He Could Have Been

 

An Angel!

 

 

     Have you ever seen an angel in disguise or read a story about one? This story is what happened to us in a poor country called Bangladesh when we first arrived in the airport to be missionaries in a foreign country. It is important to be missionaries in our own home and town before going to another country as a missionary. Home is the school for missionaries. When God is in charge, thrilling things happen!

     When we left America to fly to Bangladesh, we had lots and lots of luggage—in fact, over 300 pounds of luggage! We had gifts of clothing and shoes and many other things for the boys and girls in one of the orphanages in Bangladesh. We had our own luggage and also a piano accordion in a wooden box. People, who had gone to Bangladesh before, told us that this country was corrupt (very bad) and would try to get money from us for our extra luggage or even may take some of our bags from us. If this happened, it would be very sad for the orphans who needed the clothes and shoes we were taking for them.

     At Dhaka (the biggest city in Bangladesh), when we had collected all of our bags from baggage claim, we looked at it and oh! It was such a big amount. Would the airport officials, dressed in their smart looking uniforms, let us take all this luggage past the check point and out of the airport? Here comes a man. He asks if all of this luggage is ours. After being told “yes,” he points towards the checkpoint and tells us to take it to the men in uniform for checking. We pushed our over-loaded carts toward the smartly dressed officials. What would happen when we got there? Would they want money? Would they take some of our bags from us? As I said before, when God is in charge, thrilling things happen, and God was in charge of what happened next.

     We slowly pushed our two heavily laden carts towards the airport officials. Behind these men were the big glass exit doors to leave the building. As we came near to the officials, we noticed a group of people standing around them. We were going to wait in line, but suddenly we heard the voice of a man speaking in a commanding voice. I looked toward the voice and there stood a man much taller than the people around us. He was looking right at me over the heads of the group of people. He pointed toward me then moved his arm in a swinging motion toward the exit doors. Now pointing toward the exit doors he commanded us to “Go!” When I hesitated, he once again commanded us to “Go,” using the same hand motion. At this we quickly followed his instruction, walked past the people, past the airport officials and right through the big glass exit doors. It was as if we were invisible. No one looked at us or noticed us pass by. Soon we were out of the building, with all our precious cargo.

     Do you think this man could have been an angel? Well, we believe it was either an angel or a man sent of God to protect us, and the bags that we carried. We know God was watching over us closely and were thrilled to be working with Him as missionaries in a foreign land. If you choose to be a missionary for Jesus, He will give you thrilling stories to tell others … maybe even a story about an angel!

Karen Stoeckert