Sometimes, the timing is just right—right for someone to discover who God is and His plan of salvation for his or her life. That was the case recently for a handful of people in Fort McMurray, AB, where flooding has—at the same time as damaging dwellings—prepared hearts to find their true homes in Jesus Christ.
“I am so glad to be shown the way.”
When our chaplains met Tom* he described how other members of his family were Christians but didn’t say the same about himself. He eagerly read through a Steps to Peace with God booklet with our chaplain, which describes Christ’s death on the cross as the bridge between mankind and God. Tom admitted that he was just starting to cross that bridge, and as he and the chaplain read further added, “I am so glad to be shown the way.” Following the chaplain’s clear Gospel presentation, Tom wanted to ask Jesus into his life and did so with joy in his eyes. “Thank you for showing me the path,” he said. “I feel safe. I haven’t felt this safe in a long time.”
“He bridged the gap!”
Homeowner Jesse* told our chaplains he wears a cross around his neck because it helps him feel close to God. As they journeyed together through the pages of the Steps to Peace with God booklet, Jesse agreed with each truth—particularly the concept that Christ’s cross is like a bridge between us and God.
“When we came to the prayer, the homeowner took the booklet in his hands and prayed aloud with emotion,” our chaplain reported. “When he was finished, he looked at us and said, ‘That’s it! He bridged the gap!’” Jesse immediately went into his house to tell a friend what had happened, then returned to the front yard to share his joy with the other chaplains.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5, ESV).
“I had no idea this was going to happen.”
While helping clean out flooded homes as a Samaritan’s Purse volunteer, Steven* encountered Christ like never before—having been raised in what he called a Christian home and a recent attendee at church. Our chaplains walked him through the Steps to Peace with God booklet. When given the opportunity to pray for the forgiveness of his sins and to receive Christ into his life, “he prayed the prayer with feeling,” said our chaplain.
“Wow!” Steven declared afterward. “When I got up today and came to volunteer I had no idea this was going to happen.” He asked to keep the booklet so he could read it again, and joyfully accepted a Bible from the chaplains.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25, ESV).
*Names changed to protect privacy
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