Inspire, Fall 2001

(Alumni Profile: Courtenay Shoaff Atwell'98) Sharing Her Journey W hen Courtenay ShoaffAtwell'98 returned to the Cedarville Admissions Office after her 1999 summer missions project, her explanation of how she spent her summer vacation was unlike most others. Courtenay's is a tale of adventure and ministry and a story of God's faithfulness and divine intervention. Courtenay had traveled to Durban,South Africa with a team of Cedarville students so that they could minister to the long- term missionaries there and evangelize the local communities. As the trip came to a close, Courtenay began thinking that the trip had been fun, but not as eventful as she had expected. "On the last day ofthe trip, July 9, 1999,I prayed and thanked the Lord for the time we had spent in Durban,but I also shared with Him that it hadn't been quite the challenge I was hoping for," Courtenay revealed."It was wonderful,and I did not regret it, but itjust had not been life-changing. I did not realize what I was asking for when I prayed that prayer. That very evening,the entire course of our trip, and my life, drastically changed." Courtenay Shoal!Atwell'98 and her father As the nine-member Cedarville team headed down the highway on their final night of ministry, their van lost control and swerved across four lanes of traffic, then skidded up the concrete barrier and flipped four times before it landed upside down. Six of the team members crawled out of the mangled van—the other three could not move.One student had a broken back.The team co-leader had a lacerated shoulder and a crushed foot. Courtenay lay in the center of the van and was completely unrecognizable because of the extent of her injuries. As the van flipped, her face hit the asphalt through broken-out windows,causing severe road-burn and wounds. In the hospital, Courtenay's chest cavity had to be drained because it filled with blood and was crushing her heart. She had several blood transfusions and was on a ventilator. The doctors said they came within seconds of losing her on the operating table. "My first clear memory was three days later," Courtenay recalled."I saw my parents and I thought,'My mom and dad are here in Africa. I must be bad.'I was still on the ventilator, so I could not talk. I could only think ofone thing: 'IfI'm this bad, what about my team?'I was desperate to know if they were OK,but I couldn't speak. I began writing with my finger on my sheet and spelled out'T-E-A-M.'My parents told me everyone was OK and that I was the worst. What a relief! That meant that everyone else was alive! Praise God!" The weeks that followed were filled with many ups and downs.Courtenay explained,"My wonderful, protective big brother set my dad up to receive his e-mail from an Internet connection in Durban,and we received hundreds of letters from people all over the world who heard about the accident and were pouring out prayers on our behalf." Courtenay said the highlight ofeach day while she was in the hospital was having her parents read those e-mails to her."With each person that wrote," she stated,"I realized how privileged I was to be blessed with such love and support from the Body of Christ. Even people in Durban who hardly knew us gave up their time to minister to my parents." After leaving Durban,Courtenay recovered in Virginia near her parents. She returned to work at Cedarville in September, rejoining another extension offamily who had prayed and ministered to her."The admissions office staff was very meaningful to me during the entire experience," Courtenay shared. One person in particular was meaningful—Jason Atwell'98. Jason and Courtenay had been good friends while working together, and Courtenay confessed that it had not been long before she started to be interested in Jason. He only considered her a friend."I tried to hand that to God,to trust Him for a year, as I battled feelings for Jason," explained Courtenay."Then,I went to South Africa. While I was there, I put Jason out of my mind and concentrated on the ministry. Continued on page 26 Inspire 17