A Strange Encounter: A Real Life Angelic

Visitation
By Gorman Woodfin
The 700 Club

CBN.com - You hear people say, It's like a train. It sounds like a train.
It sounded like 40 trains.
It was the largest tornado outbreak in US history. Over a four day period
the National Weather Service confirmed 358 twisters in 21 states from
New York to Texas. On April 27th 2011, delivery man, Jimmy Jones, found
himself right in the middle of the chaos.
It was an F-4. It was over 180 mph winds I was told. But it got wider
after it had just touched down, probably a half a mile from where I was.
It looked like it was probably 250-300 yards from me when I first saw it.
Jimmy was driving his delivery truck down the interstate. He thought he
only had one option - to make it to an underpass. They say, Get in a
ditch. But one of that magnitude, I would have never survived that. It
was sucking things up out of the ground. But I felt led to go to that
bridge, and I knew I had to get there. They tell you, Dont get under a
bridge, thats the worst thing you can do. But when thats all you got
Once Jimmy made it to the underpass the tornado was already on him.
Jimmy remembers in the midst of the storm he called out to God. I was
praying, Lord, save me. I get out of the truck, jump over the guardrail
and start up over that hill. That hill is about as steep as these walls in
this home. And me trying to run and the winds already hitting me in the
face and throwing things, I mean, its debris coming at me. And I mean
Im digging trying to get up that hill. And I didnt think I was going to
make it.
When he made it to the top of the underpass someone was already there.
When I got up under there I see this fella sitting on this blanket. I was

scared out of my mind. And I run up and got right in his face, I said, Sir,
weve got to take cover. Theres a tornado. And he looked at me and he
stood up and it was like everything slowed down at that point. He said,
Is that right? And thats all he said. And he said it with no concern, it
was just like, What are you worried about?
Deep within a crevice under the bridge Jimmy grabbed a piece of metal
pipe attached to the concrete. It felt like a piece of metal up in there, a
metal rod that was further back up in there. And I just grabbed it.
Debris pelted Jimmys back. It felt like somebody was stabbing me in the
back with an ice pick. And then it had some draw to it. It tried to pull you
out. But I was far enough back up in there and I remember I was pulling
hard into that V and they were tight up to my shoulders.
After what felt like an eternity the wind finally ended. The man was still
nearby. When it was all over with, and I come out from that little cubby
hole that I was in, I remember looking and seeing him stand back up over
there. I didnt see him get up under anything. I didnt see him crawl out
from under anything. It was just when I got out and looked over there, I
seen him stand back up.
Soon after the twister left, emergency personnel arrived on the scene. I
saw my truck tore up. There were people screaming. Paramedics and
police were there on the scene already. There were a lot of cars flipped
upside down tore up in the road.
Paramedics were looking in the vehicles and they were asking where I
was. And I heard them and I said, Here I am! And I run down the
embankment, stepped over I said, I was Im up here with this fella. I
turn around and pointed and there werent nobody up there. There
werent no blanket up there. There werent no man up there. And the
only way he could have come down was with me or beside me. He had to
come down the same way I did because there was so much destruction
on both sides of the embankment of that overpass. I asked people there,

Did yall see another fellow? No. No, we didnt see him. Well, he may
have got sucked up in the tornado. I said, No. He was there. I saw him. I
know what I saw.
He believes God sent him an angel to help him face the incredible force
of that F-4 tornado. A preacher friend of mine said that he believed that
the Lord put him there to calm me.
Jimmy says God taught him a few important lessons in the storm. God is
and has been wonderful to me. Hes a loving God. Hes a caring God.
Hes my Lord and Savior. Here we need to be doing things for Him.
Because when its all said and done nothing else is going to matter.

The Article was a story of Jimmys experience as he was in a very

dangerous situation. As he was traveling doing his job as a delivery man,
he had a sudden encounter with an F-4 Tornado. In such a situation, it
would be normal to feel a sense of fear and trembling. In such a state of
fear, Jimmy began to call on God asking and praying Lord, Save me. He
was in a state of helplessness. In such a situation, there was nothing he
could do; the force of the tornado was beyond his control so he calls upon
the One who DOES have control, the One who holds the forces of nature
& the whole Universe in His hands. He cries out to God for help.
We can reflect to Jimmys story and relate it to our own personal
lives. Sometimes in our life, as we go on our daily activities, unexpected
things come up: we suddenly encounter massive tornados in our lives.
These tornados can be so strong and ruthless that we cant find a way

around it on our own. We feel helpless, we are stuck in a situation where

there is no other hope but Gods intervention. So we end up with no other
choice but to call on Gods help. Otherwise, we get sucked up by these
tornados and it ends up destroying us. Not all of us may have
experienced a situation as critical and dangerous as Jimmys, but I am
certain that many if not all of us have experienced tough times that just
come out of the blue. Let us know that God is our hope and our way out
so we can get through and survive these tough times.
I would consider Jimmys encounter with an F-4 tornado as a
religious experience for another reason. Aside from the fact that it was
out of his ordinary experiences and it drew him to call upon God, it was
also because of his encounter with a mysterious stranger whom he
believed was an Angel sent from God. The mysterious stranger was never
really mentioned to have done anything in particular that was considered
protecting Jimmy. However, his calm and indifferent reaction to the
coming of a destructive tornado served to Jimmy as a reminder to stay
calm amidst the storm. Jimmy prayed to God for salvation. That prayer
alone should be enough assurance to no longer be afraid and no longer
worry. Now that guy couldve just been a random person who also
happened to be there at the moment. However, it was the mysterious
disappearance that made Jimmy believe he was an Angel. It was also
because of the fact that Jimmy never saw him hide under anything and
that he was so calm, as if he already knew that everything was going to
be just fine. Jimmy may have never seen the stranger again, but the
memory of him lives on, serving as a reminder to Jimmy and all who
reflect on his story that with God, we can stay calm and never worry
amidst the strong winds in our life and to just rise up again after the
storm has passed.