A missionary was serving as a medic at a small field hospital
in Africa. Periodically he had to travel by bicycle through the jungle
to a nearby city for supplies. It was a two-day trip so he had to
camp out over night. He had made this trip several times without incident.
One day, however, he arrived at his destination and saw two men fighting.
One was seriously hurt, so he treated him and witnessed to him
and went about his business. Upon arriving in the city again several
weeks later he was approached by the man he had treated earlier.
"Some friends and I followed you into the jungle the night you treated me,
knowing you would camp overnight. We waited for you to go to sleep and
planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. Just as we
started moving into your campsite, we saw you were surrounded by
26 armed guards. There were only six of us and we knew then we couldn't
get near you, so we left."
Hearing this the missionary laughed and said, "that's impossible
I can assure you I was alone in the campsite." The young man pressed
his point; "No sir, I was not the only one to see
the guards.
My friends also saw them, and we all counted them. We were frightened,
it was because of those guards that we left you alone."
Several months later, the missionary attended a church meeting
in the States where he told about his experiences in Africa. One of
the congregants jumped to his feet, interrupting the missionary, and said
something that left everyone in the church stunned.
"We were there
with you in the spirit," said the man. "On that night
in Africa, it
was morning here, I stopped at the church to gather some materials
for an out-of-town trip to another church. But as I put my bags into
the trunk, I felt the Lord leading me to pray for you. The urging
was so great I called the men in the church together to pray for you."
Then the man turned around and said, "Will all of those men who met
with the Lord that morning please stand up."
One by one the
men stood to their feet - all 26 of them.
