This story reminds me on one my Dad told many years ago. Also in the ministry, he was discouraged and thinking of quitting when a stranger appeared alongside him and gave him a word from the Lord, then disappeared. Was the stranger an angel? I believe he was. The following story reinforces my faith that God send angels with special messages to his servants on earth.
by Barry McNeil
It was my first trip to a third world country, a very large culture shock for me. My colleagues and I had gone to Indonesia to visit the Lawang Bible College, LBTC, in Lawang, near Suraybaya, on the Indonesian Island of Java. After about a week, I decided to cut my month-long trip short, as I was having trouble with the Indonesian culture. I was actually getting rather stressed out, mainly due language problems, sanitation, diarrhea, etc.
I left for Suraybaya Airport, and was getting quite worried, as none of the planes were on schedule. I was quite concerned about my connecting flight to Australia. If I missed it I would have to stay an extra two days in Jakarta – not a very nice place! To add to the stress, no one at Suraybaya could speak much English.
Suddenly a very well dressed, giant of a man came and sat down right next to me. I shook his hand and it was like shaking the hand of a newborn baby; his hand was so soft and gentle. He had a well-worn briefcase with stickers of all the Bible colleges and churches in the region. I asked him if he knew pastor Dato, Pastor OM Ben, and a few others. He knew them all!
Then in perfect English and of few words, he stated that I would arrive in Jakarta with an hour to spare and that I would catch my flight home okay. This blew me out!
Then time came for boarding the DC10 airplane. I watched him walk up the stairs onto the aircraft. Then I boarded also. During the flight I made an effort to find him to thank him. However, he wasn’t onboard. And when I deplaned in Jakarta, he didn’t get off! God had sent him to minister to me, settle me down.
This man looked like an ordinary man, gentle, loving and caring. What an incredible experience. God does indeed truly send his angels to minister to us, the heirs of salvation,