Missionary Mom Describes Moment God Saved Her from Deadly Bear Attack: 'It Was a Miracle'
Most missionary families are well-equipped to handle unexpected challenges. Before leaving to serve in another country, they familiarize themselves with cultural differences, habitat hazards and travel expectations — ready to meet any challenge a new place might have to offer.
However, one missionary mom wasn’t prepared to face such challenges during a short family Bible camp in northern Canada. On their way to share with other families about their upcoming move to Thailand, Casadi Schroeder and her husband Brad planned to hang out with their kids, relax and enjoy community with other believers.
But as it turned out, the local wildlife had other plans. And after a dangerous attack, Schroeder barely escaped the trip with her life.
Soon after arriving at their cabin, the mom discovered from other campers that a black bear had been spotted not far off.
“They let people know that he was around, but they weren’t particularly afraid of it,” she told the Christian Broadcasting Network. “And they just kind of went about their business, knowing that there was a bear there.”
Schroeder wasn’t too worried, considering that bears are rarely known to attack humans. Even after discovering the animal near their cabin, the family went on with their plans, keeping an eye out for the unwanted visitor.
“Our kids were super excited about the weekend, to get to go camping, and get to spend the weekend on the lake. We had three sessions that we were invited to share. We were the guest speakers for the weekend,” she told CBN.
But the next morning, the bear was right outside, pawing against the cabin’s front door. Hurrying out a different entrance, Schroeder ran to warn other campers who were bunking in nothing but tents.
Before she could back inside, she came face to face with the bear.
“He just right away backed up from the window and started slowly sauntering towards me,” she said. “I never thought that he would ever attack me. I just — bears just typically don’t attack people. They’re scared of people.”
But the bear kept advancing. And before she knew it, Schroeder was fighting for her life.
“I just remember all of a sudden he was in front of me. I remember he had knocked me down and he was just tearing into my legs. And then just biting in and then just ripping. And then biting in and just ripping.
“He was just way stronger than I ever thought. And the way he was tearing into my legs, I just thought if he went for my neck, it — this could be it.”
In spite of her fears, the missionary said she felt surprisingly calm during the moment the bear attacked.
She prayed, trusting that whether or not God chose to save her, she would be okay — her life was safe in His hands.
But God wasn’t ready for her to come home.
Schroeder’s husband Brad came running to her rescue, fighting the giant animal off of Casadi with his bare hands — hitting and kicking to give his wife a chance to escape.
“Eventually, she was able to get free,” he told CBN. “I yelled at her to run and so she took off running.”
Making her way to the nearest cabin she could find, the badly injured mom heard the bear closing in once more. The creature had chased her, outrunning Brad.
“And I just started pounding on the door and saying, ‘Let me in, let me in, a bear is eating me.’ At that point the bear had caught up to me again and took me down and started tearing into my legs again.”
That’s when Schroeder says she experienced a miracle. As her husband caught up and started throwing punches once again, she felt herself being lifted into the cabin by an unknown force.
According to CBN, she said she was lifted by her legs, as if by an angel.
“I do honestly feel like God was protecting me. And so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was just another miracle that I was just being released by the bear and lifted into the cabin.”
Doctors confirmed that the case was miraculous. They told Schroeder that if the bear had torn into her upper body at all, she could have very likely died.
As it was, her injuries were not life-threatening, and she was able to leave the hospital after only a few hours. But the mom said that, at first, she couldn’t help questioning why God would allow the terrifying attack at all.
“Why, if He’s so powerful, why would this happen to me?” she questioned. But as time passed, she realized just how much God had been there with her through the horrific ordeal.
“I really believe he was protecting me from worse injury and possibly something fatal. And I just felt like Him ask me, ‘Will you trust me? Will you trust me even though you don’t understand it all? Will you trust me even though you’re in pain? And will you trust me when you don’t have answers?'”
Her answer was a wholehearted yes.
“I actually had a lot of joy, which is surprising,” she said. “We had so many people praying for us, and there’s no doubt in my mind that it was a miracle that the bear didn’t get my upper body. There’s no doubt in my mind that it was a miracle that I could walk out of the hospital room a few hours after a bear attack.”
Now, Schroeder says she is just grateful she gets to go on with her life, enjoying the good gifts God has given her.
“Just so thankful that I could hug my kids and do the simple things,” she said, adding that she hopes her story lets others know God is still with them in their darkest moments and in the midst of challenges that seem too great to overcome.
“Part of my prayer is that God would use this terrible experience and work it out for good,” she wrote on Facebook.
“God showed up, and He worked miracles. And He is working miracles all around us.”
The Western Journal reached out to Casadi Schroeder but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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