10/31/2026
Our team had a wonderful month spending time discussing with those we serve how beneficial it is to learn God's Word while making it a fun and enjoyable experience for all of us!
As Crazy Love Ministries concludes our Oct Proverbs Challenge today, it means so much to me be able to remind people that it was a street brother and a sponsor who both loved God's Word (specifically Proverbs) and who both had birthdays in Oct that inspired us to continue doing this in 2023.
10/08/2022 was the last time we received a prompt directly from our sponsor, friend and brother in Christ, Paul Zachry to please continue sharing his testimony. Annually, it is something I've been honored to continue doing for him! Although Paul became restricted to living in Shelton, WA after his accident in 1989, his faith in Jesus has touched more lives than anyone else I've known. Paul is strong evidence of God's heart and desire to see Shelton saved.
Below is his written testimony, followed by the link of his last recorded testimony. I pray and hope that those who take the time to consider Paul's story and his words will be drawn nearer to our Heavenly Father. Get Jesus! In His love, Wendy Petty
"Seeing as I am unable to leave my home much, perhaps you can help me by sharing my story with the world. I love and pray for you all.
Growing up, I came to know who God was pretty early on. I was taught about God, what was right and wrong, and the choices that needed to be made in life concerning Him. As a pre-teen I went to the altar to ask Jesus into my heart, but I noticed that the more independence I was given in life, I began to wander further and further away from that altar. I felt the pull of what I saw out in the world, and I was slowly being lured in by it. As a teen I entered the workforce where I moved from job to job to make a little money, ultimately working toward my future. My plan was, when I was 20, to take some courses on condensed writing, something that was recommended to me based on the career path I wanted to follow and eventually to become a State Trooper.
Being a diabetic from the age of 7, it was ingrained in me to be careful about most things, but the older I got the more reckless I tended to be with the things that I did. This was pointed out to me by my best friend at the time, Eric, on July 4th, 1989. He shared with me his mother’s thoughts that if I were to keep going along at the pace that I was, I would eventually burn out.
My reply to that was that being a diabetic, I didn’t know if I would wake up each day or not, so when I did wake up I wanted to live each day to the fullest. With that being said, I always liked to see what was coming. I always wanted to see what was up ahead that could be a danger to me, thinking I would have time to quickly get right with God and ask forgiveness. My walk with Him had diminished immensely.
On September 27th, 1989 I was scheduled to work my normal shift at BEST, formerly Jafco, in Olympia, WA. As I was getting ready to leave, I went to start the car. When I turned the key, I got nothing; the battery was dead. My dad’s truck had a full tank of gas, but since that was intended for helping my brother in Forks move to a new apartment that weekend with my friend Pete, I just used it to jump start my car. After I got the car started, I made it to the EFI manor before I realized that I had a flat tire in the middle of the highway, so I had to walk until I could get to a phone.
I called work to let them know that I had a flat tire, but I was still planning on going in, and then I called Eric to come get me. He came and picked me up and took me home. When we got to my house I made Eric a breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon in it, toast and a big glass of orange juice as payment for going out to pick me up while I was waiting until I could get my tire fixed.
I called my friend Pete to come help out, but I had to wait for his brothers to drop him off on their way to school. Once Pete got there, we finally went and got the tire fixed and I called in to work to let them know that I resolved the situation and I could come in, but by that time they had covered my shift. They told me “Thanks anyway,” and to have a great weekend.
After a few hours of messing around on the land around the house with Pete, we took the car down to Safeway to get a pack of ci******es and a bottle of Coke. On the way home I asked Pete how he would feel about going for a three wheeler ride? I could show him a place in the woods that was really peaceful and we could kick back, listen to the birds, and smoke a cigarette. After we got home, we took my three wheeler down to see my neighbor June at the end of the road. We talked for a moment, she told me to be careful. I said, “I will.” Then we headed to the woods to kick back for a few hours.
Heading down E Capitol Hill Rd, we crossed the train tracks and approached a sharp 90 degree turn to the left. We slowed for the corner and took a side road, which was next to what was left of the old Oakland Bay cemetery. As we continued down the side road, I knew that about a quarter mile down there was another 90 degree turn to the right, so as we approached the corner we were preparing for the sharp turn.
The closer we came, Pete and I noticed a peculiar outline across the road that I had not seen before. Pete and I both realized at the exact same time that the outline was a cable, right before the corner. We both yelled “Cable!” The next word that started to come out of my mouth was not “Father forgive me,” like I had always thought it would be when faced with a dangerous situation like that, but the beginning of an expletive. I was doing all I could to stop with such little time to react. I not only felt, but I saw the cable come up my arms, and catch me up around my neck and pull me off of the three wheeler.
When I hit the ground and opened my eyes, I was no longer under the cable, or even in the woods. I felt peace, no pain. I was being held in a pair of hands, and I have never felt such peace, comfort, or safety as I did at that moment. I knew I was in the hands of the Holy Spirit. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. I was thinking to myself, “Now is my chance.” So I arrogantly uttered the obligatory statement, “Father forgive me. Take me home.”
As soon as those words left my lips everything changed. I felt myself being released from the hold of the Holy Spirit and falling down into the abyss. As I fell I began to experience great pains. I heard terrible sounds of people in torment, in great pain and suffering. As I came to the end of my fall, I found myself at a gate, and beyond that gate was where the horrible noises were. I was approached by a man and I felt an overwhelming sense of fear in my heart. He came as close to me as possible, and when I looked into his eyes I saw only black. No pupils. I knew this man was death, and he was coming to take me. I felt evil all around me. I felt alone and separated from God. I wondered when He was going to show up and stop this, but there was nothing. I was on my own.
It was then that I turned and cried out from the depths of my soul, “Father forgive me!” Then I felt myself rising, I felt peace re entering my body. I felt myself being re cupped in the palms of the Holy Spirit.
Then I opened my eyes, and I was back in the woods under the cable. I called for Pete, and he got up and said in a dazed voice that he was okay. I asked him to take my hand and squeeze it. He said that he did, but I didn’t believe him. He held up my hand to show me, and I realized I was numb from the shoulders down, so I said “Pete, I broke my neck. I need an ambulance.”
Pete took the three wheeler back to get help. After he left I found myself alone in the woods, something I wouldn’t usually care for anyway, but now I was paralyzed. So I closed my eyes and began talking to the Father. I knew that that experience sealed my faith and resolve to serve God with my life. I laid there for 45 minutes before I heard a three wheeler and a diesel engine coming down the road. Pete was my hero. He brought help.
Later on at St. Peters Hospital, after being transported from Mason General, it was confirmed by Dr. Potter that I had a C2 3 incomplete injury. Waking up the next morning after seeing my brother Rob looking down on me I told him that I broke my neck and was paralyzed, to which he said he already knew.
My service of the Lord has been constant ever since. There have been a lot of bumps in the road and a lot of fine tuning, and surrendering my heart on a daily basis to seek His plan for my life. Nearly 30 years later, today I ask myself “What was the best day of my life?” Looking back, I can honestly say, September 27, 1989, at about 2:30 pm. Clearly the best day of my life."
-PZ (Paul Zachry 10/8/1969-01/18/2023)
https://vimeo.com/754908648?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci
