November 1984
When Harmony Nursing Home invited local pastors to conduct Sunday afternoon services for their residents, on occasion, James volunteered to preach. One Sunday, as James prepared for the church service, I circled the area, stopping to visit people and invite them to attend the service. I also encouraged our three daughters to greet the people in the lounge where the service would be held. Since the mostly senior citizen residents enjoyed the children, we made it a point to come as a family.
While mingling, I noticed a young man in his mid-twenties sitting on a couch, assembling a difficult puzzle. I felt that it must be difficult for such a young person to live in the nursing home. Bob matched a number of pieces; he was obviously good at working difficult puzzles, and I told him so. Engaging him in a conversation, I asked what had brought him to Harmony House. What a story. He had been high on drugs, drunk, and speeding down a road when suddenly his car had swerved and hit a tree. The impact sent him and the car engine into the back seat. It was a miracle that he survived!
Bob’s prognosis was grim. At the hospital, when he had finally awaken from a coma, his life was drastically changed. Eventually Bob left his bed for a wheelchair, and he was transferred to Harmony for the duration of a slow recovery.
“Bob, if you had died in the accident, what would have happened to you?” I asked. “I don’t know—” he replied, shaking his head, “—maybe Hell.”
Compassionately I explained from the Bible how God has made it possible, through the work of Christ on the Cross, for all of us to get to Heaven.
It was time for the service to begin. Inviting Bob to come hear James preach, I promised to show him later, more passages from the Bible. Bob listened to the preaching. After the service, we talked and reviewed how he could simply trust the Lord Jesus as his Savior.
Bob rested his head on the back of the coach, looked up to the ceiling and beyond, and asked Christ to pay for his sins and be his Savior. Bob’s decision was sincere. Learning that we provided transportation for some nursing home residents to attend our Sunday services, he was interested.
For a number of years, we picked up Bob and a few other residents, taking them to Calvary Bible Church for services. Bob’s strength increased, yet he continued to struggle with addictive substances. Drinking was not difficult for him to give up because that substance was not available; cigarettes were harder. More than once, he left the church services to go outside and smoke. Finally, God gave him victory, and he stopped smoking. Bob often shared his testimony. He would say, “I thank God for my accident. It changed the direction of my life from Hell to Heaven.” After a public confession of his faith in Christ, Bob was baptized and remained faithful in attending church services.
Eventually, Bob obtained a job working as an orderly at the same nursing home. When I would come to the nursing home, Bob would take me to meet one or more patients with whom he worked. The patients responded well to him; he understood their situation and cared. Bob was concerned for friends and family that they would get saved, and he became a diligent soul winner himself.
We encouraged him to write out his testimony and helped him make a tract to pass out. This is his testimony as he told it.
“I THANK GOD FOR MY ACCIDENT”
Bob Spahn
Hello. My name is Bob Spahn. I want to tell you a true story about the effects of drugs and alcohol on my life. I was enjoying living the “good life,” married to my attractive wife whom I loved very much. As a top auto mechanic with a good job, I was paid an excellent salary. In fact, I could easily support my rapidly growing alcohol and drug addiction.
One night I drove 75 mph on a mountain road following a fight with my wife, and under the influence of alcohol and drugs, I suddenly hit a tree. The impact sent the engine and me into the back seat. I am told my blood alcohol level was a .27, which is three hundredths of a point from killing a person. Had the impact been just six inches to the left of that tree, I would have careened off a steep cliff into eternity in Hell. I was taken to a local hospital and quickly sent by helicopter to a large trauma center. Three weeks later, following brain surgery, a respirator, oxygen, and excellent medical care, I woke from the coma.
As a result of that severe head injury, I experienced a major and permanent personality change. Then my wife left me. In retrospect, my head injury was the best thing that ever happened to me. I’d still be drinking and using drugs if—in fact, I would still be alive. I was
far from God, and He had to knock some sense into me.
Pastor James Goering presented a chapel service at the health care center where I was getting further rehabilitation in 1986. I attended because I was bored and had nothing else to do. His wife, Gloria, came and showed me how to trust Jesus as my personal Savior. On that day, I was saved. Now I have confidence that I am one of God’s children and will go to Heaven when I die. By God’s grace, I am serving Him the best I can. God had a plan for my life and allowed me to live following that terrible accident. It was a blessing in disguise for me.
My advice for all is, do not wait to have an accident that could take your life before you get saved. Ask Him now to be your personal Savior. Just trust in Jesus to save you from all your sin. He died on the Cross and rose again to save you.
A couple of my favorite Bible verses are from the Gospel of John: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
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Bob was promoted to glory December 5, 2010. His life had changed and he enjoyed giving testimony of God’s saving grace in his life and helping others to find in Christ what he had found. Bob often vocalized through the years his appreciation for God using us to bring him to Christ. He referred to me as “My spiritual mom.” Of those I have led to the Lord through the years, Bob has said the most often, “Thank you!” Bob reminds me of the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus healed ten and one returned to say thank you. In Heaven I can imagine all those our lives have influenced for eternity will be grateful. I know I am looking forward to expressing my appreciation to those who were instrumental in my coming to know the Lord! Maybe it would be good for me to find ways to be grateful even now.
