Fall 2018 Magazine

40 Magazine.BethelCollege.edu When New York Times best-selling author Lee Strobel came to campus to speak at Bethel’s first-ever Give Back Gala on May 12, there was no one more excited to see him than Bethel mom and grandma Mattie Ulrich, of Osceola, Ind. Mattie had been waiting to meet Strobel for nearly 40 years – since 1978, when their lives intersected in a way that would change them both forever. Aug. 10, 1978, marks the day that two of Mattie and Earl Ulrich’s daughters, Judy, age 18, and Lynn, age 16, along with their cousin Donna Ulrich, age 18, passed away tragically when their Ford Pinto was rear-ended by a van and the gas tank exploded with the girls trapped inside. Only Judy survived the night of the crash – but passed away later at the hospital. As she was being transported to a burn center, the nurse riding in the ambulance discovered she was a Christian and comforted her with the words of Isaiah 43:2: “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” This was not the first fiery crash of its type for the Pinto. Evidence suggested the company knew the gas tank was defective, but didn’t change the design, because of cost. As a result of the Ulrich crash, the state of Indiana sued Ford for reckless homicide. Strobel, then a court reporter for the Chicago Tribune, covered the case, writing a series of articles about documents from the trial. Though the verdict was “not guilty” (Ford argued that any gas tank could explode by being struck in the rear at 50 mph), Strobel went on to write his first book, “Reckless Homicide? Ford’s Pinto Trial,” which details the historic first criminal trial brought against a manufacturer, and called for a higher level of corporate responsibility. Though Strobel was an atheist at the time, the Ulrich’s were praying for him and all of the reporters throughout the case. They didn’t want the trial – they knew it wouldn’t bring their daughters back and would, in fact, bring up painful details surrounding their deaths all over again. But if it could save someone else’s life, then maybe some good could come out of their tragedy, Mattie says. Looking back, Strobel recalls reporting about Judy being comforted by the words of Isaiah, saying that even though he was not a Christian at the time, it had an emotional impact on him. “I felt like God was visiting me in that moment,” he says. “It was one of the links in a long chain that led me to faith.” When “Reckless Homicide?” first came out, the Ulrich’s immediately bought the book. They continued praying for Strobel and followed the dramatic shift in his career when he converted to Christianity through writing “The Case for Christ.” Strobel would go on to write many more books in “The Case for …” series, Deep Faith Brings Beauty from Tragedy BY LISSA (GRASHORN) DIAZ ’07 “I felt like God was visiting me in that moment. It was one of the links in a long chain that led me to faith.” LEFT TO RIGHT : JUDY ULRICH; LYNN ULRICH; MATTIE ULRICH EMBRACES LEE STROBEL AFTER MEETING HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME; STROBEL SIGNS THE ULRICH’S COPY OF “RECKLESS HOMICIDE? FORD’S PINTO TRIAL.”