I was in Nicaragua with the group, and wanted to share a few
details surrounding those events that showed God’s hand that day. We had had a
very successful week ministering, and the group was going to take a few days to
relax before going home. Nathan had preached with an incredible anointing that
week, causing people to come to Christ for salvation and help. It was the first
time I had ever heard Nathan preach, and I was so proud to call him my cousin.
I was also thrilled that one of my family members was in Nicaragua to see the
work going on there.
Honestly I didn’t know Nathan that well, and we didn’t
always get along as kids. I remember on a mission trip to Mexico before we were
teenagers while riding on the bus, he snuck under the seat, grabbed our shoes,
and put them all in the back of the bus! Now that memory makes me laugh. He was
so full of energy and mischievousness at times! He was a Fouts for sure. On the
week of the mission trip, we didn’t talk a lot, but we seemed to connect more
than we ever had before. On the day of the accident, we sat together at lunch.
He was talking about John Wayne movies and asked if I had seen any. When I told
him no, he acted shocked and jokingly said he couldn’t believe he had a family
member who hadn’t watched John Wayne! He smiled at me, and I could tell
everything was okay between us.
While we were at lunch, I checked my facebook, and one of my good friends had posted some song lyrics that for some reason really stuck in my mind
that day. “Even if the healing doesn’t
come, and life falls apart and dreams are still undone, You are God. You are
good, forever faithful One, even if the healing, even if the healing doesn’t
come.” I didn’t realize at the time how significant those words would be to
me just a few hours later.
We made it to the beach, and there were a lot of surfers in
the water. There was no reason to suspect that there was any danger. It was
hot, and we were ready to swim. When we got there, the guys went to one area of
the beach, and the girls stayed at another area. The girls all began to wade
out into the water, when one of the girls cried out in pain. She said something
had either bitten or stung her. We all quickly got out of the water after just
a few seconds of being in it, and decided to just walk on the shore and explore
the rocks. We didn’t know the greater danger, that the current had changed and
was pulling people under, but God did, and he protected all of us girls that
day. Had we gone in, not being strong swimmers, we might have all drowned.
A little while later, someone ran down the beach telling us
someone had been pulled under, warning us of the danger of being in the water.
We didn’t think too much about it, since we were on shore, but just a few
moments later, Bro. Setser came up the beach to get the truck, and told us to
pray hard for Nathan. They were taking him to the hospital. We knelt on the
beach in a circle and began to pray fervently. The Holy Spirit fell on the
group as we were praying, and all of a sudden the song lyrics I had read
earlier that day began to repeat themselves over and over in my mind. “Even if the healing doesn’t come, and life
falls apart and dreams are still undone, You are God. You are good, forever
faithful One, even if the healing, even if the healing doesn’t come.” We
later learned that Nathan passed away before he made it to the hospital.
The next few days were spent trying to get Nathan’s body
sent back home. Someone had remarked earlier in the week that it would take a
miracle to get a body sent back in time to have a funeral. We knew that we
would need just that miracle. It would have been a difficult task even if the
original police reports of the accident had not been lost, and if the weekend
were not approaching (everything pretty much shuts down over the weekend, we
learned). We were facing nearly an impossible task.
Thankfully God did provide a blessing that helped us. Many
of the documents needed signatures from the next of kin, and God had allowed me
to be on that trip as his next of kin. Because we both had the same last name,
the authorities thought I was Nathan’s sister (even though we told them several
times otherwise). This sped up the paperwork, and after several days of us going
through red tape, his body was finally released and sent home, just in time to
have an open casket for the viewing. We knew it was going to take a miracle for
that to happen, and God did it.
During those days after the accident while still in
Nicaragua, we found some notes Nathan had written in the first few pages of his
bible. What really caught my attention was the following:
“My goal in my
ministry is not to preach a youth camp. It is not to pastor a huge
congregation. It is not to be booked a year in advance as evangelist. My goal
in my ministry is to have a generation that follows after me in the paths of
ministry and of God. My goal is not to be a youth camp speaker. It is simply to
be the best Christian I can be.”
Sometimes God’s answers to our prayers are completely
different than we imagined. It would be easy to see Nathan’s death as a
promising ministry cut short, or God’s plan ending too soon. However, I believe
that God gave Nathan a clear picture of what his purpose was to be. He knew that
his goal in ministry was to have a generation that followed after him in the
paths of ministry and of God. He didn’t know how it would be fulfilled, but he
knew that he would fulfill that purpose by being the best Christian he could
be.
When I look around and see young people who are taking his
last message to heart, “Don’t Lay Down Your Sword” and when I hear the youth in
Nicaragua use him as an example of giving your life for the ministry, and
knowing that a tabernacle for a youth camp and a amemorial garden in Nicaragua
are being built in his memory, I believe Nathan absolutely fulfilled the
purpose God had for him on this earth. He truly will have a generation, in
multiple countries, who will look to and follow his example in giving one’s all
for Christ.
