When summer came there was no time for leisure.
John returned to work in the sawmill.
One day he was assigned to put dressing on the long conveyor belt to keep it
from slipping around the pulley. He had never before done this operation. In his
inexperience, he applied the dressing to the ingoing side of the belt instead of
the returning side. The belt grabbed his arm with such force that he was thrown
off his feet. The operator slammed the stop lever and rushed to John's side,
expecting to see a mangled arm still caught between the drum and the belt.
Instead, John's arm was free and uninjured, and John had only belt burns and
bruises on his hand.
"I can't believe it! It's impossible!" The operator kept repeating as he looked
first at John's arm and then at John.
"Your whole arm was caught in there-I saw it!"
To demonstrate what should have happened, the superintendent, who had quickly
arrived on the scene, placed a one-by-three board where John's arm had been and
started up the conveyor belt. The board splintered like a matchstick.
Others who were present said they had seen John's arm drawn into the belt. "It's
a miracle!" They said.
Did God save my arm-maybe even my life? John was filled with awe. Lord, last
year You brought me through the truck accident and now through this. You must
have something special for me to do. Maybe You can use me in spite of myself. To
John it was a definite sign that God had work for him to do.
Dekker, John (with Lois Neely). Torches of Joy. Seattle: YWAM Publishing,
1985, 1999 p. 30.
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