Had it not been for a husband-and-wife team of pastors who kept the doors of their church open to help 154 people survive the historic winter storm that pummeled western New York just before Christmas, the death toll of at least 40 victims, mostly in Buffalo, could have been much higher.
For Nikki Tompkins-Ray and her family, the obedient pastors, Al Robinson and his wife, Vivian, who lead Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry in Buffalo, turned a real-life “nightmare before Christmas” — in which they could have died — “into a Christmas miracle.”
In an emotional video she posted on Facebook Tompkins-Ray said – “I am forever in debt to you (pastors). My family, our nightmare before Christmas, turned into a Christmas miracle. I thank you. I praise God for you.”
Tompkins-Ray explained how she had left work on the evening of Dec. 23 and tried to get home to her family when she got trapped in her car. Her pants were frozen to her legs, and she suffered early stages of frostbite.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Pastor Al Robinson called the loss of life from the storm “catastrophic,” but said he and his wife want the world to see “the glory of God” in the saving of 154 lives.
He added, “We wanted people to see embers turning to a roaring inferno of light of Jesus Christ. We wanted people to see the light of Christ, the love of Christ. It’s just we’re His hands and feet. That’s all we are.”