News

Local pastor in accident with semi

By Scott Wagar

05/21/2013

For Pastor Daniel Bean of the Anishinabe Church of God in Dunseith, N.D. and the chaplain of St. Andrew’s Health Center in Bottineau, he believes God provided a miracle for him and his wife, Sandy, on Sunday, May 5, when they walked away from a road accident with a semi and trailer without suffering any major injuries.

That Sunday afternoon, Daniel and Sandy were in Dunseith driving down Main Street preparing to make a right turn on Second Avenue when they were side swept by a semi driver who decided to pass the Beans on their right hand side.

“We had planned on stopping by to deliver some balloons to a six year old girl in Dunseith who has mouth cancer and comes to our church,” Bean said. “We were making a right hand turn at Second and Main Street to her house which was on that corner. I have made this turn many times and there was not much traffic in town at that time.

“As I was making the right hand turn with my blinker on an 18-wheeler came out of what seemed to me like no where and began to pass me on the right. Now, this is a two lane road and there is never any passing on the right side so I did not expect him to be there,” Bean added. “Just as I committed to my turn I looked over to my right and saw the semi right there. He was right next to our church van and was so close that he clipped the side mirror off the van. I tried to turn back to the left, but I was too close to him and I hit him and he hit me. I know in these situations your perceptions are always skewed, but it was obviously that he had gunned it to get around me. So, he was more than likely not going the posted 25 mph. But, I can not say how fast he was going. By the time he stopped he was at least 100 or more feet down the road.”

During the accident, Bean stated that he and Sandy were wearing seatbelts, but were thrown around in their vehicle.

“Sandy was jarred pretty badly. Her entire side has been hurting her, but she is okay. But it could have been very bad,” Bean said. “If either of us had been just a very few seconds sooner turning into his path for me or just a few seconds later for him, I would have turned right into his path and would he have t-boned us right in the front passenger’s door where my wife was sitting. Given the speed the other man was going, it would have been bad, especially when I consider that my wife’s window was down and if she had, had her arm sitting on the door like she usually does he would have probably taken her arm off.

With Bean not turning quicker, his wife for some unknown reason keeping her arm in the vehicle and both of them walking away with just minor injuries, Bean stated that he deeply feels that God provided a divine phenomenon for them.

“I believe without a doubt that we were being protected by angels and God, himself. We pray constantly for protection and His presence in our life and it is these prayers and the prayers of others that I know are praying for us, that we were kept safe,” Bean said. “This could have very easily been a very tragic accident. I could have watched my wife get killed and I, myself, could have been seriously injured. But, we are alive today because of a matter of seconds.”

From the accident, Bean said that he has learned lessons he will always take to heart.

“Let me say that I will always look before I turn right. I remember not looking in my rear view mirror or side mirror because there is just not a need. You never expect someone trying to pass illegally on your right side, especially in a speeding semi,” he said. “But more importantly, I have realized that life is special. It is almost fragile. It is apparent to me that I can be taken from us at any moment in time. So, we have to live our lives in such a way that we are ready to meet our God at the moment he decides that our time is over.

“The Bible is very clear that we do not know when that time will come. It is but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow,” Bean continued to state. “This accident brought to me in very vivid detail that we have to do all we can to walk in a manner that is consistent with the laws of God. We cannot worry about accidents and things like that. We simply rely on the protection God provides those that trust Him.”

Although safe from the accident, Bean and his ministry in Dunseith were placed in a difficult situation because the van, which was totaled by the 18-wheeler, is his primary form of transportation.

“We relied on that van for many of our functions. During the first week of June we will be taking 28 native kids to the annual Church of God youth camp at Crystal Springs, N.D. We were relaying on that van to get the kids there,” Bean said. “The van is also vital in our delivery of food for our Bread of Life pantry ministry on the reservation; and, to families all over the native community in and around Dunseith and the reservation. It is mainly to those who do not have any reliable transportation or no transportation at all. This van had been given to us by the First Lutheran Church here in Bottineau.

“So, we are in quite a pickle right now as we are unable at this point to be able to take all these kids to youth camp,” Bean said. “This van was a very important part of our ministry in the Native American community.”

St. Augustine once stated that, “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.” These are important words in our world today, and no doubt God will provide the miracle of human nature and its giving heart in and around Bottineau to assist the Beans in another miracle for them so they can continue their ministry for those in need.