GOD AT WORK – EPISODE TWO - “THE AUSTRALIAN SUBMARINE”

Bernie Burreson is a member of FGBMFA in the Seattle area, I asked him to write an article concerning the results of the prayer meeting he started in his company over fifteen years ago. As you read Bernie’s testimony and the amazing things that God has done as a result of his company prayer meeting, both for the employee’s and for the firm itself, I know you will be moved as I was. Frankly Bernie has had so many exciting episodes of “answered prayer” that we decided that we couldn’t address them in one article, below is the second episode entitled “THE EPISODE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SUBMARINE”

THE EPISOPDE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SUBMARINE
One morning while coming to work I was walking down the aisle to my cubicle and I passed by another engineer, sitting at the desk in his cubicle, looking very ill. He had large black bags under his eyes, and it was obvious that he had not shaved in many days, and his appearance was rather scruffy. I asked him if he was feeling O.K., and he began to blurt out a story of woe.

"Oh Bernie," he said, "We are in big trouble…" His story told me that he had been over in Australia at a submarine manufacturer called Australian Sub. He (I will call him 'G') had installed a new product which he had designed into a submarine, but it was not working. The new product controlled the flood doors, and its malfunction prevented them from launching the submarine, because it would take on water and sink. Not a good situation. Not only that, but they were going to sue our company for $1,000,000 per week for each week the submarine could not be launched. A man from Australian Sub was going to arrive the next day, and G did not know what to do. Then G asked me if I could help him. I agreed to look at his design to see if I could find out what was wrong.

I had spent about an hour looking at the design, when G came into my office and asked me to attend a meeting with him which had been called by the Vice President of our division. I agreed to attend. At the meeting the VP asked what I was doing in the meeting, I replied that G had asked me to help him review the design and to sit in on the meeting. The VP thought that that was an excellent idea, and told me to spend the rest of the day looking over the design.

Now, at this time of my career, I had been promoted to the highest level of engineering in our company. I was doing a lot of research in magnetic sensing and had all the computers and programs needed to perform my engineering work. I was called "The Company Guru." I therefore had all of the needed tools to examine the design in question.

I went back to my office and studied the design the rest of the day. I came to the conclusion that it was a faulty design and that it could not work. At the end of the day I reported to my superiors that we would likely need to completely redesign the system. I was then invited to attend a meeting that was called for the following morning when the representative from Australian Sub would arrive at ELDEC.

That meeting was quite interesting. The man from Australian Sub was extremely upset, so much so, that he would spit when he talked. He was red in his face and was speaking very loudly, he told us with all the force he could muster, to get his submarine electronics fixed. Our Vice President told this man that they had assigned their best man to the job, and then pointed to me and introduced me to the man. Then the VP told me to go back to my office and again spend the rest of the day looking over the design. He further announced we would have another meeting at the end of the day to discuss my findings. I thought this was a little strange since I had already reported that it was a faulty design which needed to be re-designed.

At 5:00 in the afternoon we met to review my findings, but this time it was in my building, and in a conference room that was just around the corner from my laboratory. Not only was our vice president in attendance, but the president of the company also. My immediate boss cornered me just before the meeting to find out what I had discovered. Again I reported that in my opinion the product needed to be totally re-designed.

When I went into the meeting room, my boss sat across from me, and G was sitting next to me. The man from Australian Sub was across from G, and the President and VP sat at opposite ends of the table. My boss called the meeting to order, and I expected him to relate the information I had given him concerning the need to totally redesign our product, but instead he looked at me and said, "Bernie, get up on the whiteboard and show this man how you are going to fix his electronics." I could hardly believe what I was hearing, but I got up and went to the whiteboard, took out a marker and started to draw out the schematic of our design. I had it memorized by now, having worked on it for two days. I was explaining how it worked as I was drawing, stalling for time. I was pointing to an area of the circuit, when all of sudden, out of my mouth came these words; "I am going to put a capacitor right here and the circuit is going to work." At the table, there was a simultaneous slap of hands on the table as everyone pushed their chairs back from the table and said "great," then got up and left, leaving me standing there starring at the evil marker in my hand. A flood of thoughts was going through my head. Thoughts like, ", I have just taken full responsibility for this product working…I have just fired myself… what have I done… how will I put my kids through college …how will my wife take this?

I must have stood there for about two minutes starring at that marker, when all of a sudden I realized that what I had said did not come from my mind. It was the same way the Holy Spirit had spoken through me often when I prayed for the men at the Bread of Life Mission where I ministered. It came from my mouth, but it had not come from my thoughts. I thought, "I WONDER IF THAT WAS GOD?" I rushed out to the lab, and there lying on the technicians bench was the Submarine Flood Door system mock-up ready for testing. G must of have been doing some experiments. I went over to the parts bins and picked out a capacitor. I went back over to the electronics, and turned on the test equipment; I hooked it up to the Submarine Flood Door circuit mock-up, and then turned everything on. It was inoperative. I then put the capacitor across the point which I had called out in the meeting, and BOOM, the signals jumped up, they appeared to be totally functional. It worked.

The technicians come to work early, at around 6:00 A.M. so I wrote a note to the technician to get ten boards and modify them like this one, and go into a test program. The next morning I came in to work at 8:00 P.M. and there was singing, and dancing in the laboratory. Every board was working. I went back to my office, astounded by the grace of God.

At 10:00 P.M. G came back into my office with his head hanging low, and announced to me that when they put the boards into temperature testing, that the Built-In-Test-Equipment (BITE) stopped working. "What do we do now?" G exclaimed. I told G to give me a minute, and G left my office, walking down the aisle to laboratory. I turned to my desk, bowed my head and said, "God, that was you yesterday, so please tell me what is wrong now." Instantly God said, "Change R10 to 47 K ohms." I had the circuit memorized, but I did not know which resistor was R10, nor its value, but I jumped up and yelled down the hall to G, "Change R10 to 47K and the circuit will work." He did, and it did. My asking God, Him replying, and my yelling, all took place in less than twenty seconds.

The circuits were all modified, and that system is still in the Australian submarines.

Our Bible Study Grew

The fact that God had intervened in the submarine design spread through our company like wild fire and our Bible study grew in one week from 8 people to over 30. We were quite a mixed group. There were Protestants, Catholics, Pentecostals and Baptists. It was a fun time. We had to sit three deep around the conference table in the small room we were using.

Our Bible study was now not only meeting twice a week, but we are going to each other's churches during off days, and praying over and anointing the churches with oil. During these trips to our churches God would give us visions, and He often demonstrated His healing power.

GO TO PART 3:
“WHEN PRAYER PUT ME OUT OF WORK – GOD GAVE ME A NEW INVENTION”

ABOUT BERNARD BURRESON
Electronic Design Engineer

Bernie is an Award winning, patented and published design and sensor engineer with over 34 years of experience who currently operates as a consultant to the electronic industry. He has extensive experience in magnetic designs for sensors and power applications, proximity sensors, device modeling, analog, digital, and processor designs. He has served as an engineering manager of both the Electronic Systems and Sensor design groups. As Manager of Research and Development and lead researcher for ELDEC his work has resulted in significantly advancing their technology and competitive edge.

As a result of the gifts of the Spirit operating in Bernie’s life he has been awarded eight patents allowing his company to win several multi-million dollar sensor and system programs. He has created mathematical methods leading to ELDEC¹s most recent large system contract; developed a new current sensor technology solution allowing ELDEC¹s new Ground Fault Interrupters to function correctly; and Invented new Non-Contacting Linear Transducer technology for both linear and rotary applications; (presently being applied to the most recent Boeing 787 Brake Control System) On this new system, Bernie designed the communication system, power supplies, magnetic devices, sensors, EMI control, original wheel speed measuring devices; and developed new magnetic rotary transformer for application in the axel of the 777 Tire Pressure Monitor System. (Patent Pending). Bernie says you can really appreciate the Holy Spirits contribution to my success when you realize that I graduated sixth from the bottom of my high school class of six hundred students.