This story comes from the Democratic
Republic of Congo where there is fighting between government and rebel
soldiers.
The door fell with a crash as enemy
soldiers rushed into the pastor’s house. They had machine-guns and were ready
to use them. Their plan was to kill all the people in the village, beginning
with the young pastor and his family.
FILLED WITH HATE
The family sat, stunned, waiting to see
what would happen next. The soldiers
were filled with hate. “Wait,” the pastor said. “Please let my family and me
pray for a moment before we die” The
whole family knelt, arm in arm, in a circle on the floor and asked God for his
help.
As they prayed, they expected machine-gun
fire any second, but none came. Slowly
they stood up. The soldiers had gone, not just from their house but from the
village too.
FIERCE FIRE
Many months later they learnt the rest of
the story. The pastor was at a Christian meeting in another town and told what
had happened that day. “The soldiers just
disappeared from my house and village”, he said. He told them that the
family and villagers could not understand why the soldiers had left so
suddenly.
“I
think I can explain,” came a quiet voice from the back of the room. The speaker was one of the soldiers who had
broken down the door of the pastor’s house. “You
see,” he said, “I was there when we
broke into your house. I was one of those who pointed my rifle at your children
as you knelt and prayed. Then suddenly, a wall of fire jumped up and surrounded
all of you. We could not see you because of the flames. The fire was so hot we
knew the house would burn down, so we ran away.
NOT BURNED DOWN
“When
we went outside we saw your house was covered with fire-but it was not being
burned down and we ran away from the village as well. Later I realised this was
not the fire we know but a fire sent by God. If this is how your God answers
your prayers, I want to know Him too. I
am tired of fighting and killing. This is why I came tonight”.
This soldier discovered how God answers
prayer and cares for the people who love Him. He needed to believe this God for
himself.
Culled from SOON Magazine, No. 165
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