A Gold Mine Rescue
By Julia O’Carey
A house-church in a closed country had not experienced much growth, so the district leader visited the members and encouraged them to fast and pray for souls. In this communist country church members encounter interrogations, fines, and harassment by police if they are caught witnessing, hence their hesitation to engage in active public evangelism. But they came together and prayed for the Holy Spirit, for a love for people, and for courage to go out and share their faith.
The next Sabbath afternoon they blanketed an area with sermon DVDs. Diu* stopped to talk to a lady selling meat beside the road. The lady asked, “Are you married?” “No,” Diu responded with a smile. “I’m still single, but I’m not alone. I’m so in love with Jesus that it feels like I’m married to Him in a way,” she said. The lady was so surprised! No one had ever shared about Jesus with her before. Suddenly she burst out in tears. Now it was Diu’s turn to be surprised. “What’s wrong?” she tenderly asked, coming closer to her.
“It’s my son, Tuan,*” she said between sobs. “He disappeared two years ago and I have no clue where he is or what happened to him. He was in the army. I asked his sergeant and inquired all the way to the top commander, but no one has answers.” Diu sensed that this hopeless, heartbroken mother needed a miracle. Diu reassured her that she and the other church members would pray for her son.
And they did exactly as she promised, came together for fasting and united prayer. God heard and answered their earnest pleas because He LOVES rescue missions! This venture was not too hard for the One who sent His Son on the biggest rescue mission of all.
On the seventh night of prayer, God sent an angel down to a dark room in the middle of a gold mine on the border where mafia gang members held Tuan captive. A supernatural sleep fell over the guards on duty. The angel grabbed Tuan’s hand and led him out to freedom. Although Tuan had attempted to escape in the past and received tortuous punishment, he experienced no fear as he left again.
Showing Tuan the road to take, the angel said, “Run!” Tuan ran for his life through the forest in the moonlight. When the sun peeked over the horizon, he flagged down a bus. “I don’t have any money, but will you take me?” he asked desperately. The bus driver said, “Get in!” He took Tuan all the way back to his hometown where a kind stranger let him make one important call, to his mother.
I can imagine the joy Tuan’s mother experienced when she heard her son’s voice on the phone. What a happy reunion they must have had! Tuan stayed inside his home for one month, afraid to go outside. He spent that time getting to know his Rescuer, Jesus, through Bible studies Diu gave him and his mom. They are now faithful followers. Three neighbors who witnessed this amazing miracle also come to worship each Sabbath and are studying to be baptized.
This story led me to think of how many in this day are trapped in a gold mine, so to speak, enslaved to marital problems, despair, health struggles, or maybe even riches and success. Many feel no way out of their current situation. God has a special plan however, to rescue each one. It starts when we cry out to Him, for He loves to answer prayers coming from a heart in need.
Julia O’Carey is the director of A.S.A.P. Ministries which stands for Advocates for Southeast Asia and the Persecuted. You can learn more about A.S.A.P at: asapministries.org
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World Church Prayer Requests
for Nov. 5 - 12, 2017
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the Southern Asia-Pacific Division as they host their year-end meetings this next week. Pray for wisdom and Holy Spirit blessing on all their discussions and the decisions being made.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray church leaders from each of the 13 Divisions and MENA, as year-end meetings begin or continue over these next few weeks.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for God to give us wisdom how to advance the mission of the church and the commission of Matthew 28, to reach the world for Christ and to share the good news of salvation while there is still time.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the marriages and spouses (and personal relationships) of those in leadership. Pray that God will safeguard their homes and that they will be a “taste of heaven on earth” as Ellen White writes. Pray that church leaders will remember that their first ministry is to their family, for if the family is compromised, Satan knows it’s more difficult for us to minister to others.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the children of our church leaders (both the children of the local pastors as well as those in other positions of spiritual leadership throughout the world church). Pray that these children (of all ages) will come to have a deep and abiding walk with Jesus.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray that God will help us take time to stay personally connected with Jesus and not rush through our daily devotions. Satan has a thousand ways to distract us and the battle is only getting fiercer. We need a deep and living spiritual experience so that we will have something to share with those around us.