The flight home to Georgia from Florida had been uneventful for pilot, Billy Cranford. Then, with the airport in sight, the plane began to lose power. "I saw the runway go out of reach,” recalled Billy. “I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I thought, we are going to crash, and this is going to hurt.” He recalls his last thoughts before the crash. “I remember thinking, man, this, this is it.” The last thing he remembers is crashing through the trees. “The sound that I’ll never forget and that I never want to hear again is the sound of trees hitting my windshield and my wings.” When he regained consciousness, Billy found his cell phone and called 911. The operator on the line quickly responds.

Operator: “Meriwether County 911 what is your emergency?”
Billy: “Yeah, I don’t know where I’m at, I’ve had a plane crash.”
Operator: “Okay, you said you’ve had a plane crash?”
Billy: “Yeah, I don’t know where I’m at.”

Rescue workers can be heard cutting a path through the dense woods trying to reach him. With the 911 operator still on the line, all Billy could do was pray. You can hear his prayer on the call as he cries out, “Heavenly Father give me strength to help us. Give me strength to help us.”

After almost an hour, rescue workers finally reached the plane and flew him to Atlanta Medical Center. Billy’s injuries were extensive. His head and face had sustained several fractures leaving one eye swollen shut and his brain swelling. His back was broken in four places. When his daughter, Lindsey, arrived, she knew her dad needed God’s healing. She recalls seeing her father for the first time after the crash, “He was, you know, almost unrecognizable.” She says, “It was like a pleading. 'Please, if there’s any chance, let him be okay.' I didn’t just want him to be alive, I wanted him to be okay. He’s super active and runs around with my kids and I didn’t want him to miss out on that for the rest of his life.” 

As people came to show their support and pray, amazing things began to happen. The first came shortly after Billy’s pastor prayed at his bedside for Billy’s eye to be healed. Ryan, a family friend was also there and witnessed an answer to prayer right before his very eyes. He recalls the moment, “His eye that was swollen up and couldn’t open actually ended up opening within a matter of minutes, and then we notice that both of his eyes are open and he’s communicating with us.”

That same day, doctors told Billy they needed to perform back surgery the next morning. He recalls his conversation with the doctor. “I said, 'Doc, I don’t want surgery.' He said, 'Well, you have no choice.' I said, 'The Lord’s going to heal me.' He came by and tapped me on my shoulder. He said, 'Well, until then we’re having surgery.' As he started to walk out of the room, I said, 'Hey doc, I want a second opinion.'” The doctor told Billy, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll take you to MRI right before surgery and that’ll be your second opinion."

That night, a friend organized a prayer meeting on Zoom and 8,000 people joined in. “We had so many people praying and telling us they were praying, and of course we were praying, and it was just obvious.” Lindsey said. “I mean, every day, you know, there was like a miracle or an answer to prayer.” 

The next morning, they took Billy in for his MRI. In that short time, his back had already started showing signs of healing. Billy recalls the conversation he had with his doctor about the surgery. “He said, 'Well, Mr. Cranford, it looks like you may be getting your wish.' I said, 'How so?' The doctor said, 'Well, I think we’re going to avoid surgery.' I said, 'Praise God.' Then he said, 'Well, we must have gotten some bad pictures yesterday.' 'Yeah right, doc, the Lord healed me,'” Billy said, smiling.

By the end of the week, the brain swelling had subsided. Billy was released to go home to start physical therapy. Today, Billy is fully healed and enjoying the things he loves most… flying and spending time with his family. “Knowing that He’s protected our family and He’s using my dad’s story,” Lindsey said, “I think He’ll continue to use our story and the Lord’s story.” “Satan had plans to kill, steal and destroy that day,” Billy states, “but God said, 'No, I’m going to give him life. I’m going to give him life more abundantly'…and that’s exactly what happened.”

Arusha, Tanzania

Agape and her brother live in Tanzania and attend New Vision Engikaret school, which is supported in part by CBN’s Orphan’s Promise. 

Agape said, “It is a privilege for me to be here. Where I am from, girls my age are not in school.” 

Agape’s mother, Susanna, is a Christian. She’s widowed and values education because she never had the chance to finish school. 

Susanna explained, “Traditionally, in the Maasai culture, when a mother gives birth to a girl, a man will claim her to be his wife one day, with a ring and eventually a number of cows. I was taken out of school in grade six to get married. I did not want to marry an old man, so I tried running away. But in the end, I had no choice.”

As a widow, she’s free to make decisions on her own, and she wants to change traditions.“I want Agape to go to school because I don’t want her to experience what I did,” said Susanna. 

Agape said, “Every morning we do morning devotions. We pray and read the Bible. That’s helped me have a deeper relationship with God. My favorite scripture is Jeremiah 33:3, ‘Call unto Me and I will answer.’ I love that verse because when I am studying, I call upon God and He helps me.”

In addition to providing school supplies to needy students, Orphan’s Promise provides nutritious meals to Agape and more than 400 children at the school.   

Agape said, “I love the food because it tastes so good. When I am hungry it is hard to concentrate. When my stomach is full, it’s easier to focus on my studies. I dream of becoming a doctor one day. In the long run, I want to help provide for my mother. Thank you for my uniform, for the food, and for helping me realize my dream.”

Susanna said, “I am so proud of them both. Thank you for everything you do for my children. I have nothing to give you in thanks, but our God is alive. May He bless you.”
  

CBN Israel partners with the Trauma Coalition in Israel to help minister trauma counseling to this grief-stricken nation.

The 700 Club’s Ashley Key chats with Yasmine Al-Bustami from “The Chosen.” Hear about Yasmine’s experience portraying “Ramah” and learn what’s in store for her character.