"You need to come with us!" The heavily armed commander pointed to Pastor Borjan*, one of our Adventist World Radio leaders, and to a church elder who was with him. Just three weeks ago, they had been sitting in a bus at a border crossing waiting to be cleared for entry into an undisclosed part of the world that is hostile to outsiders.
The commander had boarded the bus, and as he walked down the aisle, he had singled out Pastor Borjan and his companion. This was bad. The pastor had a small suitcase filled with 20 solar-powered radios-as many as they had dared carry-that held the Bible in audio form, plus a set of Bible studies in the local language. There were believers inside the country eagerly waiting for these radios with the precious message.
Looking at the luggage, the commander ordered that it be taken off the bus and placed on the ground for inspection. Then he noticed the small suitcase and asked, "Who does this belong to?"
Pastor Borjan's heart sank. Would their efforts be for naught? He began to pray.
"The suitcase is mine," he said as the commander ordered that all their luggage be picked up and that they follow him into the guardhouse.
One by one their belongings were inspected, and when the commander opened the small suitcase, inside for all to see were rows of identical boxes containing the AWR radios.
''You will have to pay a good tax on these since you will be selling them!" the commander said triumphantly.
"No, I won't be selling them," said Pastor Borjan. "I'm a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and work for Adventist World Radio. These radios are free as I share with others the good news of salvation. They contain messages of hope." ~
"Ha!" the commander scoffed. "Prove it to me!"
Pastor Borjan's fingers were shaking as he opened a box and took out a unit. He pushed a button, and the room filled with words from Scripture, followed by beautiful music and more Bible promises.
There was silence as everyone listened, and Pastor Borjan noticed tears rolling down the commander's face. Laying his gun against the wall, the commander said, "Pastor, I have no hope anymore. My country is in such a mess-what kind of a future can I give my children? You say these messages can bring me hope? What can I do to get one of these radios? I want to share it with my family and with my men."
By now, several more soldiers had joined them in the guardhouse, and when they realized what the tiny radios contained, some of them also began to cry, "Oh Pastor, please leave us another radio. We promise to listen. Our lives are not easy and we need hope. People hate us, and we often have to do things we don't want to do. We need something good in our lives!"
Pastor Borjan couldn't believe it! These hardened men had been touched by the Holy Spirit. There was no other explanation! Taking out another small box, the pastor handed it to the commander and said, "These are precious radios. Please make good use of them. I pray they will bring you exactly what you need in your lives."
"Oh thank you, thank you! Would you please pray for us?" The men quickly placed their guns next to the commander's and stood in a circle. Silent tears fell as Pastor Borjan and the elder prayed for these soldiers.
As they were leaving, the commander asked, "When will you be coming back? Here is my number. Call me. I want to make sure I'm on duty so I can talk to you again."
As Pastor Borjan and his companion boarded the bus, they couldn't help but marvel at what God had done. God's Spirit is at work everywhere. Sometimes we may feel we're working alone, but angels are the companions of all who go about God's business!
We are told that, ''Angels that excel in strength are waiting to unite with human agencies. When His people shall be in greatest danger ... God will work in their behalf. Man's extremity is God's opportunity." (Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 373)
What a wonderful promise! But this was not the end of the story. Pastor Borjan continued his journey inside the country and met with groups of believers who eagerly received the AWR radios. He also trained these believers to share the AWR messages• , through their cell phones via WhatsApp.
Now buckle your seatbelts for the most amazing part of the story. The Adventist Church in this country organized church members into community service groups that went house to house helping people with their basic needs from simple home repairs to yard work. They then prayed with them and asked if they would like to receive messages of hope from AWR through their cell phones. Amazingly, more than 37,000 people responded saying, "Yes! Please send me these messages of hope!"