My God is Still in the Miracle Business

II had questioned whether or not God was still answering prayers. But, I am glad to say that my God is still in the miracle business. First, I did not have enough money to go to Mongolia, and then a church member donated his air miles and it provided me with half the cost of the ticket to Mongolia--a miracle of grand proportions.

Then, while I was in Mongolia meeting with the governor, he told me that since a Christian had committed suicide just a couple of years ago, he was not happy about us coming to Tosontsengel. But I had some education concerning the Buddhist beliefs, and so under the direction of the Holy Spirit, I asked him if any Buddhists had also committed suicide. He said that there had been a couple, so I told him that I had better not become a Buddhist, for I wanted to live and not die. I told him that the principle idea of Buddhism is that of learning and reaching a state of love and understanding. After a few moments, he asked if I knew anything of ADRA. I told him it was part of our belief system, an outreach of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to which I belonged. At that point, he said he wanted us to tell his people of the Christian philosophy because ADRA had helped his community last year, another miracle.

While visiting with the people that had been coming to the meetings, I met with and prayed for a young girl with a deformed right hand and foot. I told her mother to get a balloon or a plastic bag, fill it with dirt, and have the girl squeeze the bag three or four times a day to help build up the muscles in her right hand. It had no gripping power compared to the left. Now, in Tosontsengel it is felt that education should be given only to those children who had a perfect body, so this thirteen year old girl had no friends her age, no one to share her life with and had no education. She was literally an outcast in her community.

When the call was made for baptism, this young girl raised her hand to be baptized immediately. Baptism was set for Thursday. She was the second into the frigid water, and when she came out of the water, she said, "Now I know that God loves me, and I am not alone anymore." Two more miracles occurred: this girl's heart was given to the Lord, and her right hand had gained nearly as much strength as her left, when she held on to my arm to be baptized.

Another miracle was that, although not many people attended, everyone that came was baptized except one. This one had to go pick berries in the mountains when we were baptizing, but she told me that she wanted to be baptized in one month when she could learn more about the state of the dead. I told her I would help her understand, to which she agreed but then left to pick berries to sell so she could buy food. Sumya said that a missionary is working with her, and she will be baptized when Elder Ebert Kuhn visits the community. Seven unbaptized people had come to the meetings and with God's help I baptized six, but it wasn't me, it was the Holy Spirit that moved on the hearts of these new Christians, as God performed six more miracles.

When leaving for the United States, one man was speaking to a Mongolian family in their language, and I turned because the accent was distinctly English. I found out that this man was a minister, going to Utah to teach Christianity to Native Americans. We developed a conversation about what he should do with his church, and how he could get them to evangelize the community. I told him to teach them to be mission-minded. He accepted the Sabbath truth, missions, and accepted diet restrictions as listed in Numbers. Once again, under the Holy Spirit's direction, I started talking about the state of the dead. This was difficult for him to accept, and he balked and I thought I had overstepped my boundaries. So I moved on. I had only two keys with me, and we were going through customs, and he was asked to open his bag which was locked. He told them he lost the key and could not open it, and so I removed my two keys and told him to try this one. Another miracle! Who would have thought that it was the one key that would open his bag. What are the odds of my leaving the United States with just two keys, and one of them would be used by this man to open the lock on his bag? Another miracle from God! But the story is not ended yet; there was still one more miracle.

It happened when we landed at Seoul. I went my way to catch a plane, he went his way. I thought no more about it, wished him luck and God speed, and told him to make disciples of his new church members. A half hour later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Sam and he said that he had something to tell me. He had checked the texts that I had given him on the plane concerning the state of the dead, and he had to agree that my concept of the state of the dead made more sense. He could see where Jesus, when He returns, would bring eternal life with Him as a reward. This man is not far from being a Seventh-day Adventist.

It is so true that my God is still in the “miracle business!”