01/28/2025
From Pastor Ted Hambrick:
We were stranded in Ashville, North Carolina during and after Hurricane Helene. We had about 1 gallon of gas left. It was not enough to hardly get out of town, certainly not enough to get home. Most of the gas stations didn’t have electricity or wi-fi. If you could find a station open, they required cash only. After a 2 day search, we decided we were going to go to a church and see if someone had some gas for their lawn mowers they could sell us. My gas gauge said we were moments til empty.
I saw two men outside their home. I quickly drove in and walked up and introduced myself. The older man (86) extended his hand and said, “I’m Clayton McKinney, have you heard I lost my sweetheart? I replied, “No sir we hadn’t heard.”
We talked about his wife Margaret and how she had died and how he just couldn’t get over it! He told us how they had met and were married 66 years.
We talked and we prayed. His son who owned the house behind him, stood behind his dad, and listened.
Mr. McKinney asked “How can we help you fellers?
I asked if they had a little gas we could buy.
They syphoned some gas out of a pressure washer and gave it to us. That 2 gallons was enough to get us to Spartanburg Nazarene Church, where the Pastor and his church took care of us. They fed us, got us gas and sent us home!
A few weeks later our friend Mr. McKinney called us and shared with us one of the most amazing stories I’d ever heard. He had received a call. The last time we visited, he was having a terrible time with spam calls. This time the caller ID identified the caller as Margaret McKinney, the same name as his wife. He looked at that and first thought he would not answer fearing it was someone playing a sick joke. Yet, he felt he had to pick up!
The caller was Margaret McKinney. She wasn’t his wife. Margaret was a 94 year old black woman from Texas. She was also a wonderful Christian woman. They talk from time to time. They praise the Lord and pray together.
Mr. McKinney misses his wife so. It seems that about everyone he meets he asks, “Have heard about my sweetheart?
I like to think that God sent him an angel that calls him and comforts him: an angel named Margaret McKinney.
