Ten years ago this month the Waldo Canyon fire threatened Glen Eyrie, the historic property now owned by The Navigators. You can still see stand near the Glen Eyrie castle and see burned-out trees on the ridge just a few hundred yards away. My friend Brett Clark just wrote a compelling account of those days, including the little-known story of a lone maintenance man who prayed. The article is worth the read in its entirety. Here are a few snippets:

By Tuesday, June 26, as the fire moved closer, the smoke was getting thick at the Glen. We had to get the last of the skeleton crew out. One of the last guys we were trying to locate was 32-year maintenance crew member Doug Dick, who had been hosing down parts of the Glen with water. Doug, it turned out, had gone up to Dawson and Lila Trotman’s graves to get a better view of the fire. When Doug came down the hill toward our truck, Derek asked, “What were you doing up there?”

Doug started choking up. “I was praying. I had my hands outstretched and, in the Spirit of Elijah, I prayed: ‘God, would You protect this place, so we can keep using it for Your glory?’”

When we left the Glen, this was the last image I captured…

In 1953, Dawson [Trotman, founder of The Navigators] had prayed, “Lord, if You entrust this all to us, I want to dedicate it now to You as David did, to be used for Your glory, to make known Your holy name in all the world.”

In 2012, 59 years later, Doug prayed something similar, crying out to the God of the universe to spare the Glen. The image is forever etched in my mind: Doug kneeling and praying over the smoke-filled panorama of the Glen with outstretched hands, praying in the spirit of Elijah, “God, would You protect this place so we can keep using it for Your glory?”

Here is a picture of Doug Dick taken that day after the Glen was evacuated. Just “an ordinary man.”

Brett continues:

When I look at that photo [of the fire near the Glen]…, I’m reminded that, humanly speaking, we knew there was no way the Glen would survive. But God had other plans. The next day, as the Navigator family continued to pray, we were overjoyed to learn that somehow, the Glen had miraculously survived. I took this photo the next morning.

Brett ends his reminiscence this way:

Ten years after the Waldo Canyon fire, I’m reflecting on how God answered the prayers of the Navigator family, as well as the prayers of a quiet, humble maintenance guy who selflessly served Glen Eyrie guests for more than 40 years. The Glen and Eagle Lake continue to impact the lives of thousands as we use these two beautiful properties for His glory.

As we face the challenges of today, let’s take some extra time to praise our God for His great mercy and faithfulness to His promises.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. —Ephesians 3:20-21 NASB

And I would add:

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (James 5.17, 18, ESV)