The Testimony of Robert Roger's

Just this past week I (Kelly) finished proofing the bio of Robert Rogers, the worship leader at the current conference for The Cove. Every time I read the bio I was overwhelmed with Robert's story. It is the most beautiful testimony. Thursday before I headed out, I was told about Robert sharing during devotions the next morning. Everyone was overwhelmed, somber and, yet, blessed as we tried to focus on work for the following seven and a half hours. The testimony and picture are pulled from the website for Robert's ministry (www.mightyintheland.com). Robert has shared his story on a number of tv shows, written a book about his journery, and has now begun a ministry helping orphans and special need children all around the world.

The Night of the Flash Flood


I was blessed to have tasted true love with Melissa for 13 and a half years of what many called a fairytale romance. Only, this was real. God arranged a divine appointment between a city boy from Cincinnati and a cute country girl from Kansas in the middle of downtown Boston, as I played piano at a sidewalk café in March 1990. Melissa gave me a 5-dollar tip and always said, "That was the best 5 bucks I ever spent!" Our first date was at Friendly's Ice Cream and our last meal together was at Braum's Ice Cream (in Wichita) - sweet bookends to a fairytale romance of what can only be called "true love."...

...We lived in the San Jose bay area for 5 1/2 years and moved to Kansas City in 1997. Melissa gave birth to our 3 oldest children (Makenah 8, Zachary 5, Nicholas 3) and we adopted Alenah Wenying (age 1) in January 2003 from the Hunan Province of China. We were married nearly 12 years and were hopelessly in love with Jesus, each other, and our precious children.

We decided early on to make God a priority in our family. We made family our first ministry. God honored that choice and was always faithful. Many trials stretched our faith, including the 92 total hours of excruciating labor to bring our first three children into this world, the exhausting efforts to care for our son with Down Syndrome, two miscarriages (1 nearly fatal tubal rupture), our special-needs adoption of Alenah from China, and even the choice to tithe faithfully while Melissa stayed home full-time with our children.

Life was never easy and money was never plentiful, but God was always good and family was so much fun. Perhaps our special-needs children taught us to appreciate the little things in life so profoundly. We treated family moments (and pictures) as something sacred to behold and treasure.

Eight short months after returning from China with Alenah, we were returning from a wedding on August 30, 2003 in Wichita, Kansas (200 miles from our home in Kansas City). We had just finished our last ice cream together. An hour later, with four sleeping children in the back of our minivan, we were caught in a flash flood at night on I-35 and were washed off the highway by a raging river 6-feet high and hundreds of feet wide. After kicking out the driver’s window, three of us were instantly flushed out of the van. Our three youngest were still buckled in their car seats. When I was drowning with my family underwater in the darkness, I could literally sense the peace of God assuring me that they were all going to Heaven and that it was all going to be OK. There was no pain. There was no fear. I continued to simply trust God. Somehow, He pulled me above the rapids and over to the shore. It’s a miracle I’m alive.

By 3am, they had found our minivan a mile and a half from the highway, upside down, with my three youngest children still inside. By 10am, they had found Makenah a half-mile from the van. It wasn’t until the third excruciating day that they found Melissa – two miles from the highway in a retention pond.

I was the only survivor. Even as I identified each of their cold, wet bodies, I had peace through the pain and tears – because of Jesus. He conquered death and removed the sting. In the worst moment of my life, God’s presence was the sweetest it’s ever been. From the first to the last ice cream, God blessed our family with sweet fillings and a life of “No Regrets.” His purpose through me is not finished yet. I believe I miraculously survived and am alive to tell the remarkable testimony of hope and God's grace through tragedy. God can bring beauty from ashes. There is peace through Jesus. God is still good, all the time.

The hope, peace, and comfort of God are available to all of us. It’s up to us to make a choice to receive His free Heavenly gifts. Today, accept Jesus’ Resurrection gift of eternal life. Trust him, and have peace.

...God is still good, all the time.

Robert says he is experiencing love again with his wife, Inga, his son, Ezekiel, and now the child Inga is expecting.