Pastor to thank EMTs with Colfax book signing donations

A former pastor from Deer Park is thanking Colfax first responders for the kindnesses he experienced after a car accident.

Pastor Stewart Mackey and his wife, Kathy, were traveling on a snow covered Highway 195 near the Rosalia rest stop Dec. 12, 2013, when an oncoming car hit black ice and slammed into them.

Mackey will be at Main Street Books Saturday, Oct. 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. signing books. For every book sold, he will donate $10 toward the Colfax Volunteer Firefighters.

“I regained consciousness after the air bags deflated,” he said.

Mackey suffered a severe concussion and his wife also had severe injuries. Mackey was a pastor of a Nazarene church, but had to resign because of his injuries and is still recovering, he said.

“How do you say thank you?” he asked. “This book is the only thing I have. It’s my way of saying thank you.”

“It takes on a whole new persona when you’re the one getting help,” he said as his voice broke with emotion.

“I knew help would soon be there and they were and we were not let down by their professional care and kindness,” he said. “I recall one EMT apologized for smelling like smoke because the EMT crew had just come from a house fire. As I laid in the ambulance, there was no need for an apology. They had gone far beyond the extra mile to help others.

“That night as they rescued us; they were heroes, the touch of God’s grace for us.”

Mackey said it’s with a grateful heart that he’s doing the book signing and donations.

The book, “AEnon The Heart of Hope” is the first of a three-part series, Mackey said.

The name comes from the third chapter of John in the Bible and means a parcel of land with a lot of water or fountains.

“Because the land has a lot of water, it also means a land of hope,” he said.

He noted that he looked for the name for more than 20 years.

“It’s a book I never thought I’d write,” he said.

Mackey said when he was growing up he believed he would be a common laborer. But when he became a Christian at 19, his life changed. He began to work with teens and his own children, also making time to become a pastor.

He now has seven chapters of his second book written, but progress has been slow because of the concussion he suffered in the accident. He hopes to have the second book finished by the end of the year so it can go through the editing process, with the book available for purchase by next spring. Then he’ll work on the third book of the trilogy.

In the meantime, he’ll make the appearance in Colfax.

“I look forward to thanking those EMTs,” he said.