“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.”
Psalm 34:7 NASB
Praying and hoping to see a friendly face, I walked out into the airport terminal, where passengers meet and greet their waiting family members. I had just landed in a country that is still closed to the gospel.
As I looked around, my heart sank as I realized that my contact person was not there to meet me. I had been warned not to travel with anyone but him. And so, I prayed and watched, watched and prayed, and prayed and watched. The moments ticked by, but still my contact person did not show up.
I noticed that the police in the airport were starting to eye me suspiciously as people came and went, but I was not going anywhere. The police watched me from afar, then one of them, who looked like the chief of police, came a little closer and a little closer.
“God, what do I do?” I prayed. “My contact person has not shown up. I’m in a country closed to the good news about You. What do I do? You sent me here.”
Then the Spirit of God told me, “Go right up to the chief of police and make a special request.”
Immediately, I marched right up to the policeman, the man who was eyeing me suspiciously, and I said, “Good sir, I have a question for you. I am so happy to be in your beautiful country, and I’m hoping to be able to find some postcards to send my wife and my children from your country, but I don’t know where to find postcards in your airport. Could you help me?” The man held up his hand and gave a signal. Immediately, I was surrounded by his whole team of police.
The chief of police smiled at me and at his team, and then he barked out orders. He then told me in perfect English, “I’ve just ordered my men to go and help you find the best that we can offer you in postcards across the airport. Do not worry. We will all help you find postcards to send to your family!”
Oh, I had to chuckle to myself. Here I was almost in trouble with the policeman who had been eyeing me suspiciously, but now God was using him to help me find postcards for my family. God is good! After we searched together for some time, we found some postcards. Just then, the contact person who I was supposed to ride with arrived. I thanked all my police helpers enthusiastically for their assistance and then watched for a cue from the believer so I would know what to do. He just quietly motioned to his left, and I could tell he wanted me to follow him. I followed him out of the airport and hopped into a car.
As we traveled down the road, he confided, “You know, things have changed a lot since you were here last. You must be extra careful this time. When we arrive at the church where God’s people are meeting, the place where you’ll be doing the training, you must never look behind you at the main gate.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
He responded, “There is a very large video camera that the government has set up to take note of everyone who comes into our church and who goes out of it. We must be very careful. So, when we drop you off in front of the church, make sure you get your luggage, but always keep your back to the camera.”
Well, my heart started thumping as we came up to the main gate of the church. I was curious. I wanted to look behind me and see how big that camera was and exactly what it looked like, but I didn’t. He pulled right up to the curb outside of the church. I stepped out, always keeping my back to the camera. The sun was just setting. I was grateful for the gathering night shadows as I slipped into the church. How thrilled I was to arrive there safely!
I had a good night’s sleep. Early the next morning, the believers gathered to be equipped and trained on how to be disciples and disciple makers for Jesus.
Day after day, everything went beautifully and as planned. The people were hungry to be equipped. They were hungry for more of the Holy Spirit. They were hungry for the Word of God. They were just hungry for everything of God. But the devil was angry.
One morning, everything changed. Right in the middle of training, all of a sudden, a man burst into our room, yelling and waving his arms, and trying to get everybody’s attention. He was talking in his own language, and I did not know what he was saying.Finally, I found someone who could translate for me.
“What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” I asked.
I noticed that the young people were listening with much interest as the man continued to share with animation and excitement. As the young people listened, they began to look bewildered. The older people in the room immediately got on their knees. Some of them were weeping as they began to pray. All of them were praying fervently. Then I knew I was about to experience something that I had never, ever experienced in my own country where we still have religious freedom.
My translator began to whisper to me. “Right now, below us in the kitchen on the main level are two secret police! They are asking why we have so many mounds of food. They have just sent word that they know there is someone here training and teaching who is not authorized to be here. Don, they know you are here! Someone turned you in to the secret police! The police said that because we live in a very generous country, they are allowing our church several days to take care of this problem. Don, you are this problem. They promised to be back to look for this person in a few days!”
“Well,” I said, “What should we do?” No one answered.
A few minutes passed. “The police are gone now,” they finally told me.
The people gathered close around me, and I questioned the precious believers again, “Are you asking me to stop equipping you to disciple your children? Do you want me to leave?”
“Oh, no!” they responded. “We have traveled at great sacrifice to come here. We are hungry for more. But here is the challenge that we face. If we are caught with you unlawfully training us, then we are in trouble, and you’re in trouble. You can get thrown in prison as they are waiting to send you back to America. And what happens to you in the meantime? Who knows?”
“So, what do you want me to do?” I asked again.
“We want you to train us with all your heart and all your strength, and we will pray that God will strengthen you. From now on, we want you to train beginning in the early morning, all afternoon, and all evening as long as you can. And then we will all sleep. We’ll spend time with Jesus and pray, pray, pray. Then we’ll start again in the morning at 6:00 a.m., praying for the Holy Spirit. Train as much as you can, as many hours a day as you can, because we don’t know when the police are coming back, and we may never have this opportunity again!”
So, that’s what we did. We trained that way all day Friday, Sabbath, and Sunday, and God blessed. And the police did not come back.
On Monday morning, the believers told me, “We think that when they open their offices this morning, they will probably come here to search for you to see if we are compliant. They will want to know if we got rid of you.”
As I thought about what they had just shared, I asked, “Does this mean that you don’t want me to meet with you this morning at 6:00 a.m. to lead you in praying for the Holy Spirit?”
“No!” they responded with urgency. “We must pray even more! Let’s pray for the Holy Spirit, but we’ll also pray that God will show us when you should leave.”
And so we prayed for the Holy Spirit. And I taught about the Holy Spirit from the Word of God. And our hearts cried out after God, and God moved in the meeting.
A couple hours later, the believers suddenly stopped the training. “Now, you must go!”
There was no fear in their faces, but they were very firm, and they showed genuine concern. They did not want me to get caught. I could tell that they were more concerned about me than about themselves.
“We know it’s time,” they told me. I grabbed my Bible and things, and instantly the whole room was changed into a totally different look, like the government officials would expect it to look in that country. In just moments, the room was prepared for a traditional presentation for the government. I started walking out of the room, but there were glass windows in the hallway right outside the door. The believers pushed me down as they whispered, “Please crawl across this hallway. You’re tall. We don’t want anybody to see you.”
I got down low on the floor and crawled my way across the hallway. Once I got past the windows, I got up, and they said, “Follow us.”
We went up in a big, old building to the top floor. They came in with me into a little room. Then they closed and locked the door.
“We will stay with you,” they told me. “We will pray with you until the other believers come and tell us it’s safe. Whatever you do, do not open the door!” So, we waited, and we prayed, and we prayed, and we waited. Then, suddenly, there were footsteps and a gentle tapping on the door. I was so excited to get out of that little room, I forgot the advice. I immediately started towards the door, and they whispered, “No, you must not answer the door.
Come here!”
On the side of the room was a very tiny room—much smaller than the room we had been in. It was a little closet about half of my height, low to the floor. Quickly they stuffed me in that little storage closet, and they closed and locked the door.
Now I was uncomfortably hunched over in that tiny room waiting, but I was more concerned about what might be going on outside. As I waited silently, I wondered what would happen to me and the believers if we were caught. I heard knocking at the door, more footsteps, and many voices. I wondered if the next thing I would feel would be the hand of the police grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me out of my hiding place. Would voices say to me with a translator, “You must come with us!” Would I be marched down to the city prison where I would be held until they could figure out how to send me back to America?
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I cried out to God in prayer. “God, make me ready for whatever might come my way. I’m here at Your command and call. Help me to be faithful to You no matter what happens.”
Then I heard footsteps come right to my little door.
The door was unlocked and opened, and a voice said in English, “Don, come out!”
I came out, and the believers smiled at me. “Come with us. It’s safe now,” they told me.
As we traveled back down the stairs to the main room, I asked, “What happened?”
When we came into the main room, we found the young people laughing nervously. They were so excited. They were laughing and laughing, and the elderly people had tears of joy in their eyes. They had been praying the whole time and crying out to God that the meetings would not be stopped, and that I would be safe.
“What happened?” I asked again.
With breathless excitement, they told me, “Shortly after you left, two police marched into our training room with great confidence and authority. They came in, scanned the room, and slowly looked through our crowd. They were looking for you. Then as they looked at the back of the room, suddenly great fear came across their faces. They backed up without a word, turned around, and fled out of the room and off the property. We know that God sent His angels here to protect us and to protect you!”
Call to Action: Remember God's Power to Protect His Children
We thanked and praised God and His glorious name together. Then immediately, we continued in the Word and in training. And the police never returned while I was there.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman \ Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
