MODERN DAY MIRACLES

August 1987 was a time in my life that I shall never forget due to some very unusual things happening. Our Ky. Baptist Convention was working with the foreign mission board in Kenya for a period of three years. I was privileged to be part of the Ky. Baptist / Kenya  link up working with our foreign missionaries in Kenya for a two week period during that time. We spent the week ends with our foreign missionaries and during the week we lived in tents in the bush country experiencing again how it was to sleep on the ground at night. I had spent three years in the Marine Corp. and had some experience in sleeping on the ground so it was not a totally new experience for my friend Nasby Mills and me. Nasby was a great cook using the means we had to prepare our meals in the bush country. A skillet, and a two burner Coleman stove. Nasby cooked our evening meals and I prepared our breakfast. I think we both were glad to get some home cooking when we got back home. During the two week experience there was twelve of us from Ky. including a total of four of us being from Harlan, the other two was Steve Duff and Roy Faulkner. We recorded 1,419 professions of faith in our Lord Jesus during the two weeks. During the three years there was a total of 750 volunteers involved in the project with 45,000 to 50,000 professions of faith and not one incident of anyone being hurt, this is a miracle in it self. There are two incidents I want to share with you that happened to me while I was in Kenya that I can only explain as modern day miracles.

THE LORD PROVIDED  INTERPRETERS  I was in the small village of Malinda, Kenya on the coast of the Indian Ocean. As I was walking through the village a native woman of that area approached me and ask for some money to buy food with. I noticed she had no fingers on either of her hands and no toes on either of her feet. I felt constrained in my spirit to ask her if she knew Jesus Christ as her personal savior. There was only one problem for me, that being she and I knew nothing about each others language. I noticed a young black man standing by me and I ask him if he spoke English, which he replied yes I speak English and Swa-hi-li. I ask the young man to ask the lady if she knew Jesus Christ as her personal savior. He spoke to her in Swa-hi-li, but she only spoke a tribal language known as Gera-yom-ia. Sure enough the Lord had another young black man there that spoke Swa-hi-li and Gera-yom-ia. Now I was able to talk to her by the help of my two interpreters, I ask the one that spoke English, he ask the one who spoke Gera-yom-ia then he ask the lady if she knew Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The dear lady responded by setting down the small cloth  wrap she had and then sitting on a stump near by  submitting to prayer. I thought, surely the Lord loves the world , even this pitiful native  lady nearly eaten up with leprosy that ( whosoever ) if she believes on the name of the Lord she and all else can be saved. I was allowed to go half way around the world to tell her about Jesus and the Lord had two interpreters waiting to help me. I learned that day that there is no respect of persons with God and truly whosoever is all inclusive. If you have not yet found the joy of Christ living in your life today would be a great day to start.

A GREAT DAY TO BUY FISH: I was talking to one of the local pastors in Kenya when he shared with me what I can only explain as a miracle. There was a lady in his church that loved the Lord very much. She loved to attend church regular and did so every Sunday. Her husband was bad to drink and he resented her going to church. Her reply to him  was, I love Jesus and want to be with his people on Sunday. This caused her husband to become extremely jealous, even to the point he planned to kill his wife. He knew if he killed her for misuse of his money or being unfaithful he would not have to go to jail for it. So he devised a plan to give her some money to trap her with. He gave her three hundred shillings ( something like three paper dollars ) in a small purse and told her to put it away so they would have it for future use. He watched where she put the purse and the following Sunday when she went to church, he got the purse and threw it as far as he could into the lake close to where they lived. There was a fish that swallowed the purse. A fishing  crew  caught the fish and after church the lady stopped at the  fresh fish market to buy fish for their dinner. As she entered the fish market someone told her, here is a nice fish and she bought it and  went home to prepare dinner for her family. As she was cutting the fish she found the purse, washed  it off and put it back where she had placed it before. The husband entered the home ready to take her life for loosing his money,  he demanded of her to give his money to him, she said wait and I will get it for you. She got the purse from where she had placed it and her husband, upon seeing the purse and knowing his plans fell at her feet, saying, woman surely the God you know does watch over you. This man today is a deacon in their church and this story is true.