Writer: Jonathan Vickery, Managing Editor, The (Barnwell) People-Sentinel

Hagood Avenue Baptist Church has been ministering to the people of Cleveland, Tennessee the past 13 years during its annual summer mission trip. This year the people of Cleveland returned the favor after a wreck involving the Barnwell church group.

Concluding their week of mission work in Cleveland, the Barnwell mission team had just started their journey home June 12 when the church bus wrecked around 8:45 a.m. on a narrow road that had no shoulder.

“A small passenger bus from Barnwell was heading north on Freewill Road when the bus left the roadway and came to a halt upon hitting a drain culvert,” said Evie West, public information officer for the Cleveland Police Department.

Outside the bus

Rev. Ken Catoe, who was still at the hotel when he received the call about the wreck, said his heart sank when he first reached the scene. The sight of all the blue and red lights from the first responders and then seeing the mangled bus led Catoe to worry about the 15 church members who were inside.

His fears were soon calmed at another sight. As EMTs, firefighters and police officers tended to the wounded, Catoe saw church members who had been in other vehicles kneeling on a hillside in prayer for their fellow church members.

“It was the most amazing scene,” said church member Amy Bozard of the group praying. Her son Chris was one of the 15 people inside the bus.

Inside the bus

The impact of the crash jolted the driver and 14 passengers of the bus, some of whom flew forward.

Chris Bozard was sitting in the front seat against the wall on the right-hand side of the bus where the impact happened. The impact caused his shoulder to hit the wall and head to hit the pole in front of him, causing his head to bleed.

Usually Bozard would shake at the sight of blood, but he said God gave him peace to stay calm in order to help his fellow passengers, most of whom were teenage girls, before first responders arrived.

Only six passengers, including Bozard, were still inside the bus by the time firefighters arrived, according to a report provided by the fire department which was near the crash scene.

“God was in that bus with us. God grabbed me and sat me down in that open space where I would be able to check the three people I was worried about and calm my heart and give me peace so I could do what I needed to do to help people out,” said Bozard.

While many are calling Bozard a hero, he doesn’t consider himself one. “That was all God,” said Bozard of God using him as an instrument to help.

He said there were plenty of others who did amazing things as well, including chaperone Genice Rutherford who unbuckled her three grandchildren from their seatbelts even though she was strapped in and had a broken elbow.

A guy from the neighborhood broke a window with a brick to help get people out. Bozard said the guy risked his life because the bus, which was partially overturned and unsteady, could have rolled over on him. Bozard, who was the last person out, said the bus leveled out 20 seconds after he got out.

Praising God

Bozard said it’s a miracle no one was seriously injured. While all 15 were transported to the SkyRidge Medical Center, injuries were limited to bruises, cuts and broken bones.

Amy Bozard said one of the firefighters told her “obviously God was protecting y’all.”

Chris Bozard said the wreck is a reminder of how precious life is and how easily it can be taken away. “It’s definitely a chance to glorify him. I believe God has been in control,” said Chris, who doesn’t plan to waste his life. He just finished his freshman year at the University of Alabama and wants to be a history teacher.

It’s also a reminder of something a pastor at the church they visited Wednesday said. “When you are in God’s will doing God’s work, there is a record taken of it,” said Bozard. Romans 8:28 is a verse that sticks out to him because it talks about God causing everything to work together for the good of those who love him.

One of the teenagers on the bus accepted Jesus as her savior as a result of the wreck because she wanted to be sure she was right with God.

Community Response

While Hagood members praise God for delivering everyone safely home, they also credit the folks in Cleveland who came to their aid.

“They took care of us,” said Catoe.

He thanks the first responders at the scene and hospital staff for taking care of the 15. Catoe said there were other acts of kindness, such as the hospital administrator buying lunch, the mayor sending word that he was pulling for the group, and First Baptist Church of Cleveland opening up their church for the remainder of the day until everyone was released from the hospital. Catoe also thanks Barnwell First Baptist Church for loaning a bus to help transport people home.

Amy Bozard thanks a pastor of Cleveland FBC for offering her a handkerchief when she was in tears. She said the pastor makes it a daily routine to anoint a handkerchief that he keeps in his pocket.

Catoe said they aren’t going to let the wreck deter them from future mission trips.

“We enjoy doing it. We recognized our role is to give them some hope and help,” he said of the people living in poverty who they help with housing projects.

Just like those they served, hope and help came to the Hagood volunteers when they needed it.