A simple wrong turn in the middle of the night ended up saving the lives of 14 people.
James Burke fell asleep in his recliner one Saturday night while his wife, Larita, and their 12 kids and grandkids were fast asleep in their beds. The house was quiet until he woke up to find a total stranger standing right there in his living room.
“The next thing I know some guy was telling me in my living room, ‘Hey, you’ve got to get out of here. Your house is on fire,'” James said.
It is hard to imagine waking up to a stranger in your house and realizing they are the only reason your family is still alive.
The man’s name was Mr. Casey. He was just driving home to Alabama with his son when his GPS told him to go the wrong way down Highway 114 south of Lyerly. He had never been on that road before, but he felt something was leading him down that road. James said that when Casey saw the flames from the top of the hill he knew he had to take action.
Most of us would have just called 911 and waited outside. He walked right into a burning house he didn’t know.
Casey ran in and helped James pull all 12 children out of the burning house and helped direct firefighters when they arrived at the home in northwest Georgia. Larita Burke knew exactly how close it was.
“If it had been another five minutes, it would’ve been a different situation. We wouldn’t have made it,” she said.
The family lost everything they owned. The younger kids are struggling to understand why they can’t go back to their rooms. James said his three-year-old keeps asking when they can go home. Larita reminds them that the burnt building is still their house, but it just needs to be fixed. The community stepped up immediately to see what they could do to help.
James and Larita have fostered more than 500 children over the last 15 years. Even after losing everything in the fire, they want to keep fostering as soon as they rebuild.
“We are traumatized, of course, but you know what? We’re gonna turn this page, and we’re gonna get on with our lives because we have so much to live for. All of our babies made it out,” James said.
They gave a safe place to 500 kids over the years and now a lost stranger made sure their own kids had a tomorrow.
For 15 years, James and Larita opened their front door to more than 500 children who needed a safe place to sleep. Then, on the night their own family needed rescuing, God guided a lost stranger to walk through that same door and lead them out.
“The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself” (Proverbs 11:25, NKJV). Please keep the Burke family in your prayers as they rebuild their home.
WATCH: A Stranger’s Wrong Turn Saved 14 Lives When He Spotted Their House on Fire
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