An Angel Saved My Life
It was an ordinary day and a familiar drive. I was in the very back of Mother’s 1959 Dodge Sierra station wagon observing the familiar sights that we routinely passed when we headed toward Naval Air Station Charleston. I was five years old and my favorite pastime was pointing out the make and model of the other cars on the road. I had been enthralled by automobiles since I was three, and could identify Cadillacs, Fords, Chevrolets, Volkswagens, and other cars. I was even more fascinated when traffic came to a halt as we watched the Wappoo Creek Bridge draw up so that the large boats could pass under the bridge.
My mother, Assemblies of God Evangelist Verna M. Linzey, enjoyed taking time out of her busy schedule to fellowship with fellow Navy Officers’ Wives as part of her “Ministry of Presence” on the base. My father, first-ever Assemblies of God Active Duty Navy Chaplain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., was stationed on the USS Holland, which was homeported at Charleston. Mother was on the Navy Wives Bowling League and had won a trophy for being an outstanding bowler.
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I was looking forward to my donut on that mild, sunny day in October 1963. Then a short while after crossing the Wappoo Creek Bridge, we came to the railroad tracks before an intersection, and the light turned red. The cars ahead of us did not cross the intersection and we had to come to an abrupt stop on the railroad tracks.
It seemed like an eternity that we waited for the green signal so that we could get off the tracks, but finally the light turned green. Then, just as the car in front of us accelerated, the railroad lights started blinking and the bells began ringing. Mother pressed on the gas pedal, but the front tires were stuck on the railroad tracks. The car would not accelerate. The train was quite a distance away, but it was coming quickly. Mother kept pressing the accelerator pedal while praying, but the car would not budge. We were stranded on the tracks.
I was in the far back of the station wagon, which was off the tracks, and Mother knew there was no time to get me out of the back of the car. She figured that I would survive if the train hit the car. So, praying all the while, she threw open the door and jumped out of the car so that she, too, could survive.
Suddenly, a man appeared and told her to get back in the car and floor the gas pedal, and “don’t let off.” She risked her life for me, rushed back inside the car, and floored the gas pedal, with her heart pounding and the palms of her hands and forehead perspiring. Then the tires screeched and the car abruptly “jumped” off the railroad tracks to safety just before the train crossed the street. After the train cleared the street, the stranger was nowhere to be found. We had never seen him before, nor did we ever see him again. But I’ll never forget the day when my life was saved by an angel.
Image: Jad Limcaco
Not only did the angel come to us in our time of need, but also my mother’s unhesitating obedience to what the angel told her to do saved both of our lives.
Looking back, I think about what would have happened had I been killed. How deeply would this have impacted the lives of people to whom I would not have ministered as a military chaplain and as a civilian minister? And what about the lives of those who would never have been spiritually impacted by the Modern English Version Bible, which I edited?
God had plans for my life. He gave me a mother who risked her life for me and He sent an angel to intervene that day so that His purpose for me would be fulfilled.
Category: Fall 2025, Living the Faith
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