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By Erik Alsgaard
UMCONNECTION STAFF

On Sunday, Aug. 6, just as the Rev. Tim Warner was about to stand up and preach at St. Marks UMC in Boyds, the quiet aura of the moment was shattered by Perry Duffin, assistant lay leader of the church, bursting into the sanctuary.

'There?s a car on fire and they can?t get the people out!' he yelled. 'Please, they need help!'

Warner asked for volunteers. Several members responded.

'What does a pastor do at a time like that?' Warner asked later in an interview. 'I did the only thing I could think of, and that was to ask the congregation to immediately be in prayer.'

According to news reports after the incident, a 2006 Acura driven by Juan Carlos Sanchez-Borjas, 19, had crashed into a tree and burst into flames. The result of the accident left him pinned in the vehicle with his legs on fire, trapped under the dashboard.

One passenger, Andres Pinon, 28, managed to free himself from the wreckage, as did another 15-year old girl.

Pinon, in an attempt to put out the fire, broke a window in the church van to reach a fire extinguisher. The group of church members, along with other passersby, began using other church fire extinguishers but the fire would not go out. It quickly began to spread to the driver?s compartment.

Cousins Richard Talley, Roland Talley Jr., and Nanette Hunter, all from St. Mark?s, along with Benjamin Warner, 15, the pastor?s son, and Duffin, aided by a motorcyclist and others, eventually freed Sanchez-Borjas but not before he suffered serious burns.

Warner has since visited Sanchez-Borjas in the hospital and had times of prayer with the young man. He said that Sanchez-Borjas has had part of his legs amputated because of his injuries, but he is growing stronger every day.

'All I can say is, prayer works,' said Warner, who credits not only those who went out to help but those who stayed in the pews and prayed with the miraculous outcome. 'This could have been a deadly accident, easily. Instead, this young man has a second chance at life.'

Warner said that traffic often travels at a high rate of speed by his rural church. 'We?ve talked with Montgomery County officials many times in the past about it. Maybe now they?ll listen.'

Warner also plans to raise this issue with Action In Montgomery, a coalition of non-partisan faith groups in Montgomery County dedicated to improving the quality of life through active participation in the public arena.