1963 started out as a good year. We were enjoying good growth in the second church we’d planted about 60 miles west of Chicago. Our first child, Tim, was a little over a year old. He was healthy, happy, and very entertaining. Not very far into the year, we happily discovered that we were pregnant with our second child.

In May, we loaded all our camping, fishing, and baby equipment into our prized red 1961 VW Beetle. Every time we pulled into a campground and unloaded the car, folks gathered around and marvelled at how much gear came out of that little vehicle. The diaper pail would only fit one place — wedged between the front and rear seats. Keeping the lid securely in place was quite a chore at times.

We didn’t have a lot of money. In addition to pastoring the new congregation, I worked full-time at a furniture store. However, we did our own cooking and the little red Bug did its best to squeeze every mile it could out of every gallon of gas.

Detroit was our first “new” city. I remember Tim climbing up on the pedestal of a statue of some impressive looking guy. He tumbled down the last step and scratched his nose. The scrape wasn’t serious at all, but you know how perfectionistic new parents can be about their kids. Furthermore, we were going to meet his grandparents on the way back to Illinois. We wanted him to make the best impression he could and that didn’t include showing up with a scab on his nose!

We crossed into Canada at that point. What a beautiful trip across our Northern Neighbor! I remember being surprised that they grew tobacco that far north and that they served gravy on french fries!

Niagra Falls totally impressed us. So much water! We knew that Tim wouldn’t remember a thing about the trip, but it was fun taking his picture with the Falls in the background, taking his picture in front of the horse-drawn carriage. Took lots of pictures!

As we came back across the border and travelled through upper New York State, we enjoyed strawberries the size of five gallon buckets. Well, they seemed that big! The fresh fruit and vegetables added a lot of pleasure to our routine.

The Bug got stuck in the sand at Old Orchard Beach and a friendly ranger came and helped us push it out. I took Tim into the Atlantic Ocean and watched us both turn blue! Lots of neat memories.

The night we arrived outside of Baltimore, it was chilly and late. Finally got the umbrella tent set up about midnight. While setting it up, I took a break and tried to get a campfire started. It didn’t take, so we piled on another layer of clothes and kept working on the tent. A neighboring camper walked over and introduced himself. I noticed he had a small red gasoline can in his hand, but didn’t think anything about it.

Out of our sight, he poured some gas on the wood which I couldn’t get lit earlier. Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, there was this tremendous wooshing sound and the flames shot every direction. Later, I figured that there must have been a few sparks left on the bottom of the pile from my previous attempt.

We heard a cry, looked, and there was Tim – his clothing, face and hands on fire. I have no idea how my wife covered the distance from our car to Tim instantly, but there she was with a blanket. He was running. I was running after him. I tripped him, she grabbed him up in the blanket and put the flames out.

Now, here we were in a strange park near a strange city full of strangers. We loaded Tim in the car and headed for the gate. It had a locked barrier across it. There was a phone to the ranger’s home nearby. He told me how to get out of the park and which direction to head for the hospital in Baltimore. In my haste, I turned the WRONG direction on the highway. We were headed away from Baltimore.

When I realized this, I started running all the red lights at top speed. Before long, a State Trooper pulled me over. When he realized the situation, he put us all in his patrol car and headed for the hospital. We went through downtown Baltimore at speeds in excess of 100 mph. I credit that patrolman with saving Tim’s life.

At the hospital we were helped by an intern. He smeared all kinds of white cream on little Tim’s face, and wrapped his head in bandages. Then he looked at him and said that he thought it would be all right for us to take home. Well, “home” was a campground. At 3:00 am, we found a rooming house. The lady got up and rented us a room for $5.00. The next morning, Tim was barely breathing. We took him back to the hospital. This time we talked with a doctor. He was astounded that the intern had sent us away. Tim was immediately put into pediatric intensive care. The gasoline fumes had caused swelling in his throat, and we nearly lost him.

The specialist who came to see him was a kindly Jewish man who’d been a leader in the development of reconstructive plastic surgery on burn victims. During the week Tim was in the unit, he came at least once a day. He told us that Tim would require many surgeries in order to restore his face, because the burn wounds were quite deep and would leave considerable scarring.

When we started this trip we didn’t start out with much money. We budgeted every single penny. Now we had a hospital bill AND a bill for the services of one of the leading plastic surgeons around. I called him at his office the day we were going to check Tim out of the hospital. I told him how much I earned. I told him that I would send whatever I could every month until I finally paid the bill in full. He told me that we didn’t owe him a penny! He said that if we’d bring Tim to Baltimore when necessary, he would do the reconstructive surgery FREE. Wow!

On the way to pick Tim up (on Father’s Day), we pulled into a little shopping center to buy him a new outfit. While we were in the store, literally counting out our pennies, nickels, and dimes, two college age boys came in and asked us if we were the owners of the red VW. When I said, “Yes”, he said that an older gentleman had backed into our car. Not once, but he kept backing into it while trying to leave his own parking spot. As he was trying to leave the scene, one of the young man detained him.

I got two estimates for the damages. As I recall, the check from the insurance company was over $400 dollars. Later, on the way back to Illinois, I found a body shop that fixed the damage for $70.00! It seems that God met our additional needs on the trip “by accident”. My wife’s father wired us the $100.00 to pay the hospital IN FULL for the week in the hospital intensive care ward. Can you imagine a TOTAL bill of $100 for a week in intensive care?

Tim had scabs all over his face the day we picked him up. One week later when we met my folks, he didn’t have a single scab OR A SINGLE SCAR! His face was slightly pink. Today, Tim is 36 years old. His face is still handsome and free of scars. What a miracle of God’s grace and love.

We later chuckled at how concerned we’d been when he’d scratched his nose a little. We had no idea what his face would go through before he saw his grandparents!

By the way, as a result of this remarkable incident, the doctor came to know Jesus Christ. You got it! A Jewish Doctor met the Great Physician. Go figger!

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