Mark Stubbs held a bunch of men in suspense as he gave his story at the beginning of the month. John, a CVM Group Leader, has the details …
At the Reading Men’s Breakfast on Saturday 6 February, nearly 100 men heard Mark Stubbs give an amazing account of his attempts to row across the Atlantic Ocean from West to East to beat a record set up 108 years ago The first attempt failed after 21 days rowing when the rudder broke.
On the second attempt he and his crew got within 300 miles of home when a hurricane overtook them. The boat capsized in the 50-foot waves and, whilst Mark was initially trapped in the hull he wondered if he should pray. However he reasoned that as he did not really believe in God, it was a bit hypocritical to call on Him in a crisis!
Fortunately his wife and daughters were praying for him. The signal from the boat’s distress beacon was picked up by a freighter only 50 miles away and changed course to rescue them. Even then it took an hour and a half to get them on board once the vessel was alongside, as the sea was so rough. Mark had us all on the edge of our seats as he recounted the rescue.
Once home Mark was encouraged to find out something more about God and went on an Alpha course. Subsequently he believed in Jesus and now is pleased to tell others about how he was saved!
Nowadays he is happy to spend more time with his family and has not made further attempts on the Atlantic.
Mark’s story is a combination of determination, preparation and planning, together with the over-ruling hand of God on his life. I can thoroughly recommend his talk to other CVM Groups.
For CVM partners, you can log in to the Partners Area to find Mark’s contact details to request that he speak at your event. Alternatively, find out more about becoming a CVM partner or find a group near you.
