POLK COUNTY, Iowa — A Sunday drive to church took a dramatic detour earlier this year — leading to a life-saving rescue. Now, the men behind the rescue are being hailed as heroes. However, they believe it was something bigger at work.

Ken Morrison was driving the Sheepgate bus that morning.

“A couple guys up on the hill were praying, and all of a sudden they just … (Dramatic gasp),” Morrison recalled. “He just came to.”

That moment in July just outside of Mitchellville is one Morrison said he will never forget.

“As we were approaching the scene, that’s when we saw the car to the right in the ditch, upside down, submerged in the water,” he told WHO 13’s Katie Kaplan.

Morrison was behind the wheel of the bus, headed to Sunday morning church, when they came upon the wreck.

“We were able to kind of start making our way through the debris on the road. And it’s like all of a sudden we just thought, ‘Man, this just happened. There’s somebody in there.’”

The passengers on the bus were members of a Christian-based recovery program called Sheepgate, and they sprang into action. Morrison pulled over, the men exited and ran down the hill to reach the partially-submerged, upside-down car.

“It was something that needed to be done, as he was underwater,” said Robert Bullock. “And so, yeah, just for that to be done and flip the car over and the guys just kind of ripped the door open to get it open.”

On the cue of Polk County deputies who had also responded to the scene, the group turned the vehicle back to right side up. Inside was a 74-year-old Kansas man — buckled in, unconscious, and not breathing. That was, until moments after they pulled him out.

“We believe it was the miracle of God that that happened right then and there,” Morrison said.

The group never made it to church.

“Everybody was soaked to the bone,” Morrison said with a laugh.

Instead, they turned back toward home aboard their bus, aptly marked in broad lettering across the front “Helping People Who Hurt.”

Nearly three months later, the men were honored for their heroism at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, where each received a Lifesaving Award, and were reunited with the man whose life they saved.

“Very, heartwarming … to see that he’s doing well. We didn’t have all the details in the beginning and (are) actually just getting them now,” Bullock said.

The Kansas man, still recovering and camera-shy, attended with his wife, both of whom were grateful for the chance to say thank you in person.

While most people would call their efforts an act of bravery, the men from Sheepgate see it differently.

“Everybody wonders about faith and hope, and that was a true sign that the Lord is real,” Bullock said.

Even though he lives out of state, the man whose life was saved said he plans to visit the recovery center in Colfax someday soon.