ST. LOUIS—Jason Mirikitani, a member of West County Community Church in Wildwood, has an inspiring story of God’s rescuing power that he wants the world to know.
“I’m a miracle walking,” he said. “I really am.”
In a testimony delivered during a chapel service at Missouri Baptist University, Mirikitani told of a horrific car accident in January 2002 that has ultimately led to him being restored and refreshed.
He was driving his family to Beaumont, Texas, on a windy day when the vehicle drifted onto the right shoulder of the highway. He corrected his course and the car flipped and rolled five times, traveling across the median where it was hit by an 18-wheeler, changing his life forever.
His wife, Jill, was killed instantly, and he was left with a cracked skull and a serious brain injury. His daughter, Abby, 1, only escaped injury by the grace of God.
A motorist who “just happened” to have military medical training in head injuries went to the scene of the accident and treated Jason by using clothes that the accident had scattered to make a compress to hold his head together. Part of his brain had literally fallen out, which Jason describes by stating, “I should not be here.” But he was there, being rescued, flying by helicopter to a hospital in Beaumont so he could be treated by an angel—Dr. Angel, that is.
They inserted a total of 28 titanium plates and screws into his head, and he began the long road leading to recovery by learning to walk and talk again. Eventually he learned that his wife had died. Many people had been praying for him during this critical time and continued to pray for him. And Yahweh was real.
“We have a rescuing God,” he said.
He has since married again, and his wife, the former Christe Boen, has given him a son, Josiah. Many friends in his church have been inspired by his story, including St. Louis Cardinals baseball star Albert Pujols and his wife, Deidre, and Andy Chambers, vice president for student development at Missouri Baptist University. Chambers said Mirikitani’s life story is an example of how God’s grace can overflow in your life through the most difficult circumstances imaginable.
His testimony is tied to the power of John 3:16.
“It’s so great that God is like that,” he said. “It’s so kind of Him that He rescued me. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to grab ahold of that. If I were you, I would let the Rescuer save your life.”
Mirikitani has written a book about his experience, Mile Marker 825, that was released in mid-November. It is available on www.milemarkerbook.com and www.ourRescuer.com .
ALLEN PALMERI/associate editor
apalmeri@mobaptist.org