I was lost in a foreign land where nobody speaks English, how will I find my way back?

An Angelic Tour Guide

(Story happened the Year 2001)

When people travel they usually acquire the help of tour guides to lead them to places but we Christians are favored by something more special than an ordinary tour guide. Let me tell you a very astonishing story of our Executive Director, Pastor Gani Sison while he was visiting the team in Thailand in the early years of his global ministry.

Bangkok, Thailand is known for its metropolitan charm and convenient transportation; however, not all Thais can speak English and their alphabet is too complex to be identified. Being adventurous, Pastor Gani decided to go by himself and explored the city. Later then as he checked the time, it was getting late, and decided to head back to the Mission Center. He was given by the team members three bus options, with easy-to-identify numbers in front, that he could take going back. He even wrote down the bus numbers that would lead him to Sukhumvit Road, which is the main road. He hopped onto one of those buses but he got this feeling that something is not right even though it is the right bus number. He sat patiently but as the bus went farther there were no main roads ahead and it was going to the outskirts of Bangkok! It was the wrong route! One of the bus numbers was not right and that’s what he boarded on. He got off the bus and tried to look for some fellow tourists who speak English who could probably help him with directions, but there were none.

He didn’t have his phone back then with him nor the address of the Mission Center so he continued walking until he ended up in a wet market, all filled with locals who couldn’t speak English. He was so desperate to find his way back that he even acted out where he wanted to go. But unfortunately, they couldn’t help him. They acted out the directions and explained them in Thai, which just made everything more confusing. He didn’t want to create a commotion, so he said thank you to the locals and thought it was better to leave. Millions of thoughts are running in his mind, “Where should I sleep? My friends might be worried if I can’t go back tonight and so on…” Then, a twelve-year-old boy interrupted his thoughts and asked, “May I help you?”

“Finally! Someone who speaks English!”, Pastor Gani felt relieved. He explained to the boy how he got lost and where he wanted to go and the boy was kind enough to accompany him for two blocks going to the bus station. Pastor Gani didn’t want to be a nuisance to the boy and he said he can go by himself but the boy insisted on going with him because he wants to learn English. Pastor Gani shrugged off the idea that the boy who speaks English wanted to learn English from him. The boy accompanied him to the bus station, “You are an angel sent from heaven”, said Pastor Gani as he showed his appreciation to the little boy with a smile. Before he boarded the bus he saw something different from the boy’s smile and then he was suddenly gone from his sight. While on the bus, Ptr Gani started to contemplate what just happened… At that time when he was losing hope, a strange kid suddenly appeared from nowhere, he was the only person who could speak English, and was adamant about accompanying him to the bus station with the strange excuse that he just wanted to learn English, when in fact he was already conversing in English…

What do you think? Can you guess who that boy was?

Psalm 91:11

“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”

(Written by: Venus Jablo)