Stop trying to apply logic to this story, people who think and use logic don't donate cash to the preacher in the hopes that they will go to heaven!
Besides, if you are truly brainwashed, you just ignore the facts and say "It's a Miracle!!!!"
You said it all in two sentences.
I just love the folks who use "facts" to support faith... when the facts support that belief. And then when the "facts" don't fit (such as the wild inconsistencies in these "facts" from culture to culture), suddenly it's "well, it's about faith, it just IS, and God says so, so there!"
They'd do a lot better--and be more consistent--simply ignoring the facts and saying "Believe it or don't believe it, I believe it for one reason only--it's in a book someone told me was the word of God, and that someone wouldn't lie."
Meaning...it's about faith. Not facts.