The Power of Testimony

SHAWN THORNTON || 25
“Dear Lord, please bring Beverly back to us,” came their
father’s muff led voice through the wall. “Please don’t let her
die. We want to see her. Let her be part of this family again.”
Their mother’s weeping f lowed under his words like a
stream of grief.
In the small home of George and Pat Phillips, the Youth
for Christ group also prayed earnestly for their friend Bev
and felt gripped to pray with urgency for John Thornton
and Russell Gilvin, just as Bev had been asking them to do.
Together in the modest living room, they cried out, lifting
up the request Bev had asked them to pray in the months
before the accident: “Lord, use Bev in any way you see fit so
that John and Mr. Gilvin will come to you.”
One Sunday not long after the accident, John, who had
started to attend church occasionally, listened intently to the
sermon at Twin Branch Bible Church. When the pastor invited
the congregation to come forward for prayer, John stood up
and walked to the front. The situation surrounding the accident
had opened his eyes. Awareness of his own failure and
inadequacy had led him to recognize his need for a Savior—​or
for something to guide him out of his brokenness. On a different
Sunday, Russell did the same thing. On his previous
visits to church, he had jangled the change in his pocket with
nervous energy, to the point of distracting people nearby. Now
he was baptized, and he attended Sunday school so faithfully
that in the years to come he would win medals for attendance.
John’s quiet journey of faith helped him formulate a way
to respond to Bev’s new reality—​and the future staring so
blankly at him.