Dear friends, we are continuing in a series of amazing stories of God’s activity in the lives of pastors we are training. While on a recent trip, I spent time with a pastor who shared a story with me that made me drop to my knees and praise God… as well as go, “Whoa!!” (Details are intentionally ambiguous to protect those involved.)

A few years ago, my friend was with a group of pastors, and they heard of a desperate need for Bibles in a restricted access country in the Middle East where they are not allowed. They prayed about the matter, and investigated to see who would be willing to take Bibles to the believers there. There were no volunteers. Finally my friend and one other person volunteered to take the Bibles there. The group began praying for them, and they loaded a couple hundred Bibles in two pieces of checked in luggage. They had done some investigation and found that checked luggage from those outside the nation was not checked by security upon arrival at the airport. So they felt safe. Not a single person in the country knew they were coming, so there was no chance of leaks or being compromised. 

After arriving in the country, they picked up their bags, and were horrified to see security guards checking every bag searching for material of a religious nature. There was no way out, and they knew that they would be caught, incarcerated and possibly imprisoned or who knows what. So they prayed… fervently… crying out to the Lord for mercy and some intervention.

As the minutes dragged on, they moved closer and closer to the front of the line they were in. Sweat beaded up on their foreheads. With only five people in front of them, God did something extraordinary. Off to the side of the checking area, a large metal gate suddenly swung open. There stood a man that neither of them recognized. He called out in a loud clear voice to my friend in the same language as my friend spoke, distinctly calling his name. My friend looked around, shocked at this, and strangely enough, it was like NO ONE else standing there heard him or saw him. The man called my friend’s name again, and the two of them quickly exited the line and went through the gate. They followed the man passed the first gate, and he held open a second gate for them to walk passed. After exiting, they turned back around to thank the man, and he was gone! Vanished! My friends distributed their precious cargo and safely made it home, to God be the glory! Hebr.13:2 – “…some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Whoa!!!

Pressing on for the glory of the King, Eric