Two months had passed after that exhilarating test drive experience with the young salesman, and I had not heard anything from him.
Then one morning, the telephone rang, and it was the salesman. Without even greeting me, he said, “God has answered our prayer; your car is ready, come and collect it.” I was stuttering, “What about the money to pay for it?”
“Your car has been fully paid, licensed, and ready to roll; when will you get here? I’ll meet you at the airport as soon as you arrive”. He said, rushing over his words in excitement.
“Oh, thank God, and thank you,” I replied.
Then my mind began to race. I would need money for an airline ticket and travel expenses for the return road trip. The word began to spread about the miracle of my car, and within two days, I had the money for the airline ticket and travel expenses.
I called the travel agent and asked her to book my ticket. Very apologetically, she responded that the airlines were on strike and there were no seats available for at least a week. I grouped my fellow missionaries and said, “Miracle number one was my car, miracle number two was the travel expense money, and now, we must pray for miracle number three; a seat on an airplane”!
We sat together and asked God to get me a seat on a plane. I was planning to hand the task over to the travel agent, but then one of the group said,
“No, you can’t do that, you must go up to the airport, and God will provide your seat while you are there. You must now exercise your faith, and that is how the seat will come to you”.
Fear gripped me, and my throat was dry. “What if I can’t get a seat…….”?
But I knew no other option; I packed my overnight bag and left for the airport.
I approached the check-in counter and was shocked at the number of people waiting for tickets. I stood there looking at the queue, completely bewildered. “Oh God,” I cried within, “Help me, please.”
Just then, a ground staff member approached me.
“Can I help you sir,” she asked politely.
I told her that I was a missionary and that God had got me a car and I needed to go and collect it. I asked her to help me get a ticket, and then I would wait however long it took to get a seat.
“We stopped issuing standby tickets a while back,” she said sorrowfully. “But follow me; I will see what I can do for you.”
Thirty minutes later, I was clutching my precious ticket.
“What now, Lord”? I said. By this stage, I was shaking from all the anxiety. I asked the two missionaries who brought me to the airport to draw aside and pray with me.
After the prayer, a strange stillness came over me, and I heard a voice from within. “Speak to the Captain.”
I looked at my fellow workers, “God says I must speak to the captain” I said it as if I didn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth.
“I will leave you now while I look for a Captain; please keep praying for me.”
I bade my fellow missionaries au revoir and preceded to a member of ground staff and asked, ‘Where do the crew members pass on the way to the aircraft.’
She looked at me suspiciously and pointed to a passage on the one side of us. I hastily made my way and stood there, breathlessly waiting and not knowing what to expect.
Peter James