\00:27:52.70
'cause God put on my heart
00:27:52.73\00:27:54.64
that His people
might die tonight.
00:27:54.67\00:27:56.94
We all might die tonight
00:27:57.01\00:27:59.04
and till I know the savior,
00:27:59.07\00:28:01.31
and God put on my heart
to just call out to them
00:28:01.34\00:28:04.05
in the darkness and say, "Look,
00:28:04.08\00:28:07.65
if something should
happen to us tonight,
00:28:07.68\00:28:09.72
we don't have to be
afraid if we know Jesus."
00:28:09.75\00:28:13.25
And I quoted a couple of texts
00:28:13.29\00:28:14.62
that I had preached on that
day from the Gospel of John,
00:28:14.66\00:28:17.33
I know that if we die,
00:28:17.36\00:28:19.29
we can still
have everlasting life,
00:28:19.33\00:28:20.90
basically.
00:28:20.93\00:28:22.26
And I just said that
no one said anything.
00:28:22.30\00:28:24.70
I think they were so tired,
00:28:24.73\00:28:26.07
but I felt that I
needed to do that.
00:28:26.10\00:28:29.44
And I'm glad I did.
00:28:29.47\00:28:30.81
Some of them mentioned
it later on in the next day.
00:28:30.84\00:28:33.98
But after a
couple of more hours,
00:28:34.01\00:28:37.15
I think we've been swimming
for four and a half hours,
00:28:37.18\00:28:39.51
no, no boat had come, no rescue.
00:28:39.55\00:28:42.82
We found out
later what had happened.
00:28:42.85\00:28:45.52
We found out the next
day that about three hours
00:28:45.55\00:28:48.29
after the plane crash,
00:28:48.32\00:28:50.23
the High
Commissioner of Australia
00:28:50.26\00:28:51.79
and the Police
Commissioner for Vanuatu
00:28:51.83\00:28:54.20
had come to our mission office
00:28:54.23\00:28:56.67
and said look
sorry, we have bad news.
00:28:56.70\00:28:59.57
The mission plane has
crashed, not a mission plane
00:28:59.60\00:29:01.97
but a plane has
crashed in the mountains
00:29:02.00\00:29:05.41
and they were no survivors.
00:29:05.44\00:29:07.38
So they were not even expecting
anyone to even show up.
00:29:07.41\00:29:10.45
Not in the water, no.
00:29:10.48\00:29:11.81
Did they tell your wife?
00:29:11.85\00:29:13.42
Well, this is
the interesting part.
00:29:13.45\00:29:16.15
My wife was told by telephone
00:29:16.18\00:29:18.29
at the time when
the plane was missing.
00:29:18.32\00:29:20.56
And I told her that
the plane is missing
00:29:20.59\00:29:23.16
and she tried to be
positive and said, oh, well,
00:29:23.19\00:29:25.56
perhaps my husband's
swimming in the ocean
00:29:25.59\00:29:27.73
or something
00:29:27.76\00:29:29.86
and she didn't know anything,
but that's what she said.
00:29:29.90\00:29:32.20
She contacted our
children in Australia.
00:29:32.23\00:29:34.90
And she was praying
00:29:34.94\00:29:36.47
and thinking what it
might be like to be a widow.
00:29:36.50\00:29:40.98
And eventually she
actually went to sleep,
00:29:41.01\00:29:42.84
she has a bad back
00:29:42.88\00:29:44.51
and she had taken a
tablet to try and help her
00:29:44.55\00:29:47.32
get through the
pain in the night
00:29:47.35\00:29:49.25
and she eventually
drifted off to sleep.
00:29:49.28\00:29:52.79
When this news came
to the mission office,
00:29:52.82\00:29:55.09
I decided not to ring
her up again unto her.
00:29:55.12\00:29:57.99
I decided to wait
and I'm so glad I did.
00:29:58.03\00:30:01.83
Because she didn't have to
go through hours of thinking
00:30:01.86\00:30:04.67
that I had died.
00:30:04.70\00:30:06.74
So we can only
imagine what happened
00:30:06.77\00:30:08.97
that someone had
heard some explosion
00:30:09.00\00:30:11.34
or noise in the
mountains and the message got
00:30:11.37\00:30:14.78
through to the authorities
00:30:14.81\00:30:17.08
and they sent out ambulances
00:30:17.15\00:30:18.71
and search parties
and all the rest up
00:30:18.75\00:30:20.32
into the mountains.
00:30:20.35\00:30:21.85
And how, how it got to the place
00:30:21.88\00:30:24.99
where they said they
found it and no survivors,
00:30:25.02\00:30:28.09
I still do not know.
00:30:28.12\00:30:29.69
Well, that's what happened.
00:30:29.72\00:30:31.63
So anyway, four and a half hours
00:30:31.66\00:30:35.93
after we left the plane,
00:30:35.96\00:30:38.30
I was thinking that I
couldn't make it any further.
00:30:38.33\00:30:42.14
We were swimming
against the current.
00:30:42.17\00:30:44.21
The lights never
seem to get any closer.
00:30:44.24\00:30:46.54
It obviously was a
little bit of progress,
00:30:46.57\00:30:48.74
but not very much.
00:30:48.78\00:30:50.68
And I just was
cramping, I was just so tired.
00:30:50.75\00:30:54.48
I thought I'm never going
to make that long distance.
00:30:54.52\00:30:57.19
Should I give up now
00:30:57.22\00:30:58.55
rather than go to the
last splatter of breath.
00:30:58.59\00:31:01.99
So I lay on my
back for a little bit
00:31:02.02\00:31:03.43
to just give my
arms a rest from swimming
00:31:03.46\00:31:07.10
and I just was thinking
00:31:07.13\00:31:08.73
what it's going
to be like to die.
00:31:08.76\00:31:10.17
Should I just dive down
00:31:10.20\00:31:11.53
and open my mouth and drown?
00:31:11.57\00:31:14.44
And I began to think,
what would that be like,
00:31:14.47\00:31:16.71
you know, I'd heard of
stories of perhaps people
00:31:16.74\00:31:19.14
hearing bells
ringing or whatever.
00:31:19.17\00:31:21.51
I was just thinking that. Wow.
00:31:21.54\00:31:23.55
And just committing
my life to the Lord.
00:31:23.58\00:31:27.82
And just as I
was about to do that,
00:31:27.85\00:31:30.79
right above me as I
was lying on my back,
00:31:30.82\00:31:32.95
the clouds parted.
00:31:32.99\00:31:34.79
And a bright star
shone straight above me...
00:31:34.82\00:31:37.93
For about 10 seconds
and then closed over again.
00:31:37.96\00:31:40.90
The only light we've
seen in the sky all night.
00:31:40.93\00:31:44.90
And at that stage, I
took it as a sign from God.
00:31:44.93\00:31:47.54
I said yes, Lord, you
can, I know you can see me.
00:31:47.57\00:31:51.97
I'm not hidden from you.
00:31:52.01\00:31:53.38
If you've got a work
for me to do, please,
00:31:53.41\00:31:55.41
please give me
strength to keep going.
00:31:55.44\00:31:57.98
And I said, "Also,
00:31:58.01\00:32:01.12
if Your name can be
glorified out of this somehow,
00:32:01.15\00:32:04.29
please do it.
00:32:04.32\00:32:05.65
Let your people be given
something to rejoice over
00:32:05.69\00:32:08.89
not to be
discouraged and sad about."
00:32:08.92\00:32:10.76
Wow.
00:32:10.83\00:32:12.16
I also said, "Lord,
if You save me tonight,"
00:32:12.19\00:32:15.73
excuse me,
00:32:15.76\00:32:18.53
"Please open my lips and
I might praise you more."
00:32:18.57\00:32:22.80
So I then got on my
front again began swimming,
00:32:22.84\00:32:26.91
caught up with the
others and kept swimming.
00:32:26.98\00:32:31.71
I'll share some of the things
that happened in a minute,
00:32:31.75\00:32:33.95
but let me just say that
eventually we got to a place
00:32:34.02\00:32:36.62
where we must have
come inside a big bay
00:32:36.69\00:32:40.79
and we can see a
little light on the left,
00:32:40.86\00:32:42.32
one on the right.
00:32:42.36\00:32:44.46
And I remember thinking
that which way should we go?
00:32:44.49\00:32:47.43
Let's try and get
out of this current.
00:32:47.50\00:32:50.07
And I felt impressed to
go to the one on the right.
00:32:50.10\00:32:53.47
I called out to the
others to see what they felt.
00:32:53.54\00:32:55.87
I said, "Which way do
you feel we should go?"
00:32:55.90\00:32:58.84
And they all agreed,
let's go to the right.
00:32:58.87\00:33:01.44
I don't think I knew why but
00:33:01.48\00:33:02.98
because in the
darkness at sea level,
00:33:03.01\00:33:05.68
you can't really tell
distance, hard to tell.
00:33:05.71\00:33:07.68
That's true.
00:33:07.72\00:33:09.25
And so we went to the right,
00:33:09.28\00:33:12.02
and began to swim and
get out of the current.
00:33:12.05\00:33:15.96
We found out later that if
we'd gone to the other one,
00:33:15.99\00:33:20.10
we will come to a
place called Devil's Point.
00:33:20.13\00:33:23.00
Very rightly named
and rough seas, sharks,
00:33:23.03\00:33:27.74
they have rough
coral and so forth.
00:33:27.77\00:33:30.21
Whereas we
began to swim this way
00:33:30.24\00:33:31.84
and we got into calmer water
00:33:31.87\00:33:33.88
and probably an
hour and a half later,
00:33:33.91\00:33:37.28
we got close to the place
00:33:37.35\00:33:38.68
where we could just
see a little gray strip
00:33:38.71\00:33:41.52
and we thought
that must be a beach
00:33:41.55\00:33:44.39
and we kept swimming toward it.
00:33:44.42\00:33:46.96
Eventually, I sat
on the side of a reef
00:33:46.99\00:33:50.63
when I was close to
shore and at that stage,
00:33:50.66\00:33:54.00
my legs cramped up and I
was in tears with the pain,
00:33:54.03\00:33:56.56
it just went so bad.
00:33:56.60\00:33:58.63
I thought to myself,
00:33:58.67\00:34:00.04
if that had
happened five minutes before,
00:34:00.07\00:34:01.64
I never would have made it.
00:34:01.67\00:34:03.61
So from there we're
able to make it to shore.
00:34:03.64\00:34:06.11
So you were able
to sit on a reef.
00:34:06.14\00:34:07.74
Just about probably
100 meters from shore.
00:34:07.78\00:34:10.28
Right.
00:34:10.35\00:34:11.68
This was by that time
00:34:11.71\00:34:13.05
we'd been
swimming over six hours,
00:34:13.08\00:34:15.55
we got to shore eventually
and just collapsed on the beach
00:34:15.58\00:34:20.16
and went to try
and get up we couldn't,
00:34:20.19\00:34:23.16
we're just
exhausted so eventually
00:34:23.19\00:34:24.63
we got up after a few minutes
called each other together
00:34:24.66\00:34:27.80
and put arms around
each other on the beach
00:34:27.83\00:34:29.43
and thanked God
for what had happened.
00:34:29.46\00:34:33.77
I forgot to tell
you that one man had,
00:34:33.84\00:34:36.17
who started with us
00:34:36.20\00:34:37.54
had drifted off
in other darkness
00:34:37.61\00:34:39.24
and
unfortunately, he never made it.
00:34:39.27\00:34:42.41
Was that the anthropologist?
00:34:42.44\00:34:43.85
Yes and he had called out to me,
00:34:43.88\00:34:46.55
I was at the back
of the pack as it were
00:34:46.58\00:34:48.38
and he was back further.
00:34:48.42\00:34:50.62
And I couldn't see him,
00:34:50.69\00:34:52.02
but just asked him
to try and keep afloat.
00:34:52.05\00:34:54.49
Someone will come and find us.
00:34:54.52\00:34:56.32
But they never did.
00:34:56.36\00:34:57.69
Oh, no. So that was sad.
00:34:57.73\00:34:59.56
Yeah, that article,
00:34:59.59\00:35:01.26
I want to show the next picture
00:35:01.30\00:35:02.63
because that really
got a lot of visibility
00:35:02.66\00:35:05.07
and a lot of publicity
on what took place there.
00:35:05.10\00:35:07.90
Let's bring up the next picture
00:35:07.94\00:35:09.47
and describe what
we're seeing here.
00:35:09.50\00:35:11.81
This is just a
series of articles
00:35:11.84\00:35:14.58
I'm looking at Never Say Die,
00:35:14.61\00:35:16.51
Pray and swim for your life,
00:35:16.54\00:35:18.85
Swim and a prayer,
00:35:18.88\00:35:20.92
Saved from the ocean by
courage and power of faith.
00:35:20.95\00:35:24.55
Then they have a
picture of sharks.
00:35:24.59\00:35:26.76
This is just, here you are,
00:35:26.79\00:35:29.79
never thinking
that you would even
00:35:29.82\00:35:33.03
first of all be in a
situation such as this one.
00:35:33.06\00:35:37.10
And then all of a sudden,
00:35:37.17\00:35:39.33
I know there
probably is lot of answers
00:35:39.37\00:35:40.94
that you never really
got, like, how do they think
00:35:40.97\00:35:42.64
that the plane
crashed in the mountains
00:35:42.67\00:35:44.11
as you said, you never got that.
00:35:44.14\00:35:45.87
But then when did your wife know
00:35:45.91\00:35:48.18
that you had survived?
00:35:48.21\00:35:50.35
Well, eventually
when we got to shore,
00:35:50.38\00:35:52.28
we went to this light.
00:35:52.31\00:35:53.82
There was a man
living in a sea container.
00:35:53.85\00:35:56.58
And we knocked on his
door about quarter to two
00:35:56.62\00:35:58.62
in the morning.
00:35:58.65\00:35:59.99
He came out and we must
have looked like be shriveled,
00:36:00.06\00:36:03.73
you know,
survivors is shivering.
00:36:03.76\00:36:06.43
Even in, in warm water,
00:36:06.46\00:36:08.03
you can shiver after
many hours of being exposed.
00:36:08.06\00:36:11.30
So he took us in,
he had a telephone,
00:36:11.33\00:36:13.20
he gave us some hot drink,
00:36:13.23\00:36:14.87
some blankets to
wrap around us and so on.
00:36:14.90\00:36:16.84
So he's very kind.
00:36:16.91\00:36:18.24
And he rang up the
ambulance and police
00:36:18.27\00:36:20.11
and they came and
then took us into hospital.
00:36:20.18\00:36:23.88
We spent the rest
of the night there.
00:36:23.95\00:36:25.28
Oh, good. So.
00:36:25.31\00:36:27.32
Out of all the people that were,
00:36:27.35\00:36:28.68
it's about 19 of you total.
00:36:28.72\00:36:30.49
How many made it to shore? Five.
00:36:30.52\00:36:33.12
Well, it was
only 12 on the plane,
00:36:33.15\00:36:35.09
it held 19 but
there were only 12.
00:36:35.12\00:36:37.16
So seven people
perished unfortunately.
00:36:37.23\00:36:39.13
What about the couple?
00:36:39.16\00:36:40.70
Yeah, they were
part of it, yeah.
00:36:40.73\00:36:42.30
They made it?
They made it, yeah.
00:36:42.33\00:36:44.47
And the Vanuatu man
made it, and myself,
00:36:44.50\00:36:49.04
and the man from Denmark.
00:36:49.07\00:36:51.81
So the other itinerant pastor
00:36:51.84\00:36:54.08
who was also dealing
with the Postal Service,
00:36:54.11\00:36:56.41
did he make it?
00:36:56.44\00:36:57.78
Yeah, he was the Vanuatu man
that was sitting near the door,
00:36:57.81\00:36:59.91
he was the lay
preacher there, yeah.
00:36:59.95\00:37:01.55
You know, what do you say,
00:37:01.58\00:37:02.92
I want to just before we go
to the authorities, you know,
00:37:02.95\00:37:06.39
what do you say when
you, when you're swimming,
00:37:06.42\00:37:09.06
when your feet begin
to remember that you...
00:37:09.09\00:37:13.13
When your feet
begin to experience
00:37:13.16\00:37:14.56
this dry land under us.
00:37:14.60\00:37:16.67
What is that like?
00:37:16.70\00:37:18.63
I don't ever want to be
in a situation like that
00:37:18.67\00:37:20.64
because it's almost
like you can exhale,
00:37:20.67\00:37:23.17
you could
literally tell your body
00:37:23.20\00:37:25.41
just fall down to the ground.
00:37:25.44\00:37:26.78
Just relax. We made it.
00:37:26.81\00:37:28.61
What is that like?
00:37:28.64\00:37:30.98
Hard to explain.
It's just amazing.
00:37:31.01\00:37:33.52
Just so glad that
you've made it ashore,
00:37:33.55\00:37:35.55
you know, and
so grateful to God.
00:37:35.58\00:37:38.15
I never thought I'd make it.
00:37:38.19\00:37:39.99
And as I said,
00:37:40.06\00:37:42.26
there's no guarantee
that no matter who you are,
00:37:42.29\00:37:44.76
you'll be saved.
00:37:44.79\00:37:46.39
I believe God has a plan
for all things and I don't,
00:37:46.43\00:37:50.40
I wouldn't blame
Him if I died, you know,
00:37:50.47\00:37:53.74
but I believe He had a
purpose for me for my living
00:37:53.77\00:37:56.37
and I appreciate that,
00:37:56.40\00:37:58.04
and that I was able to pray for
00:37:58.07\00:37:59.41
and maybe some
blessing to others at the time.
00:37:59.44\00:38:02.71
One of the guy that
you talked about two lights
00:38:02.74\00:38:06.41
and I want to go back to that
00:38:06.45\00:38:07.78
because you had a little
light on there on the life vest,
00:38:07.82\00:38:10.99
one life vest the
whistle didn't work,
00:38:11.02\00:38:12.52
the other one the
light didn't work.
00:38:12.55\00:38:13.89
But did the
person with a life vest
00:38:13.96\00:38:15.86
and the light
make it all the way in.
00:38:15.89\00:38:18.16
Yes, they both made
it in. Praise the Lord.
00:38:18.19\00:38:20.10
Both those with
life jackets made it.
00:38:20.13\00:38:22.30
But then you saw
another little light.
00:38:22.33\00:38:24.27
How significant it is
00:38:24.30\00:38:25.67
that the Lord had a man at
that time right on the shore
00:38:25.70\00:38:30.64
working on his...
00:38:30.71\00:38:32.04
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:38:32.07\00:38:33.41
Building up his home or
whatever the case may be
00:38:33.44\00:38:34.78
and he had a light on shore
00:38:34.81\00:38:36.14
and that was this
little light of mine.
00:38:36.18\00:38:38.88
Just getting back to a
question before about my wife.
00:38:38.91\00:38:41.92
She was told
after we went shore,
00:38:41.95\00:38:43.82
after they heard
that we're alive.
00:38:43.89\00:38:46.15
And what happened that
she was asleep at the time
00:38:46.19\00:38:48.59
she dozed off and an
earthquake woke her up
00:38:48.62\00:38:52.36
and the place was moving around
00:38:52.39\00:38:54.60
and she thought oh
no, my husband's dead now,
00:38:54.63\00:38:56.70
I'm going to die.
00:38:56.77\00:38:58.23
But she didn't and she
was obviously very grateful,
00:38:58.27\00:39:02.04
we had a praise
meeting that morning
00:39:02.07\00:39:04.11
with the women who came.
00:39:04.14\00:39:06.57
So that was good.
00:39:06.61\00:39:07.94
We also after
going into hospital
00:39:07.98\00:39:09.81
for the rest of
the night and so forth,
00:39:09.84\00:39:11.78
I remember talking
to the Air Force man
00:39:11.81\00:39:14.88
and he said to me,
00:39:14.92\00:39:17.12
"I'm so glad you are
with us and that you're,
00:39:17.19\00:39:19.25
the man upstairs he
called him heard your prayers."
00:39:19.29\00:39:22.62
And his wife wrote in a magazine
00:39:22.66\00:39:24.59
later on that she
felt that my faith
00:39:24.63\00:39:26.56
and prayer had
been a blessing to them
00:39:26.59\00:39:29.00
and help us get to shore.
00:39:29.03\00:39:30.67
So I was grateful for that.
00:39:30.70\00:39:33.54
When it came to the
interviews, as you saw,
00:39:33.57\00:39:36.60
you know, those
newspaper articles,
00:39:36.64\00:39:38.71
I'd prayed as I said
00:39:38.74\00:39:40.08
that God would somehow
be glorified out of this.
00:39:40.11\00:39:42.18
And I was so amazed
00:39:42.21\00:39:43.55
the next day I had phone calls
from Australia, and Europe,
00:39:43.58\00:39:46.18
and Canada and so forth.
00:39:46.21\00:39:47.92
And then these people asking
me for radio and interviews,
00:39:47.95\00:39:52.65
and each one of them
00:39:52.69\00:39:55.09
allowed me to
talk about my faith.
00:39:55.12\00:39:56.66
Even a special
man from Australia
00:39:56.73\00:40:00.10
who was known as an atheist.
00:40:00.13\00:40:02.00
He let me talk about prayer
and faith and my experience
00:40:02.03\00:40:05.57
with the Lord in that.
00:40:05.60\00:40:07.70
And then when I got
back to Australia later on,
00:40:07.74\00:40:09.87
I was interviewed
on national television
00:40:09.90\00:40:11.84
on a current affair program.
00:40:11.87\00:40:14.31
And there again,
00:40:14.34\00:40:15.78
the interviewer
himself said to me,
00:40:15.81\00:40:18.71
"What about prayer?
00:40:18.75\00:40:20.12
How did that
come into your story."
00:40:20.15\00:40:21.72
And I was able to
again share on television.
00:40:21.75\00:40:24.42
That prayer had
been a great part
00:40:24.45\00:40:26.45
in my being alive today.
00:40:26.49\00:40:30.56
So I really feel God blessed
00:40:30.63\00:40:32.39
and I've had opportunity
at universities in America
00:40:32.43\00:40:35.23
where I was
studying and so forth
00:40:35.26\00:40:36.70
with other non-Adventist
pastors to share that story
00:40:36.77\00:40:39.37
and they're amazed
00:40:39.40\00:40:42.10
at how Adventist could
have security, salvation.
00:40:42.14\00:40:48.31
You know,
experience of salvation.
00:40:48.34\00:40:50.78
It's almost like
a Jonah. Oh, yeah.
00:40:50.85\00:40:53.08
In fact, you mentioned Jonah.
00:40:53.11\00:40:54.72
While I was
swimming, after the time,
00:40:54.75\00:40:56.08
I'd seen the star, I
remember praying in my mind
00:40:56.12\00:40:58.82
and remembering Jonah,
00:40:58.85\00:41:00.96
and that prayer
that he cried out to God
00:41:00.99\00:41:02.49
when he was in the
belly of the whale.
00:41:02.52\00:41:03.86
Yes. So I remember doing that.
00:41:03.93\00:41:06.83
But there are some lessons
00:41:06.90\00:41:08.60
that I've
learned out of this story
00:41:08.63\00:41:10.40
and one, of course,
is the power of prayer.
00:41:10.47\00:41:13.64
Amen.
00:41:13.67\00:41:15.84
I could sense that
people were praying for me.
00:41:15.87\00:41:18.74
I don't know how to explain it.
00:41:18.77\00:41:20.11
But I knew
people would be praying.
00:41:20.18\00:41:21.58
And they were in Australia.
00:41:21.61\00:41:22.94
I heard they're praying,
00:41:22.98\00:41:24.31
they were
praying in the Solomon's.
00:41:24.35\00:41:25.68
They had a prayer
meeting in Port Vila itself.
00:41:25.71\00:41:29.35
There, yeah, other
people were praying,
00:41:29.38\00:41:30.82
and I could sense that
00:41:30.89\00:41:32.22
and it gave me
courage to keep going.
00:41:32.25\00:41:33.59
Wow. And keep moving on.
00:41:33.62\00:41:35.86
So there's
certainly power in prayer.
00:41:35.89\00:41:38.63
Another lesson
I learned is that,
00:41:38.66\00:41:41.43
and I've have hinted to that,
00:41:41.46\00:41:42.80
they said, "God
can see in advance
00:41:42.83\00:41:45.17
of what's happening."
00:41:45.20\00:41:46.94
In fact that my wife
did not come with me.
00:41:46.97\00:41:49.87
The fact that I was sitting
in the backseat of a plane
00:41:49.90\00:41:52.81
instead of the front.
00:41:52.84\00:41:54.18
Where you normally
would sit. Normally sat.
00:41:54.21\00:41:55.94
And the only reason
I sat in the back was
00:41:55.98\00:41:57.58
because I'd hurt my back
00:41:57.65\00:41:59.78
and I lifted a heavy
case early in the morning
00:41:59.81\00:42:02.18
and I'd put my
back out and all week
00:42:02.22\00:42:04.29
while I was taking the meetings
I was bending over in agony
00:42:04.32\00:42:08.49
and I was
thinking myself why Lord,
00:42:08.52\00:42:10.43
I'm here taking these meetings,
please help me through this.
00:42:10.46\00:42:14.00
When I got on the
plane instead of going down
00:42:14.03\00:42:15.96
the front in the Twin
Otter which is fairly low
00:42:16.00\00:42:18.37
and you got to bend over, well,
00:42:18.40\00:42:19.73
I just sat in the first
seat across from the door.
00:42:19.77\00:42:22.34
Wow.
00:42:22.37\00:42:23.71
Otherwise I
wouldn't have been here.
00:42:23.74\00:42:25.47
That's right because
those in the front of the plane
00:42:25.51\00:42:28.64
submerged in the water.
00:42:28.68\00:42:30.28
Did you see any sharks at
all while you were swimming?
00:42:30.35\00:42:32.38
Well, I couldn't see
anything, it was just dark.
00:42:32.41\00:42:34.22
Nothing bumped into you?
00:42:34.25\00:42:35.68
Well, there were little
things probably just stingers
00:42:35.72\00:42:37.79
or some jellyfish or something.
00:42:37.82\00:42:39.52
I don't know but no shark.
00:42:39.55\00:42:41.46
I'd actually was
going to say at one stage.
00:42:41.49\00:42:44.49
I hope there's no sharks here,
00:42:44.53\00:42:46.36
and I think the Lord
told me to keep quiet.
00:42:46.39\00:42:48.96
I know that thought in your mind
00:42:49.00\00:42:50.37
will just start to wreak havoc.
00:42:50.40\00:42:52.20
And the miraculous thing is
00:42:52.23\00:42:53.57
I never even
thought of them after that.
00:42:53.64\00:42:55.20
Really?
00:42:55.24\00:42:56.57
Yeah, it just
didn't enter my mind
00:42:56.60\00:42:57.94
which I praise God for
00:42:57.97\00:42:59.31
because that would
have made me probably panic
00:42:59.34\00:43:01.01
or you know get to feel worse.
00:43:01.04\00:43:04.05
The angels of the
Lord encampeth around
00:43:04.08\00:43:05.81
about those who fear
Him and deliver them.
00:43:05.85\00:43:08.05
This is, I mean, I know
we have another picture here
00:43:08.08\00:43:10.89
I want to go to
in just a moment.
00:43:10.92\00:43:12.25
But here you are, I mean,
00:43:12.29\00:43:14.46
I know you talked
about not swimming.
00:43:14.49\00:43:17.26
And you know we just go,
00:43:17.33\00:43:19.06
we like to
snorkel, things like that.
00:43:19.09\00:43:20.70
We always wear a
little life jacket.
00:43:20.73\00:43:22.33
Little Life jacket. A light one.
00:43:22.36\00:43:23.77
A light one because you
know anything could happen
00:43:23.80\00:43:27.84
but here you are
with no life jacket,
00:43:27.87\00:43:30.71
the strength that God
gave you for five to six hours.
00:43:30.74\00:43:35.24
That's like an Olympian.
00:43:35.28\00:43:36.95
And you're not
eating along the way,
00:43:36.98\00:43:39.15
you're not taking a snack.
00:43:39.18\00:43:40.62
You didn't probably
have a meal on this flight
00:43:40.65\00:43:42.55
'cause there's
no flight attendant.
00:43:42.58\00:43:43.92
Right. So the
Lord is your strength.
00:43:43.99\00:43:48.32
And your shield
and your deliver,
00:43:48.36\00:43:50.86
that's just an amazing story.
00:43:50.93\00:43:52.39
And the light.
00:43:52.43\00:43:53.80
And there are few
things I must tell you,
00:43:53.83\00:43:55.90
before we finish too that,
00:43:55.93\00:43:57.83
as I was swimming after
I'd seen that little light up,
00:43:57.87\00:43:59.80
I began to think of
things that are happening
00:43:59.83\00:44:02.37
and had been
happening in my life.
00:44:02.40\00:44:04.01
The very first day,
00:44:04.04\00:44:05.37
my wife and I arrived
in the Solomon Islands.
00:44:05.41\00:44:07.48
We were taken for
a drive through town,
00:44:07.51\00:44:09.61
and the steering broke
00:44:09.64\00:44:11.51
and the person
driving couldn't control us
00:44:11.55\00:44:13.45
and the car was
weaving in and out,
00:44:13.52\00:44:15.15
traffic and like,
I cried out, Lord,
00:44:15.18\00:44:16.99
save us and He did.
00:44:17.02\00:44:18.75
And we missed all the traffic
and slid against a fence.
00:44:18.79\00:44:22.76
Couple of months later,
00:44:22.79\00:44:24.13
my wife and I and my daughter
had come out from Australia.
00:44:24.16\00:44:26.53
And we went down on a
Sabbath to district meetings
00:44:26.56\00:44:29.16
and a baptism, down the coast
00:44:29.20\00:44:32.20
and on the way back,
00:44:32.23\00:44:33.67
I got to the place
00:44:33.74\00:44:35.17
where there's the only
good road in Solomon Islands
00:44:35.20\00:44:37.84
a sealed road
00:44:37.87\00:44:39.74
and I was driving a
borrowed four wheel drive
00:44:39.77\00:44:43.18
and I was doing
probably 50 kilometers,
00:44:43.21\00:44:47.15
50 miles an hour.
00:44:47.22\00:44:48.65
And suddenly the
back wheel seized up
00:44:48.68\00:44:51.25
and I couldn't
control the steering
00:44:51.29\00:44:52.89
and it was sliding and I
was, you know, again cried out,
00:44:52.92\00:44:55.56
"Lord save us."
00:44:55.59\00:44:56.93
And the big truck
was coming toward us,
00:44:56.96\00:44:58.49
full of coconuts and
I thought this is it.
00:44:58.53\00:45:02.30
Suddenly the four wheel drive
00:45:02.33\00:45:04.73
swung across into the long grass
00:45:04.77\00:45:06.20
almost tipped over and stopped.
00:45:06.23\00:45:08.54
A truck driver stopped,
00:45:08.57\00:45:09.90
pulled us out 'cause
the engine wouldn't work.
00:45:09.94\00:45:12.07
They got back out on the road.
00:45:12.11\00:45:13.68
I prayed again.
00:45:13.71\00:45:15.28
The engine started and
we drove off, no problem.
00:45:15.31\00:45:18.55
And the next day the
mechanic checked it all over it.
00:45:18.58\00:45:21.38
He said, there's no reason
why that should have happened.
00:45:21.42\00:45:23.32
No damage, no brakes
seizing up, no, nothing.
00:45:23.39\00:45:26.65
The adversary had been
trying for a long time.
00:45:26.69\00:45:29.72
And that's what was
coming into my mind.
00:45:29.76\00:45:31.26
This is a spiritual
battle going on here.
00:45:31.29\00:45:34.20
A couple of months
later I was on the Board
00:45:34.23\00:45:35.66
of Pacific Adventist University,
00:45:35.70\00:45:37.30
I'd flown over there,
00:45:37.37\00:45:38.77
was about to be
taken back to the airport
00:45:38.80\00:45:40.34
and the driver
came to a T-junction
00:45:40.37\00:45:42.84
and had to turn left
00:45:42.87\00:45:44.74
and he looked
right instead of left
00:45:44.77\00:45:46.88
and he went out in the
middle of road truck came around
00:45:46.91\00:45:50.08
and the side
mirrors just clipped.
00:45:50.15\00:45:52.78
Oh.
00:45:52.81\00:45:54.55
So that was three
things that had happened.
00:45:54.58\00:45:57.59
And at the same time
00:45:57.62\00:45:59.02
what was happening
in the Solomon Islands,
00:45:59.05\00:46:00.56
there was an ethnic conflict,
there was battles going on,
00:46:00.59\00:46:02.79
there were guns
being fired around
00:46:02.82\00:46:05.19
and it was real trouble there.
00:46:05.23\00:46:07.60
And our church was in
the middle of trying to,
00:46:07.63\00:46:09.80
to bring reconciliation.
00:46:09.83\00:46:11.83
And up in the mountains it
was a spiritualist movement,
00:46:11.87\00:46:14.94
which was trying to
get rid of Christianity
00:46:14.97\00:46:17.34
from the Solomon's.
00:46:17.41\00:46:18.84
Miraculous things were happening
00:46:18.87\00:46:20.68
and some of our members
were being influenced by that.
00:46:20.71\00:46:23.21
They said, "They've
got the power of God."
00:46:23.24\00:46:25.98
Down in Port Vila,
00:46:26.01\00:46:27.35
there was a break off movement
that was criticizing myself
00:46:27.42\00:46:30.09
and our church has been Babylon
00:46:30.12\00:46:32.92
and they were
people being led away
00:46:32.95\00:46:34.49
from our church to them.
00:46:34.52\00:46:36.32
And I saw all of this
just come before me and said,
00:46:36.36\00:46:38.59
"This is Satan
trying to destroy me
00:46:38.63\00:46:41.50
as a
representative of his church."
00:46:41.53\00:46:43.97
And I again, prayed the Lord,
00:46:44.00\00:46:45.33
please bring
something out of this
00:46:45.37\00:46:47.04
or bring glory to Your name
00:46:47.07\00:46:48.40
and make Your people rejoice.
00:46:48.44\00:46:50.11
And when I saw all
of that, or in my mind,
00:46:50.14\00:46:52.47
I actually did something
that makes me laugh even now,
00:46:52.51\00:46:56.01
I shook my fist up
at the sky and said,
00:46:56.04\00:46:58.15
"Satan, you get out of the way.
00:46:58.18\00:47:00.52
Jesus is stronger than you are
and we're gonna get to shore.
00:47:00.55\00:47:03.12
That's right.
00:47:03.15\00:47:04.85
And here you are to
testify that you kept going.
00:47:04.89\00:47:07.79
Isn't that amazing? Yes.
00:47:07.82\00:47:09.16
We have a couple more
pictures I want to show
00:47:09.19\00:47:10.53
and just let our audience
know what they're seeing.
00:47:10.56\00:47:12.66
Bring the next one up
so we can see what that is.
00:47:12.69\00:47:15.23
This is a...
00:47:15.26\00:47:16.97
The night after
the morning we arrived,
00:47:17.00\00:47:18.77
this is a
picture of a pray service
00:47:18.80\00:47:21.27
that was held in the
main church in Port Vila,
00:47:21.30\00:47:23.91
and the man with
me is of course Wesley
00:47:23.94\00:47:26.01
who was one of the survivors.
00:47:26.04\00:47:28.28
And we just were able
to share our testimony,
00:47:28.31\00:47:30.78
it was in the
newspapers the next day
00:47:30.85\00:47:32.45
and front page and so forth,
00:47:32.48\00:47:34.75
and it was a wonderful
time to share with people
00:47:34.78\00:47:38.12
who had been praying for us.
00:47:38.15\00:47:39.52
That's right. What
had actually happened?
00:47:39.55\00:47:41.26
Okay, your wife and
you eventually met up.
00:47:41.29\00:47:45.09
Now this is. What was that?
00:47:45.13\00:47:47.10
'Cause I know, if I
just survived death,
00:47:47.13\00:47:50.97
if the Lord just
brought me out of a near,
00:47:51.00\00:47:53.44
near, near death experience.
00:47:53.47\00:47:55.94
What was it like to embrace
your wife when you saw her?
00:47:55.97\00:47:58.81
Yes. Oh, it was wonderful.
00:47:58.84\00:48:00.88
And we had to wait two days
00:48:00.91\00:48:02.64
because the planes
were grounded for that time.
00:48:02.68\00:48:05.11
And then when she...
00:48:05.15\00:48:06.92
When we got together,
she, I just said, Look,
00:48:06.95\00:48:09.28
please just open the Bible
and read me something please
00:48:09.32\00:48:11.45
and she read some
texts from Psalms 139
00:48:11.49\00:48:14.62
that were so
applicable and the Lord knows us
00:48:14.66\00:48:17.03
whether in the darkness
or the deep of this ocean,
00:48:17.06\00:48:20.00
and it was a great blessing.
00:48:20.03\00:48:22.26
And you know, I'm
really privileged to be alive,
00:48:22.30\00:48:25.77
and I thank God that He
gave me that experience.
00:48:25.80\00:48:29.67
I wouldn't like to
go through it again.
00:48:29.70\00:48:31.81
And I remember
when I was swimming
00:48:31.84\00:48:34.41
and nearly dying
right near the end there
00:48:34.44\00:48:37.08
and I heard saw this
beach and I heard some noise
00:48:37.15\00:48:40.05
that sounded like rough
waves, and I thought, oh, no,
00:48:40.12\00:48:42.82
I'm going to tread on a
stone fish and get poisoned.
00:48:42.85\00:48:45.55
I'm going to
get cut on the reef.
00:48:45.59\00:48:47.99
Right, I am almost there.
00:48:48.02\00:48:49.39
Yeah, almost there, all
these negative thoughts.
00:48:49.42\00:48:51.69
And then I think the
Lord told me just, you know,
00:48:51.73\00:48:54.00
get rid of those thoughts
and I thought, doesn't matter.
00:48:54.03\00:48:57.63
I don't care if
I'm in a hospital
00:48:57.67\00:48:59.00
for a month
bandaged from head to foot,
00:48:59.03\00:49:00.87
I'm gonna make it to
the shore. That's right.
00:49:00.94\00:49:03.20
And I believe that's a
lesson for us too that,
00:49:03.24\00:49:06.11
you know and I tell people this.
00:49:06.14\00:49:07.48
If we're going through whatever
troubles we're going through,
00:49:07.51\00:49:10.05
life might seem tough,
00:49:10.08\00:49:11.95
but if we keep focused
on reaching that shore.
00:49:11.98\00:49:15.92
Remember in
Philippians, it says that
00:49:15.95\00:49:17.65
"Jesus suffered
and died and so forth
00:49:17.69\00:49:19.82
for the joy that
was set before Him."
00:49:19.85\00:49:21.49
Oh, yes.
00:49:21.52\00:49:22.86
And I think the
joy that set before us
00:49:22.89\00:49:25.03
is it's not the
problems we're facing now.
00:49:25.06\00:49:27.10
It's reaching the shore,
00:49:27.13\00:49:29.20
being saved when Jesus comes.
00:49:29.23\00:49:31.30
And I was so glad too of
the assurance of salvation
00:49:31.33\00:49:34.87
when I thought I
was going to die.
00:49:34.90\00:49:36.54
I wasn't afraid because
not because I'm a good person,
00:49:36.57\00:49:40.51
but the promises of God.
00:49:40.58\00:49:41.91
Amen.
00:49:41.94\00:49:43.28
And I just wish that everyone,
00:49:43.31\00:49:46.25
every Adventist,
every person listening
00:49:46.28\00:49:48.35
could have that assurance
that no matter what happens
00:49:48.38\00:49:51.15
if we trust
Jesus, He will save us
00:49:51.19\00:49:54.32
and that we don't
have to be afraid of dying.
00:49:54.36\00:49:56.93
This life is only a
small speck of eternity.
00:49:56.96\00:49:59.53
Exactly. That's right.
00:49:59.56\00:50:01.40
And we just need to look forward
00:50:01.43\00:50:03.47
with that vision before us
of the soon coming of Jesus.
00:50:03.50\00:50:06.53
Like good Peter, what
do you say, Lord, save me,
00:50:06.57\00:50:09.47
Right, just three words.
00:50:09.50\00:50:11.04
Yeah, that's
true. Yeah, save me.
00:50:11.07\00:50:14.08
And that's where
you are, save me.
00:50:14.11\00:50:16.04
You have a scripture, Hon?
00:50:16.08\00:50:17.48
Yeah, this reminds me
of the shipwreck of Paul.
00:50:17.55\00:50:20.32
And when as I'm
listening to that,
00:50:20.35\00:50:23.15
in Acts 27:43, it says,
00:50:23.18\00:50:25.42
"But the centurion, you know,
the soldiers were just losing.
00:50:25.45\00:50:29.09
They didn't think
they were going to make it.
00:50:29.12\00:50:31.96
It says, but the
centurion wanted,
00:50:31.99\00:50:34.30
wanting to say Paul
kept them from their purpose,
00:50:34.33\00:50:38.57
and commanded that
those who could swim
00:50:38.60\00:50:41.14
should jump overboard
first and get to land.
00:50:41.17\00:50:44.11
And the Bible says in verse
44, and the rest, some on board,
00:50:44.14\00:50:47.88
some on parts of the ship,
00:50:47.91\00:50:49.61
and so was that they all escaped
00:50:49.64\00:50:51.85
safely to land.
00:50:51.88\00:50:54.32
You know, it's
amazing when you think about
00:50:54.35\00:50:55.68
what happened in
Pastor Watt's life and,
00:50:55.72\00:50:58.02
Honey, that's not a situation
we would ever want to be in.
00:50:58.05\00:51:01.06
And thank the Lord for
that not being our experience.
00:51:01.09\00:51:03.29
But every one of
us has an experience
00:51:03.32\00:51:05.76
that when we come out
on the other side of it,
00:51:05.79\00:51:07.66
could be a health scare.
00:51:07.70\00:51:09.73
It could be a marriage scare,
it could be your children,
00:51:09.76\00:51:12.53
something happened to
a sibling, or you know,
00:51:12.57\00:51:15.47
people have talked about twins
00:51:15.50\00:51:16.84
when the other
one sense something
00:51:16.91\00:51:18.34
shock during the day
00:51:18.37\00:51:19.71
and they find out
that their identical twin
00:51:19.74\00:51:21.54
went through a tragedy,
whatever the case may be,
00:51:21.58\00:51:24.28
what you've learned so far,
00:51:24.31\00:51:25.98
is that nothing
catches God by surprise.
00:51:26.01\00:51:29.75
You know, Pastor Watts,
00:51:29.78\00:51:31.12
you know that this is
not a surprise to God,
00:51:31.15\00:51:33.36
but He made sure that
your wife wasn't with you.
00:51:33.39\00:51:35.99
When she was
supposed to be with you.
00:51:36.02\00:51:37.36
When she's supposed to be there.
00:51:37.43\00:51:38.76
Yeah, I thank God for that.
00:51:38.79\00:51:40.13
He gave you
strength to swim. Oh.
00:51:40.16\00:51:42.13
And the
nourishment came from Him.
00:51:42.16\00:51:44.27
And then to be
able to glorify His name
00:51:44.30\00:51:46.53
through it all was the
apex of the whole thing.
00:51:46.57\00:51:50.01
Praise God.
00:51:50.04\00:51:51.37
And so, you know, you
think about that, Hon,
00:51:51.41\00:51:53.41
we're not done the program yet,
00:51:53.48\00:51:54.81
but we're going to give you
00:51:54.84\00:51:56.18
a few closing
thoughts on the other side,
00:51:56.21\00:51:57.55
but I want you
to think about this
00:51:57.58\00:51:58.91
as we go to news break.
00:51:58.95\00:52:00.32
Think about where you
are in your walk with God
00:52:00.35\00:52:02.72
and you may be
facing crisis right now
00:52:02.75\00:52:05.72
that's calling on your faith.
00:52:05.75\00:52:07.86
You may be
watching from a hospital bed
00:52:07.89\00:52:09.62
or you may be
watching after an accident
00:52:09.66\00:52:11.83
or near miss and
something in your day,
00:52:11.86\00:52:13.70
you may be wondering
what the future holds.
00:52:13.73\00:52:16.06
Hold on to that thought.
00:52:16.10\00:52:17.47
And on the other
side of our news break,
00:52:17.50\00:52:19.40
we're going to
close the program,
00:52:19.43\00:52:21.37
and we're going to
encourage you but don't go away.
00:52:21.40\00:52:23.81
We'll be back in
just a few moments.
00:52:23.84\00:52:25.91