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More Than A Miracle

by Thya Newman  
7/26/2011 / Miracles

Susan Littlejohn's Father had always taken care of lost and stray animals. She grew up knowing it was the right thing to do. "My Daddy taught me to love animals and my Momma taught me to love the lord " Susan said.

Many years later, we still find Susan caring for animals. She says it's her calling. But always, she ran her life & her shelter on a shoestring budget, wondering how she would pay to feed them all, and herself, but having faith that somehow she would.

She called her non-profit center, The Build An Ark Animal Rescue. She had outreach programs to help the elderly, the handicapped and troubled youth, and her animals were the stars of the Easter plays in the area.

Things were looking up when she found the land near the Coosawattee River, with a huge barn that would hold them all, and included a bedroom for Susan. With a roomy barn for her animals, and all the outreach projects in place, it seemed like smooth sailing.

Of course there was no money to speak of, and Susan had rent to pay and feed bills, but they had a beautiful new home and the rest would come. Susan had faith.


Little did Susan know there was a storm brewing on her horizon


On April 4th, in the little town called Ellijay, Georgia, right on a Coosawatee River, a tornado struck. It devastated a small area, flattening everything in it's path, including a barn containing 3 people and 61 animals.

The day had started out as most days. Susan remembers, "I starting praying really hard because the Easter plays were coming up and I had no truck or trailer to get the animals there, and no money to rent one. I had a total of $3.43 in my bank account. I was praying to God to give me a way to do this. I don't charge for my animals to be in the plays, it's all up to them if they want to give a donation. So I asked God to show his power and help me get this done. "

After a day of fundraising, two volunteers, Chris and Joycelyn Cartin (who was 7 months pregnant at the time) picked Susan up and they came back to the Ark about nine P.M. All three went to the back of the barn to feed the animals. Chris and Susan threw hay into the stalls for the horses and Joycelyn went back to feed the new baby 4 horned goat, Mizpah. Susan thought it odd that the animals didn't come up from the pasture when they heard the hay being thrown.

Although there was no wind or rain, the lights in the barn flickered off and on three times. Susan walked toward the front of the 180 foot barn to grab a flashlight. She didn't make it far.

Susan tells the terrifying tale, "A rod shot down in front of me. I reached out to touch it and said what is that? Just then the wind kicked up. I grabbed on and was blown out straight like a flag. I was holding on with one hand and reached in my pocket with the other hand and dialed 9-1-, and the phone was ripped out of my hand by the intense wind. It sounded like a 747."

It was 9:20 and Susan, her friends and all her beloved animals were in the middle of an unexpected, fast moving tornado.

Susan continues, "Just then I noticed two donkey heads looking at me and I thought Oh God save the animals! We have to do the plays! I started crawling, boards were falling all around me, striking me all over my body. After a couple two by fours hit me in the head I thought I was going to die. Than a timber fell on my foot. It didn't hurt me, but pinned my shoe and I couldn't get it off. So I was stuck. Three feet away from where I was, the whole wall crashed down, right where I would have been if I didn't get stuck. It was like God put an angel there who said she's not going to listen so put a timber on her foot."

The whole barn was totaled. It had all collapsed, and was just a flattened pile of wood, but underneath all that wood were 61 animals and three people.

When Susan finally got her foot free she crawled to safety, happily finding that Chris & Joycelyn had escaped also. Susan's dog, Lady, had gotten herself out and she was okay. Finally after driving up the road, they got a signal on a cell phone and called 9-1-1 for help. Susan also called her son Josh to come help.

Susan says "I was praying for the animals. Joycelyn said she saw some of them and they are still alive. But I needed them all to be alive. I said out loud, God I need a miracle. They are all alive They are ALL alive" I repeated this over and over, until emergency services arrived."

The first fireman to arrive, Mark Simmons, got there about 45 minutes after the call. He had to cut his way through all the fallen trees and debris on the roads. Mark took a look at the huge pile of boards that used to be a barn and told Susan he wanted to prepare her for the worst, he didn't think anyone was alive in there.

Susan's son Josh, and friend Chris arrived, and they all started pulling out the animals. The alpacas were squished down under a wall. The firemen thought they might have to be put to sleep from severe injuries, but after moving the wall, they just stood up and walked out! The horses were all right. The sheep were all okay. The pigs, one had a cut over his eye, but otherwise they were well. The goats, one had a break in his horn, but no serious damage. One of the chickens had a hurt foot, but will be fine.

And the happy parade of mostly well, and totally alive animals continued. Right down to the last one rescued, a momma Dove named Mrs. Noah She was healthy too. "It was more than a miracle", Susan said.

Susan had not one bump or bruise on her body. Chris had a slightly fractured arm, and Joycelyn and her unborn baby, were perfect.

Susan lost almost all of her worldly possessions, but she still had all the animals she loved, and the two volunteers she cares deeply about. (Who now have little baby Bailey!)

With the help of the community, Susan and her animals made it to all their Easter plays. "We missed one practice" Susan said, "but that was mostly for the people, the animals already knew what they were supposed to do."

Susan feels blessed that things worked out as well as they did, and she knows God had a hand in it. "I think God decided it was time to show me his power!"

And now it's time to help Susan and her animals get their homes back. It's time to rebuild the Ark.

Hearing the call for help, Tom McKeever, Communications leader at Oak Hill United Methodist Church in Ellijay quickly built and hosted the below web page to get the word out nationally.

Please go http://www.buildanarkanimalrescue.org/ to see pictures, hear & read more of the story and/or help out with a donation.

by Thya Newman

Publishers-4 pictures avail to go with story, no charge, email me at [email protected] & i'll send them. TY

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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