Good News From a Distant Land

Note: I'm off to Virginia until Thursday to see my new granddaughter (and my son and daughter-in-law.)


GOOD NEWS FROM A DISTANT LAND

A man from Holland called simply, Brother Andrew, had just smuggled a load of Bibles in his VW across the Rumanian border. He checked into a motel and began praying that God would lead him to the right Christian groups-- the ones who could best use his load of Bibles.

On Sunday morning Andrew walked up to the hotel clerk and asked where he might find a church. The clerk looked at him a little strangely and answered, "We don't have many of those you know. Besides you couldn't understand the language."

"Didn't you know?" Andrew replied, "Christians speak a kind of universal language."

"Oh what's that?"

"It's called Agape."

"Agape?" the clerk wondered. "I never heard of it."

"Too bad," Andrew replied, "It's the most beautiful language in the world."

Well Andrew was able to locate several church groups in the area and he managed to arrange a meeting with the president and secretary of a certain denomination, we'll call them James and Leon. They sat down together in a small office. Andrew was eager to tell them about the Bibles he had smuggled into the country. He also wanted to find out something about the men and their churches. But soon the three discovered that they couldn't speak each others languages. The men knew several European languages, but none in common.

So there they sat staring at each other across the room. Andrew had come thousands of dangerous miles in his little VW. He longed to bring greetings and encouragement from Christians in the western world to these brothers isolated behind the Iron Curtain. But how? They couldn't understand a word he said.

Then Andrew got an idea. He noticed James had a Bible on his desk. Andrew reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a Dutch Bible. He turned to I Corinthians 16:20 and held the Bible out, pointing to the name of the book, which they could recognize.

Instantly their faces lit up. They quickly found the same chapter and verse in their Rumanian Bibles and read this verse:
"All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss."
(I Cor. 16:20) James and Leon beamed back at Andrew. Then James looked through his Bible and found Proverbs 25:25. Andrew found the verse and read: "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land."

By then all three were laughing together. Andrew responded by turning to the
book of Philemon. He pointed his brothers to verses 4 and 5. They read: "I always thank God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints."

The two Rumanians nodded, smiling. Then Leon's eyes wondered down to verse seven. He pushed the Bible over to Andrew, pointing to these beautiful words: "Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints."

These three men had a wonderful time together. They spent half an hour conversing and sharing---just through the words of Scripture. They were so happy in their fellowship they laughed until tears came to their eyes. Finally Andrew showed his brothers the Bibles he had brought for them. James and Leon were overwhelmed and overjoyed. They embraced him again and again.

That evening when Andrew returned to his hotel, the clerk approached him and remarked, "Say, I looked up agape in the dictionary. There's no language by that name. That's just a Greek word for love."

Andrew replied, "That's it. I was speaking in it all afternoon."

Adapted from "God's Smuggler" by Brother Andrew in Steven Mosley's book:
"Great Stories and How to Tell Them."


For the Christian Prayer is not an option but an opportunity.
"In prayer; expect setbacks, but refuse retreat." Richard Eastman
Don't tell the Lord how big the problem is,
tell the problem how Great the Lord is!


This is from an e-mail that I received from this website.

The story was sent in by a Pastor Michael Jackson.