A Time-Stamped Miracle
After an hour of spontaneous intercessory prayer for those facing a spirit of death, Fred Virtucio received a text confirming he had been used to stand in the gap on behalf of his own family.
Frederick Virtucio, 56, and his wife, Margie, 54, spent 23 years as entrepreneurs, building assisted living programs in and around Virginia Beach, Virginia. Although they served alongside Tessie Casaul, pastor of what is now Freedom Church Assembly of God, the Virtucios never desired to step out of the business world and serve in a pastoral role.
However, after tragedy struck the Casauls, they felt a transition was best for their family. One evening, Casaul approached Virtucio about taking over as lead pastor upon their departure.
“Since I had my master’s degree in hospital administration, I knew I needed to receive some training in seminary and theology,” says Virtucio. “So, I enrolled in a spiritual formation class at Regent University.”
While enrolled in the class, his professor prophesied over him, saying that he was a man who, like Nehemiah, would rebuild broken walls and repair gates that had been scorched. Still seeking confirmation from the Lord, Virtucio, who had kept the conversation about becoming senior pastor quiet from his wife until he had more clarity, decided it was time to seek the advice of his marital partner.
“When I told her what door the Lord was opening, she simply replied that she didn’t know the journey but that she trusted me,” says Virtucio.
That was all he needed to hear. From then on, he pursued his new future as a minister, and in January of 2018, two years after his original meeting with Casaul, the Virtucios officially became the senior pastors of Freedom Church.
With a few years of ministry under his belt, Virtucio became part of the Filipino American (Fil-Am) Assemblies of God Ethnic Fellowship, which, according to Dennis Rivera, director of Ethnic Relations, has more than 90 affiliated churches nationwide.
Soon after linking arms with this fellowship, he found himself serving as the national men’s director and serving as the Potomac Ministry Network Circle Leader.
Although Virtucio had not foreseen what God had in store for him, nothing could have prepared him for the night of August 19, 2023.
On this Saturday, Virtucio was attending the Fil-Am’s regional conference on the East Coast. His wife and three children had not accompanied him; they had stayed behind to help their youngest son move from his dorm.
When the evening service started, there was a move of God during the praise and worship time, which led the guest speaker to call for a continuation of this segment, foregoing his teaching for the night. However, in the middle of the service, the speaker approached the stage and announced that he sensed a spirit of death was facing many in the room.
He went on to declare that death would not be an option that night and fervently urged the group to begin to stand in the gap for people who were facing the end of their earthly journey. Virtucio began by lifting up his own family to the Lord.
“While the prayers began flooding heaven, I saw a call come in from my wife,” says Virtucio. “I answered and immediately heard my daughter say, ‘Daddy, daddy, someone hit us.’”
She began sending photos to his phone of the horrendous scene in which a vehicle had gone airborne and hit the passenger side of the car that was carrying his wife and two daughters.
Stepping to the right of the stage, Virtucio began to process what had just happened and what a miracle it was that his family had sustained no serious injuries as a result of the wreck. He continued to review the images over and over again, shaking as he realized what could have been.
“Then I noticed the time stamp on the photos my daughter sent,” he says.
The accident had happened just as Virtucio was ending an hour of praying, interceding, and standing in the gap for his family in the face of death. When he spoke to his wife, she began describing the accident to him.
“I looked out the front windshield and saw a car, mid-air, headed straight for us,” she reports. “Then, suddenly, it felt like the car began to dance; it moved and turned and the front tire somehow took the hit.”
Hearing his wife recount the accident, Virtucio began to weep. He told his wife that he had been in a time of prayer against a spirit of death and had been dancing before the Lord at the exact moment the car supernaturally dodged out of harm’s way.
“I cannot thank God enough for allowing me to be used to protect my family from over eight hours away,” says Virtucio.
Rivera says that this testimony is a powerful example of being “sensitive to the Holy Spirit, even when it did not make sense at the time.”
Angelo Austria, president of the Fil-Am National Assemblies of God states that one of the most compelling things demonstrated through this miracle is the power of prayer. “I am really proud of this Fil-Am region for being aware of what the Holy Spirit wanted to do and allowing Him to do His work.”
This time-stamped miracle has been an encouragement to the Virtucios who firmly believe that “the will of God will not lead you to a place where His grace cannot sustain you.”
LOWER PHOTO #4: Virtucio (circled) had looking at the accident photos sent to him by his daughter just prior to this photo being taken at the conference.
