Miracle In Indiana

I serve our community as Senior Pastor of Vineyard Church of Franklin in Franklin, Indiana. We are a little Vineyard of somewhere around 100 folks. I am also employed part-time at Johnson County Senior Services.

Back on Friday, September 28th, 2012 at 10:10 AM, I was between job assignments and was parked in the lot of the Marsh Grocery Store on State Road 135 near the city of Greenwood, Indiana. While I was parked, a man named Stan (Stanley Hiatt) saw our Johnson County Senior Services van. He walked up and collapsed against the outside of the driver side window like something out of a zombie apocalypse. It scared the you-know-what out of me.

He told me he had COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and couldn’t breathe. I thought he was having a heart attack and dialed 911. As I was on the phone with the operator, relaying Stan’s condition, he got into the backseat of the van and laid down, struggling for breath.

Stan started convulsing and began to foam at the mouth. He turned purple, then passed out with his eyes wide open, his pupils of his eyes dilated. He immediately began turning gray and growing cold. I checked his breathing and the pulse on his neck and wrist. The 911 operator told me rescue units were en route, but still over seven minutes away.

I started to freak out and tossed the cell phone on the floor of the van. I debated for a few seconds about administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to this old man with slobber sliding down his face. I remember saying out loud, “Oh, God, oh God, oh my God, what should I do!?” I was in a panic.

I took another look at Stan’s lifeless body and saw one lone tear rolling out of his eye, down his cheek. I started crying myself. Then I got angry. I said, “Not today, not in my van. You are not going to die in this parking lot!”

Then I heard an audible voice. It sounded similar to Redd Foxx from “Sanford and Son.” The voice said, “You’re a pastor … pray for him, dummy!”

I placed my hand on Stan’s chest and shouted “JESUS!” That was it. No long, drawn-out prayer. No flowery words. Just a very loud and panicked “Jesus!”

[bctt tweet=”I placed my hand on Stan’s chest and shouted “JESUS!” -Tim Roberston” quote=”I placed my hand on Stan’s chest and shouted “JESUS!” That was it. No long, drawn-out prayer. No flowery words. Just a very loud and panicked “Jesus!””]

Stan’s chest immediately rose as his lungs were filled with air, and he gasped and sat up straight. I wasn’t sure if I scared the crap out of Him, or if Jesus healed him. Either way it looks like Jesus heard!

Emergency workers showed up five minutes later. As I was giving my statement to the police, the Bargersville police sergeant said to me, “It was a real miracle of God that you were here!”

I told him, “You have no idea.” I shared with him what had transpired and told him I was a pastor of the Vineyard in Franklin.

This event is documented: The whole thing was captured by Johnson County Indiana 911 Emergency Dispatch. The cell phone I had tossed on the floor relayed my call and the whole event was recorded.

As they brought Stan near the ambulance, he looked at me, pulled his oxygen mask away for a second, and said, “Thank you! You saved my life!”

I told him I didn’t do anything. It was Jesus who saved him. He cried and gave me a thumbs up as they loaded him onto the ambulance.

[bctt tweet=”I said I didn’t do anything. It was Jesus who saved him. He cried & gave me a thumbs up – Tim Roberston” quote=”I told him I didn’t do anything. It was Jesus who saved him. He cried and gave me a thumbs up as they loaded him onto the ambulance.”]

The officer turned back toward me and simply said, “Dude, I want to come to your church!”

Tim Roberston – Senior Pastor, Vineyard Church of Franklin (Franklin, IN)