Roland Pletts on the mighty Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe  

In 1994 I took a small group of three men and myself on a canoeing trip on the Zambezi. I had done this several times before and I enjoyed it. Finding good opportunities to share on spiritual things.

All went well for the first few days, but then things went horribly wrong – despite the Lord forewarning me, I took no notice and did not make proper plans or take necessary precautions.  

An unexpected strong gale swept up the river causing choppy waves which quickly flooded our canoes. We capsized. Our canoes were carried downstream, leaving us in the strong current. We found ourselves in the middle of the mighty Zambezi in a particularly wide part and were carried swiftly along by the current. I am not a strong swimmer but my colleague, also a minister, was worse than me and was beginning to go under.

Suddenly one of the guys, a tall man, found a place where he could stand in the river on an underwater sand dune. We all managed to get there, and rest, with our noses above water.  

Then we made our way along the sand dune until we came to a small muddy island onto which we collapsed. The crocodiles had been lying there and we saw their marks in the mud. Recently a man had been taken by a croc in a similar situation.

I was particularly exhausted and went into shock.

After a while we began to recover, but the afternoon was passing and the sun getting lower. To stay there overnight would have made us crocodile fodder, but there was no way we could get off. It was August, which is when the crocs begin to feed after the cooler months of winter. We were looking certain death in the face.

My minister colleague prayed “Oh Lord, send us a speed boat.”

Curled up in the mud I thought to myself, “Please pray something realistic”, for powered boats were restricted on that part of the river it being a National Park on both sides of the river.

The minutes ticked by and we had absolutely no idea of what to do. Then, ever so distant, we thought we heard the sound of an engine.

Suddenly, wonder of wonders, a large boat appeared around the bend in the Zambesi and planed at great speed toward us. Then behind it appeared a second. We could hardly believe our eyes or contain our relief and joy.

One speedboat went off to get our canoes that had floated downriver. The upturned canoes been seen by the staff of a safari camp on the Zambian side. The manager had radioed up to Chirundu to send the boats despite this being illegal.

Looking back gives me a deep appreciation of the faithfulness of the Lord. It was a lesson to me not to limit God. He is able to do wonders.

In the midst of danger, our prayers had been short and to the point, direct to the Lord who alone had the ability to help; no one else was around.

Whenever I am down or facing problems I remember the Zambezi and feel better. I just pray to the Lord a very simple prayer that goes like this – “LORD SEND ME A SPEEDBOAT”.

Roland’s testimony shows that: 

1. God expects us to respond to His warnings such as to make careful plans.
2. God is faithful and never leaves us nor forsakes us. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
3. God is not limited. He can answer “impossible prayers” in the midst of danger.
4. God can give protection from a variety of pressing dangers.
5. God is always there, even when we think we are alone. We are never really alone.
6. God should not be limited in our thinking or prayers. He is able to do wonders.
7. God hears quick simple prayers based on previous experiences like “Lord Send Me a Speedboat”.

 

 

Ivan and Jason Rudolph, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

“I was driving down busy Herries Street in Toowoomba with my son Jason in the back. I stopped at the traffic lights with the New England Highway. My car was first in line to turn right at the lights, but other cars quickly filled up behind. A big building at the left blocked out a view of traffic approaching the lights from that side.

The light turned green for me and I was about to drive off when a “voice” said “stop, don’t go”.

I was surprised but obeyed.

The cars behind me began hooting impatiently.

Then suddenly a massive truck thundered through the intersection at high speed. If I had driven off the truck would certainly have collected my car or one of the other cars behind.

The cars behind stopped hooting and they and I had to wait through a further sequence of lights before we could drive away. I was a bit shaky but very thankful.

I mentioned this to my tutor group at school the following day during chat time, and the next day a lad told us in the group that his dad had been driving the truck and he had been very tired and had run the lights in error – and apologised!”

  Ivan and Jason’s testimony shows that:

1. God can speak to us in dangerous situations.
2. God somehow knows where we are and what we are doing. We are always under His watchful eye.
3. God expects instant obedience when He communicates. Anything less could have been disastrous for us, or for one of the cars behind us.

Police Officer Pat Ciccone USA

This upcoming account is thanks to Dr Chet Weld for allowing me to quote from his excellent book ‘God Is In The Crazy’, packed full of examples of God at work in our lives.

Pat Ciccone and his brush with death and glimpse of heaven

At three AM on May 13, 1981, I was driving home from a night of drinking after the end of the night shift. I was stopped at a red light when a man approached my vehicle and proceeded to rob me. My driver door window was open, and he stabbed me in the neck and asked me for my money. As I grabbed for my neck to stop the bleeding, the suspect noticed that I was trying to get my service revolver out of my holster. I wanted to shoot him, but I was getting weak from the stab wound and he wrestled the gun from my hand. He then told me to lie down on the front seat of my vehicle and placed the gun to my head.

The next thing I remember is that I firmly believed I was going to die. My entire life just flew through my mind in a split second. I saw when I was baptized, when I took my first communion and every significant event of my life. In an instant. How was this possible? All I know is that it happened!

After this life review, I felt so happy and peaceful that I did not care what was happening to me. I remember that there was complete silence. Then I saw myself going down a path of brightly colored green hedges and beautiful flowers. I was on a winding cement path. There were flowers of all different varieties and I could smell them. And I saw the most vivid colors of red, yellow, blue, orange, and purple. I knew that this perfectly manicured path was the path to Heaven. I was on my way!

Suddenly, and I have no idea why, the gunman ran away, keeping my gun. He was arrested within a few days, charged with multiple crimes and spent several years in prison.

Now it’s 2018 and I still think about the incident. I had many close calls as a police officer, but I never saw again a passageway to the other side of this life. I can honestly say that at that time and place I was on my way to Heaven and wanted to go there. God had other plans for me, however.

Pat’s testimony illustrates about God:

1. God is ultimately in charge of whether we live or die.
2. God is in control of whatever comes into our lives.
3. God has prepared a passageway into Paradise during an NDE (Near Death Experience – read Ivan’s book “Living Beyond”)
4. God is an amazing artist – every account Ivan has heard or read describes Paradise in glowing terms.
5. God can condense our experiences such that much happens in what later appears to be a short time.
6. In common with hundreds of other reports, Pat wanted to go to be with God rather than to return. But, as always, it is God who calls the shots.

Norma Davies in Durban, South Africa.

There are times in our lives when inward stillness before God is absolutely necessary to allow Him to work on our behalf. I remember with clarity this lesson, one very scary night, when we were missionaries running the Missions Bible College, In Durban, South Africa. A totally unexpected event unfolded, which had the potential of changing my entire life. 

We held evening classes in surrounding communities that were within driving distance of our home base. Due to the political unrest in the area, it was not wise for me to teach any of the night classes – Glyn taught all those classes by himself. 

One evening when he was gone, teaching a night class, I decided to turn on the government-controlled TV, and watch the evening news. The news reporter announced that one of the bedroom communities, whose residents were predominately Asian Indians, had been cordoned off by the military as terrible rioting had erupted between the residents and a raiding group of an African tribe. The raiders were torching homes, overturning cars and setting them on fire with the occupants still inside. I sat riveted to the news report because I knew Glyn was picking up students for class in this VERY community! 

It seemed every part of my being throbbed with anxiety, and the urge for vigorous action raced with an overpowering sense of urgency; yet circumstances were such that I could do nothing! We had no cell phones, the humble church building in the coastal town of Tongaat where Glyn would be teaching the class had no phone. We were totally out of communication with each other and there was no one, other than the Lord, I could turn to. 

Our children, Russel & Donna-Mae, were old enough to comprehend the severity of the situation. I gathered the children and the three of us pleaded with the Lord to keep his hand of protection on our beloved husband and father Then all we could do was be still and quiet before the Lord.

For a little while it seemed as if I would fly to pieces with the inward turmoil, even though I was trying to be “strong” for the sake of the children,

Suddenly, the still small voice whispered in the depths of my soul, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The word filled my anxious heart and flooded through my being like the balm of a spring shower. Peaceful stillness enveloped me, my troubled spirit became filled with quietness while I waited; trusting God with this situation beyond my control, knowing that in my helplessness He would meet our need; so, I rested in Him.

It was a lesson I would not soon forget for I learned right then that my “strength” was to sit still! It was a living stillness born out of trust. Quiet tension is not trust! It is simply compressed anxiety.

These scriptures applied during that special time of waiting:

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Isaiah 30:15 (NKJV) “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” 

Finally, our long wait was over the children and I heard the sound of the car turning into our drive. We raced out into the humid night and threw our arms around a very surprised and confused man!

Once in the house we recounted to Glyn what had transpired and peppered him with questions how he escaped the rioters. He told us that the students he normally would have dropped off in the community where the trouble was, told him after class that they were going to visit a friend. This left Glyn alone and on a “whim” decided to take the much longer coastal road home, as it was a beautiful evening with a full moon. He felt that the drive along the edge of ocean would be a refreshing way to end a long hot day. 

This is when reality set in and we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord had prompted Glyn to take the longer coastal road home, thus missing the carnage that would have befallen him if he had driven his usual route. Our hearts soared with joy & thankfulness at the goodness of God to our family that memorable night.

Friends, there are times for action, but there are also times for remaining still before God, allowing Him to work His Divine answer to your prayers.

Norma’s testimony illustrates that:

1. God can let us know when to act, but also when to be still in the confidence that He is now in control.
2. God hears our impassioned prayers for the protection of our loved ones.
3. God can arrange circumstances beyond our control even in situations of extreme danger.
4. God expects us not to wait in tension and compressed anxiety once He has taken control, but instead to relax while we await the outcome.

Rev David and Heidi Craig NSW, Australia, 2021

Heidi and I entered the doctor’s room and she invited us to sit. She looked at me straight in the eyes and said, “David, it appears that you have lung cancer.” I looked at Heidi and I saw something in her face that I had not seen before. My first thoughts were that I had been diagnosed with the death sentence. My whole life passed before me in a matter of milliseconds. It was Monday 22^nd March 2021.

When my life passed before me in milliseconds, I asked God why, why me? I then remembered the mid to late teens while working in the building industry and my continued and heavy contact with pure blue asbestos fibre and processed building materials containing blue asbestos. At this point I knew that it was not the doing of God, but that He would strengthen Heidi & I and give us strength to ride this one out, no matter what.

A specialist at the Dubbo Base Hospital confirmed the diagnosis and showed Heidi and me the exact cause of the cancer. He showed the main problem being blue asbestos, secondly heavy dust contamination and thirdly some tobacco contamination from the foolish habit of smoking years ago. He outlined the options and said that it was operatable and felt that it would be successful. He referred me to a surgeon at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA).

After the surgery and recovery, I was sent to a ward. All seemed ok until just before midnight. A nurse, making final rounds before going off shift, came to check on my wellbeing. In doing so she felt an abnormality under my skin around the shoulders, chest & neck. It was likened to bubble wrap under the skin. This was due to air pockets being trapped between the skin tissues. Apparently, this can be a condition following lung surgery and can be fatal!

The panic button was activated and before I knew it there were three doctors around the bed and four nurses. Within minutes, a portable x-ray machine appeared. My throat was swelling to the point of not being able to breathe. The doctors had a brief meeting and decided to send me to ICU and within minutes I was travelling down the hallway to the elevator with several escorts around the bed.

ICU was to be for 24 hrs for close monitoring, but due to the shortage of beds in the wards I was there for three days. I spent some of this time praying for the extremely sick patients and the very overworked nurses & doctors. They are incredibly special people. 

Physio started in ICU the second day and thanks be to God I excelled the expectations for post lung surgery recovery.. 

At 3:34 a.m. the first morning back in the ward, I was woken by the nurse to say that I have a phone call from my son, Shaun. He was on the waiting list for a double transplant, kidney and pancreas! Heidi and I and many others held Shaun up in prayer.

The transplants were successful, but the day after – Shaun had a serious cardiac arrest and his heart stopped for nine minutes. We prayed.

Shaun’s recovery was remarkable without any damage to heart or brain. His progress also exceeded all expectations.

I was discharged five days after surgery to go home. We called in to see Shaun on our way home.

I felt safe and secure throughout this whole episode.

I give thanks to Almighty God for his healing powers and answers to prayer through his Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. I also give thanks for Heidi and for the whole medical team from start to finish, and thank God also for their skills and their profession.

David’s testimony shows that:

1. God and medicine can make a powerful and wonderful combination.
2. God may not remove the consequences of dangerous behaviours in youth, but He can see us through whatever the consequent medical treatments that are needed later.
3. God can protect us from anticipated harmful outcomes during medical interventions.
4. God can give us a sense that all will turn out well even when the circumstances appear different.
5. God can give inspired insight into the past and what has caused our medical problem.