Jose Briones – Northglenn, Colorado … Fernando Lopez didn’t expect anything unusual that day. He was on a job site near Boulder, Colorado, installing a metal column on a balcony—routine work for someone with years of experience in welding and construction. But what happened next would leave his crew stunned, his doctors baffled, and Fernando convinced that something greater had intervened.
As he prepared the column, Fernando unknowingly touched exposed copper wiring hidden beneath a metal plate. The wires had been left behind by previous workers, taped off but still live. He was barehanded. The moment his skin met the metal, electricity surged through his body.
“I got stuck,” he said. “My hands locked onto the post. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. Just a groan and trembling.”
His crew didn’t notice at first. Fernando stood frozen, unable to call for help. In that terrifying silence, his thoughts turned to his wife and children—and then to God. He offered a prayer, quiet but urgent: “Lord, if this is the way I’m going to end here on this earth, then I accept it. But if it’s not my time yet, you are the only one who can release me from here.”
Seconds later, something shifted. A jolt ran through his body, and his hands let go. He collapsed to the ground.
His supervisor rushed over, stunned. “It’s impossible for you to have let go of that wire,” he said, insisting Fernando go to the hospital. But aside from bone aches and some hair loss, Fernando walked away. No burns. No lasting damage. Just a story that defied explanation.
The incident happened years ago, but Fernando still shares it—not for attention, but as a testimony. A former Pentecostal church leader, he and his family joined the Northglenn Seventh-day Adventist Church after attending an evangelistic series led by Milton Peverini. His faith runs deep. He’s known for testifying to work colleagues about the importance of honoring the Sabbath no matter the job.
For Fernando, the memory of that day is about conviction. He believes he was spared for a reason, and that reason is to speak boldly about the God who saved him. “It wasn’t luck,” he says. “It was mercy.”
Today, he continues to work in construction, but with a renewed sense of purpose. He mentors younger workers, shares his story in church settings, and reminds others to take safety—and faith—seriously. “Every day is a gift,” Fernando says. “And I don’t take any of it for granted.”
His story has become more than a personal miracle. “I serve a God who still performs miracles,” Fernando says. And for those who hear his story, it’s hard not to believe him.
—Jose Briones is the RMC Stewardship Promotion and Content creator. Photo capture from RMC’s “Always Faithful” video series.
