Reverend Darren Gillespie wasn’t planning to be in a Louisville hospital on this particular Monday. After a long weekend, he carved out a few hours to fish on a small family boat, passed from his grandfather to his father and then to him. But as he pulled out of a parking lot, he noticed the trailer wheel wobbling badly. A nearby tire shop warned him not to drive another yard: the hub was about to come off, and (if it did) it would have certainly caused an accident, and also possibly ruined the boat.
Grateful to have discovered this before the highway, Pastor Darren left the boat behind and drove to Bass Pro Shops across the river in Clarksville, Indiana, to price a new trailer. That detour would put him in the exact place he needed to be when his phone rang.
On the other end was Denise, a former church member who (though she had moved away) stayed connected to his prayer group. Through tears she explained that her brother-in-law, Roy Lee, was in a Louisville hospital, gravely ill after a leg amputation and battling a heart infection. He was without hope and without Christ. She asked for prayer.
“Where is he?” Pastor Darren asked. When she told him the hospital, he knew instantly: I need to go.
When Pastor Darren walked into Roy Lee’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) room, the door was open, but no family or nurses were present. Roy was barely conscious, and when asked if he knew Jesus, his response was a firm “No.” Pastor Darren prayed, read Scripture and shared about God’s love for Roy. At first Roy drifted in and out, but then — suddenly — his eyes opened wide, and he whispered, “Glory.”
“I knew the Lord was speaking to him,” Pastor Darren recalled. “The Spirit was thick in that room.”
Moments later, Roy responded “Yes” to Jesus. When Pastor Darren asked if he wanted to be baptized, Roy again said “Yes.” Using water from the hospital sink, Pastor Darren baptized him right there at his bedside. For more than half an hour, uninterrupted by nurses or visitors, pastor and patient prayed, rejoiced and recorded the moment in a small journal Pastor Darren had carried with him to leave for Roy as he continued recovery in the hospital.
Within a week, Roy had improved enough to move out of ICU. When Pastor Darren visited again, Roy’s countenance had changed. Family members who had known his reluctance were stunned to hear him asking, “Can we pray before you go?”
Pastor Darren sees it as one more example of what God is stirring in the churches he pastors — Kingswood, Cloverport and River Crossing. “The more these things happen, the more people in our congregations are open to the Holy Spirit’s movement day to day,” he said. “It’s not canned evangelism so much as just being open — seeing with spiritual eyes and trusting that God wants to save people.”
He points to other recent stories: a former addict sharing her testimony of salvation and mission work, a youth leading another teen to Christ, and a general sense that God is alive, working within the rhythms of our daily schedules. Pastor Darren had intended to have a day on the boat. But God rerouted his plans, helping Pastor Darren partner with the Spirit that day.
For Pastor Darren, the lesson is simple but essential. “Be mindful. Listen to the Holy Spirit. He’ll lead you into truth, and he’ll open doors. Sometimes it’s as simple as answering the phone when you feel nudged to.”
Rev. Ethan Linder is the pastor of discipleship at College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana, and contributing editor at The Wesleyan Church’s Education and Clergy Development Division.
