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How I Survived After Falling Into a Five-Meter-Deep Ice Hole

In the winter of 2013, it snowed so heavily in my hometown that the traffic was affected. About half mile away from my home, there is a low-lying river where the wind was not strong. The river froze over and was covered with heavy snow. On it there was a path trodden out by passers-by. Every time I went to attend meetings and returned back home, I would take this path on the frozen river.

After a meeting on the twenty-first day of the twelfth lunar month in 2013, I noticed it was getting late, so I hurried home. Hardly had I stepped onto the frozen river when I heard a crack, and before I could react I fell into an icy hole. Because the hole was not wide, I got stuck with half of my body in the water. I tried very hard to climb out of the hole but could not. At that time, I was very worried and afraid. I thought: “The river is five meters deep. Even young people can’t get out of a hole like this once falling in, let alone a fifty-odd year old woman like me who weighs 80 kilos. I’m going to die.” Feeling myself sinking, I got even more fearful and thought: “Considering the situation, I will either freeze to death or drown.” At this thought, I wildly flailed my arms, attempting to find something to hold so that I could pull myself out of the water. However, there was nothing but white snow around me. Then I kicked strongly with my legs, in the hope of getting out of the water. After a period of struggle, I became tired and breathless but still wasn’t out of the water. I got anxious and thought: “What should I do? Am I really gonna freeze to death here? Who can help me? In such a deserted place, no matter how I cry for help, no one will hear my calls. I’m done for. I’m dead.” Thinking of all this, I felt a burst of desolate helplessness and tears rolled down my face.

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In my despair and helplessness, I thought of God. Like a drowning man grasping at a straw, I cried to God, “O God! Now I’m helpless. Please help me …” At that time, I didn’t know what to do but could only pray to God incessantly. After the prayer, I recovered my strength and was somewhat less fearful. Then I thought of God’s words: “When you face suffering, you must be able to lay aside concern for the flesh and to not make complaints against God. When God hides Himself from you, you must be able to have the faith to follow Him, to maintain your previous love without allowing it to falter or dissipate. No matter what God does, you must submit to His design…. Only this is true love and faith.” Under the guidance of God’s words, I came to understand His will. I should have faith in God when encountering this situation. No matter what God does, I should believe in Him and obey His sovereignty and arrangements. Thinking that though I believed in God, I didn’t look up to God or rely on God but cried in despair when encountering such a dangerous situation, I felt that I wasn’t a proper believer in God. Then I prayed to God, “O God! Whether I can get out of this hole or not is in Your hands. I’m willing to entrust my life to You. May You give me true faith.”

After praying, I had more strength. So I continued with my struggling, during which I prayed to God in my heart incessantly, but I still couldn’t find something to hold. After an hour of struggling, I completely lost all strength, and was cold and exhausted. Because of my desperate struggle, the ice cracked and the snow around me began to sink, taking me down with it. Seeing this, I broke out in a cold sweat from fear and didn’t dare to move a bit. I urgently prayed to God in my heart. The snow was still sinking and my chest was compressed so tightly that I couldn’t breathe, so I had to open my mouth to inhale and exhale. At that moment, I had no strength left to struggle.

Then I urgently cried to God, “O God! I can’t draw a breath. I feel I’m dying. Please help me!” Right after the prayer, a wonderful thing happened. My foot struck something solid, and I found I could use it as a point of support: I stepped on it, leaned my elbows on the ice and leaped upward, attempting to get out of the water, but because I was heavy and feeble, I failed on my first attempt. After struggling for a while, I had no strength again. Gusts of bone-piercing wind hit me, and in my soaked cotton jacket I felt so cold that my teeth were chattering and my hands were nearly frozen. Cold, hunger, and fear threw me into a panic.

Seeing it was getting darker, I was both worried and afraid, and thought: “Even if I don’t drown, I won’t make it through the night because I’ll freeze to death.” Though I had prayed to God and entrusted myself to Him, I couldn’t get out of the water, so I lost faith in God and felt somewhat weak. In my desperation, I thought of God’s words: “So long as you still have one breath, God will not let you die. … Faith is like a single log bridge: Those who cling abjectly to life will have difficulty in crossing it, but those who are ready to sacrifice themselves can pass over, sure of foot and worry-free.” God’s words enlightened me in time and gave me faith in Him. The words “So long as you still have one breath, God will not let you die.” reminded me of an experience in my childhood. I got a rare disease three days after birth. Seeing my entire body was covered in boils and sores, my parents didn’t hold out hope for my recovery. However, my disease miraculously disappeared. Wasn’t that God’s authority and almightiness? Now I was stuck in an icy hole, and had failed to get out of it several times, I’d lost faith in God and placed my hope on someone passing by. I’m really doubting and of little faith like Thomas, and I don’t have any true faith or trust in God. At this thought, I made up my mind to obey God’s arrangements and prayed to God, “O God! My life and death are in Your hands; I’m willing to commit myself into Your hand. Even if I die today, I will not complain to You. I’m willing to obey Your sovereignty and arrangements.”

A few minutes after this prayer, my foot touched something solid. Not wasting time to think, I immediately stood on it and with all my strength, hoisted myself up onto the river bank. Sitting feebly by the hole, I took a rest for a while, and thought, “I was in the water for so long, but didn’t feel anything solid like that before. So what is it?” Then I looked into the water through the hole but found nothing. At that point, I realized that it was one of God’s wonderful deeds, and that it was God who saved me. Thinking of this, I was moved to tears and knelt on the ground and wailed. I prayed to God, “O God! Today after I fell into the icy hole, You have been by my side all the time. You comforted me and encouraged me with Your words and gave me faith in You. But I was blind and didn’t know Your sovereignty and almightiness. Though obviously it was You who saved me, I didn’t know Your deeds. If I hadn’t experienced this dangerous incident, I would still have no true knowledge of Your almightiness and sovereignty. It was really through Your great power that I could survive this danger. I’m grateful for Your salvation.”

After returning home, I read God’s words: “Everything of this world swiftly changes with the Almighty’s thoughts and beneath His eyes. Things mankind has never heard of suddenly arrive, whereas things that mankind has long possessed unknowingly slip away. No one can fathom the Almighty’s whereabouts, much less can anyone sense the transcendence and greatness of the Almighty’s life force.” From God’s words, I knew that all things are changing according to God’s thoughts, and that no one can fathom God’s authority and power. When I fell into the icy hole, I should have kept sinking due to my weight, but I remained stuck in the hole; when I felt disappointed and discouraged after many failed attempts, God enlightened me with His words and allowed me to have faith in Him so that I didn’t give up; when I was on the verge of death, God helped me out of the water, revealing His wondrous deeds. From this experience, I saw that God is always by my side watching me, caring for and keeping me at every moment; I knew that everything in the universe is under God’s sovereignty, and that God’s authority is everywhere and at every moment. I also appreciated God’s love and salvation for me. He didn’t give up His salvation for me because I had little faith in Him and no place for Him in my heart. Instead, He revealed His wondrous deeds to me and allowed me to personally experience them, which gave me some knowledge of His almightiness and sovereignty. I made up my mind before God: I’m willing to devote the rest of my life to God, pursue the truth properly, and fulfill my duty as a created being to repay God’s love for me.

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