An amazing answered prayer
Published: July 10, 2005
It was the hottest, busiest two weeks of work my husband, Steve, and I had ever experienced in the mission field, and we were exhausted. As we walked out of our last meeting that Sunday afternoon in Astrakhan, Russia, we felt we could finally relax. Lunch with the pastor, an evening of rest, a morning flight back to Moscow for a couple of days of recovery, and we’d be on our way back to the states.
But alas, our luxurious plans would be altered. At lunch the pastor told us of a mission church he had planted in a remote, impoverished village an hour away. Please, he said, would we do just one more meeting? Would we go to the village with him and preach? Please? Pazhalsta?
Everything in our tired minds and bodies screamed “no.” We were done, empty. The tiny hotel beds were calling us for a nap. But God had other plans, and Steve and I looked at each other, our eyes confirming what we knew - we had to go. We would soon be glad we agreed, for we were about to witness a miracle of answered prayer.
We reached the village an hour before the meeting and decided to take a walk down the dirt streets. The poverty was some of the worst we had encountered, the houses little more than shacks. But near the end of the village we saw a beautiful “Kodak moment.” A colorful old woman in kerchief and apron, a true Russian babushka, sat peeling potatoes in front of her house. She agreed to let us take her picture, and then invited us into her little home.
After a few minutes of seeing her family pictures and turning down her offers of chai, we stood to leave. At that moment Steve felt impressed by the Lord to give the lady some money. It was not a large amount to us, but we later learned it equaled more than a month’s pension for her, which she had not been receiving for some reason. As long as we live we’ll never forget what happened next. After she took the money she looked up at Steve, and suddenly her eyes widened with amazement. “It’s you!” she exclaimed.
We had no idea what she meant, but she continued, “I saw you on the TV! You were preaching. As I listened to you, I prayed to God and asked him if he would send someone like you to help me. My husband is dead and I have no money and I have to feed my daughter and her children. I prayed to God but I didn’t think he would answer me! And now, you are here!”
What are the odds? Was it a coincidence that our plans were altered, that we came to her village, arrived with time to spare, chose her street to walk down and ended up in her living room handing her the answer to her prayer? She didn’t have great faith, didn’t even own a Bible, but she cried out to God, and he heard her and answered her prayer. Needless to say, she came to the meeting that night.
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