Have you ever caught the news and a story stands out to you? I had that experience May of 2017. There was a bus accident in Tanzania that killed nearly everyone on the bus; 32 kids, 2 teachers and the bus driver. 12-13 year olds on their way to another school to take an exam.

The image and the story ‘stuck’ in my heart for days if not weeks. I prayed for those who mourned and slowly the story faded from my memory until a few months ago. I met a man who was interviewing for our new board of directors for a non-profit I have been blessed to be a founder of. He mentioned this story asking if I’d ever heard about it.  A story that happened 7 years earlier far away in a country I’ve never seen and hardly knew my geography enough to know where in Africa Tanzania actually was. The memory was clearly awakened, and I was grateful to hear ‘the rest of the story’ and it is miraculous! Three children lived and that journey from the bus to healing is told beautifully in the book by the Founder of this STEMM organization I traveled to visit and serve with.

You can also see photos and read the story at https://suannemurphy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/7dced-thestoryofthemiraclekids.pdf

This week on the way to the Ngorongoro Crater we stopped at the crash site where they built a memorial and it made this long-ago news story come even more to life seeing the drop from the highway and the miracle that anyone survived.

Even now as I recall the site I want to cry for the many that mourned the loss of those beautiful children. The children are now 20 years old and last year were reunited with the president of Tanzania and you can see them with her and Dr. Steve

God knew that news story would play a role in my future and one day I would travel to Tanzania and be blessed to offer mental health services. I was honored to speak with the Mommas in the community as well as meet with a local clinic staff and their health committee who are now open to starting mental health education and services to their community.

This trip I met a team of film makers who traveled here to start the process of making the Miracle Kids story into a movie!

Not every news story will be God’s call for me (or you) to serve but is a call to pray. Only twice have I experienced this; seeing a Haitian earthquake on the news brought me to Haiti and a buscrash led to me sitting here on my last day in Tanzania.

I am no one special. Only someone who has ‘answered His call’. I am forever changed because of the many experiences and friendships I have been honored to have while here.

I hope to return, God willing! I will be forever grateful to know that a ‘random’ news story may just happen to be the start of a journey to be blessed in ways I could never imagine!