By Message Staff
MANSFIELD – A detour to get home at first seemed like an inconvenience for Thumper Miller, but looking back on the incident, he said God divine intervention probably saved his life during a powerful storm Sunday, May 28.
Miller, who is pastor of First Baptist Church in Mansfield, had just finished attending the church’s annual crawfish boil Sunday evening and was headed home when he noticed a number of downed trees and power lines blocking the road leading to his house. Thus, Miller was forced to take a 15-minute detour to reach his destination.
Once he arrived, Miller and his wife, Tracy, discovered a fallen tree on their house – which he said could have come down on the structure with him inside had it not been for God’s intervening and delaying his arrival.
“There were neighbors standing in the street taking pictures of the tree on our house because they heard the crash from their homes,” said Miller, secretary-treasurer for the Louisiana Baptists 2016 Pastors Conference. “We believe God caused us to take that detour which in turn kept us from being inside our home when the tree fell.”
Mansfield was one of many communities affected when violent storms rolled through parts of north and central Louisiana Sunday, bringing with it heavy rain, damaging hail and high winds, and leaving more than 75,000 at one time without power. The storms caused at least two deaths and produced at least three tornadoes in Winn Parish.
Soon after the storm passed, Miller said friends, neighbors and church members showed up to help him clean up the debris, as well as offering food, encouragement and prayers, showing Christ’s bright light in a dark time.
“We have never felt more loved than we have in the midst of these challenging circumstances,” he said. “God has truly blessed us through these dear people of Mansfield. Please continue to pray for the many who were affected by the storm and our efforts to minister to them.
“I am still hearing stories of our church members reaching out and helping their neighbors, sharing generators, delivering meals and helping clean up the debris from the storm,” he continued. “We have met people in our neighborhood that we never knew through this storm. They have prepared us meals and come by to pray with us and for us. God is using this to build some bridges in our community and establish many new friendships and future ministry opportunities.”
