“I don’t even know how I did it other than the grace of God.”
That’s how Pastor Al Robinson described his recent rescue of a woman stranded in deadly snowstorms in Buffalo, New York.
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Al and Vivian Robinson, a husband and wife who lead Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry in Buffalo, told CBN’s Faithwire about their now-viral story of love and compassion for those around them as they stepped up to the plate to feed, house, and protect the vulnerable.
But it’s the woman’s rescue story that truly stands out.
In addition to feeding and housing people, the Robinsons sent heroes to recover vulnerable individuals who could have frozen in dire conditions. While a friend used a snowmobile to bring people to the house of worship, Al personally rescued at least one individual.
That young woman, about two blocks away, called the pastor as 79-mile-per-hour winds raged and snow swirled all around.
“She called me and she said, ‘Pastor, please don’t let me die. Please don’t let me die. Don’t let me die here. Don’t let me die like this,'” Al recounted. “And I looked at Vivian. I said, ‘We have no choice.’ I suited up, I walked down the street to get her, and somehow I carried that woman through all that snow.”
Watch him tell the incredible story:
Al said these actions were especially miraculous, considering a 2015 accident left him with major back issues. Somehow, though, he was able to persist and save the day — and he’s attributing it all to God.
The couple also told Faithwire how and why they decided to open their church doors, noting how their house of worship amazingly never lost power despite most of the community around it suffering outages.
“My wife and I, we were just having a regular day, and we get reports on our Facebook group that people are losing power,” Al said. “And I look at my wife, and I say to her, ‘I wonder why we’re not losing power?'”
Within just a few hours, he said he fully understood why God spared his church property: so that he and Vivian could open the church’s doors to the public.
“That’s how God works,” he said.
Vivian said the couple had planned to welcome their nine children home for the holidays before the storm, but the food they bought ended up feeding well over 100 people who sought refuge inside their church.
“When I told my husband, ‘We have to open up our church doors,’ we never imagined that it was going to just open up so big for the lives of all these people,” she said.
The couple lost count of how many people came through the doors, around 127 or 128, and said they had the most people inside the church on Christmas day.
“I’m a fervent believer that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called,” Al said. “We ran for like four days straight.”
The preachers’ kind acts have been making national headlines in recent days — and with good reason. Their selflessness, kindness, and love went above and beyond the call of duty.
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