Whilst living in Harrogate back in 1991-1994, we went along with the church we attended to a Christian festival called ‘Grapevine’ at the Lincolnshire showground. Over ten thousand attendees camped for a week long gathering, though we just went for the day. The showground is a stone’s throw from RAF Scampton, which was my first posting in 1979 following my technical training, and where for twenty-four years, four squadrons of Vulcans were based.
The Vulcan fleet disbanded in the early 1980s, and on our early arrival on the Saturday, we were greeted by the ‘Red Arrows’ returning back to their new home. It was fun seeing them all line up and land just a few fields away.
We had a lovely day and then it all happened! Sitting around having lunch I could see in the distance a number of tents flying through the air. Literally, just taking off! A tornado decided to hit a corner of the site, and brought devastation.
I kicked into autocratic mode and told everyone to lie face down to the ground, and for those in a caravan to close the door and get on the floor. Our youngest son was only about two years old and he had just walked into the caravan.
We all laid prostrate on the ground and after a few minutes, when the tornado had passed, we all got up and saw utter devastation around our corner of the campsite. Some tents were literally sitting in trees and our other two children, saw their tent take off to the other side of the campsite. Due to possible fire or explosions, everyone in our area was instructed to turn off their gas appliances. Then the rain came and brought a miserable end to what had started out as a lovely day.
That corner of the campsite experienced an unexpected storm, which affected many campers’ one way or another. Acts 27:13-44 describes how the Apostle Paul was a prisoner on a ship, on his way to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. It details how Paul spent weeks on a cargo ship under the custody of a Roman centurion, enduring a violent two-week storm before the ship was eventually wrecked on the island of Malta.
Paul’s faith brought him to say to over two hundred onboard, “Take courage. None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.” And he went onto saying that an angel of God said to him the night before, “Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in His goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.”
Whilst we were only on a campsite in Lincolnshire and not being shipwrecked at sea, we were very conscious of God’s goodness, especially during the after-effects of what can only be described as a significant and very unpleasant event that day.
