Friday morning we headed to the Huttonsville-Mill Creek Volunteer Fire Department. In 2008 one of their members, firefighter McAtee, drove apparatus to the scene of a chimney fire. He was reported to be having discomfort in his chest and later that day after returning home from the call became unresponsive. He was transported to the hospital were he died.
We headed out Friday morning towards our destination. A few miles down the road we saw the Tygart Valley fire station. We stopped in to leave some cd's not sure if anyone was there. We made contact with a guy named Eric who was the Chief of the department. I shared with him about who we were and what we were doing. He asked if we needed a phone number for the Chief of Huttonsville-Mill Creek. (of course he did) He gave me the Chiefs phone number and told me that if we couldn't get hold of him he worked at the post office in town. He also told me that the LODD was the Chief's father. While we were talking he also mentioned that it was lucky that we caught him there because he works out of town 4 days a week and had just stopped in to check some e-mails. It wasn't luck, God had been there before us and made it so we would meet him there.
When we arrived in Huttonsville we located the post office and went into to find Chief McAtee. We immediately hit it off and started talking with him like we had known each other for years. We found that he and his wife were in charge of the youth group in their church. We showed him the plaque that we had in memory of his father and shared with him about our ministry. After talking for a while he told us that he had planned to take 1/2 a vacation day and invited us to his house. At his home we met his wife and younger brother who are all members in the department. We spent about 1.5 hrs with the family as they shared memories of their father, department, and ministry. As we prepared to leave they gathered some local apple butter, preserves, and sauces for us to take with us. They gave us all hats and we exchanged patches.
Once again we were amazed how God was working. We travel to these locations unannounced and God always provides a way for us to contact who we need. God planned out all the details for us to minister to this family and community. Writing about it doesn't do it justice. Please continue to pray for our trip and the McAtee family.
