Frantic (35 page)

“I wish we could go back to using dollars,” Shelly said. “I hate spending something with that guy's face on the front of it.”

“I know what you mean,” Pete said, “but you'll need this to keep fueled up. Keep it hidden.”

Pete helped them load their things, and the kids gave each other hugs. Vicki took a deep breath and closed the sliding door. She wondered what the world would be like the next time she saw her friends. Would the next judgment of the horsemen occur by then? How would kids respond to her teaching?

Shelly pulled out and Vicki watched the schoolhouse slowly disappear in the trees.

Though Judd couldn't wait to hear about his trip, Mr. Stein slept for nearly twenty-four hours. When he finally awoke, he was starving.

“I anticipated your hunger,” Yitzhak said from the kitchen. “Come and tell us what God has done while I make breakfast.”

Mr. Stein's face lit up as he talked of his travels. “There is so much to say, so many reasons to praise God. First, Judd must tell me what happened when he returned.”

Judd quickly explained how his plane had been attacked by locusts as they touched down in Israel. Lionel gave his perspective and added that they were able to see Moishe and Eli, the two witnesses at the Wailing Wall.

“How I long to hear their voices again,” Mr. Stein said. He took his time eating, savoring every bite. When he finished, he wiped the stray food from his beard and moved to a comfortable chair.

Judd, Lionel, Yitzhak, and the others staying in the house crowded into the room. They all tried to get as close as they could.

“Before I begin, I want to pray,” Mr. Stein said. “Father, for what I am about to say, I give thanks, and I pray that you alone would receive the honor and glory for what you have done.”

Lionel said, “We've heard from Judd about what happened the first week in Africa. Pick up the story from there.”

“As I traveled farther into the country, things became spiritually darker. In one village, I noticed there were very few young people. I learned that these people had been terrified by the Rapture of their children. They knew nothing of the true God and believed a spirit had stolen their children in the night.

“So, when the other judgments came—the earthquake, the stars falling from the sky, the darkened sun, and so forth—they believed the spirit wanted their older children. To please this angry god, they planned to sacrifice one child each day.”

Judd shook his head. “That's awful.”

“I spoke to them and told them that the Great Spirit was almighty God and that he took their children because he was kind and loving. Their sons and daughters who had vanished were safe in heaven.”

“Did that make them happy?” Lionel said.

“They were confused. I explained that God had become a man and lived a perfect life. He gave his life as a sacrifice. They understood the concept of sacrifice and wanted to hear more.”

“What happened?” Judd said.

“Every one of them believed in Jesus and received the seal of God on their forehead,” Mr. Stein said. “Then an amazing thing happened. A mother of two teenagers rushed up to me. She literally pulled me toward a mountain. We walked more than an hour. I had no idea where we were going.”

“I'll bet she wanted you to talk to some friends in another village,” Lionel said.

Mr. Stein smiled. “This will show you the goodness of God. On the night before the villagers were to perform their first sacrifice, the woman was awakened by a voice. She said it sounded like many waters coming together. The voice told her they must not kill their children. Someone was coming with wonderful news.

“She got up immediately, awakened her teenage sons, and quietly they rounded up all of the young people. She told them what the voice had said and that they were to hide.

“When we reached the edge of the mountain, the young people came streaming out to meet me. I told them the news that God loved them and didn't want them to die. Before I had finished my first few words, the boys and girls fell on the ground and cried out to God for mercy.”

Mr. Stein had tears in his eyes. “I can't describe the look on the faces of their parents when I led their children back to them. The parents had believed the evil spirit had taken their older children in the night just as their young ones had vanished. When they saw their sons and daughters coming toward them, the parents rushed to them and embraced them.”

The room fell silent. No one moved.

Mr. Stein sipped a hot drink and continued. “The people wanted me to stay but I had to keep going. God showed me each step to take. He took me to villages so remote that there were only a handful of people. But everywhere I went, I found people ready for the message. God had prepared their hearts to hear long before I arrived.”

“Were you ever afraid?” one of the other witnesses said.

Mr. Stein smiled. “There were times when the people came at me with spears and clubs, thinking I was there to harm them, but each time God gave me the language of the people to speak. Men clutching sharp knives stopped in their tracks when they heard my voice.

“But what did I have to fear? If I die, I am with Christ and my family. If I live, I do the will of God.” Mr. Stein paused. “Before I became a believer in Jesus, I was so concerned with what people thought of me. I chose my words carefully. I made sure I put forward the right image. I was so proud. Now I don't care what people think. If they believe I am a madman, so be it. I am a madman for Christ. If they think I am a fool, that I am loony, it is OK. I would rather be considered a fool and show people the way to God than be thought of as intelligent and respectable and allow people to go to hell.”

“There aren't any flights right now,” Judd said. “How did you get here?”

Mr. Stein took a deep breath. “That is the most incredible part of my story.”

32

JUDD
hung on every word Mr. Stein said. He knew how much Mr. Stein had resisted the gospel and how he had treated his daughter, Chaya. If a man that opposed to the things of God could be used to tell others the message, Judd thought God could use anyone.

Mr. Stein described how he woke up each morning and felt God leading him to a new place. “Some mornings there would be nothing to eat, and I would praise God that he was the Bread of Life. There were times when I came to great rivers or impassable canyons, and I would praise God that he was the way. Every day I learned something new about trusting him.”

Mr. Stein said, “To me, this is the most miraculous part of my story. I spoke in languages I have never heard before, watched God do things I couldn't begin to tell you, and yet, how he brought me here is most amazing to me.

“As I spoke and traveled, I realized God was leading me in a northern direction. The Sahara Desert lay to the east, and I was glad he didn't lead me there. But I was going farther and farther away from Israel, and I desperately wanted to come back here if it was God's will.

“After the locusts came, there were fewer people to speak with. So many had been stung and were in such great pain. Some people listened and received the mark of the believer.

“But God was leading me. I no longer had anyone with me, so it was quite lonely. I walked, borrowed vehicles, rode with some believers in a caravan, and kept pushing toward the coast. When I finally came to the shore and looked out on that vastness of blue water, I thought of the ocean of God's love. It is so wide and so deep.”

“Did you know where you were going at that point?” Judd said.

“I believed God would give me the desire of my heart to return to Israel. There were no flights leaving and I had very little money, but I found a believer with a small fishing boat who agreed to take me to Casablanca.”

“The same place as in that old movie?” Lionel said.

Mr. Stein smiled. “I've seen that, but I never dreamed I would visit under these circumstances. Locusts had attacked everyone and the city was nearly shut down.

“I spoke on the street corner and even went into the bars. I had proclaimed the Good News to people who lived in villages and wore almost no clothing. Now I was in a city telling people that same news.

“I didn't have the same success, but God was still with me. I was speaking to people gathered near a hospital, and a man approached and said he was the captain of a fishing vessel. He was looking for men who were able to work in spite of their injuries.

“I told him I had no injuries, that the Lord God had spared his servants. The man cursed at me but I followed him. The next day the boat headed for the Mediterranean Sea. . . .”

“And you were on it?” Lionel said.

“I was. But I discovered this was no fishing vessel. I was sent belowdecks on an errand and found the cargo hold. There were no fish. This boat carried millions of dollars' worth of drugs. I later discovered that hundreds of cartons were filled with heroin and cocaine.”

“How could the men on the ship work after being stung?” Yitzhak said.

“Their greed was greater than their pain. I saw men doubled over, writhing on deck, and others would simply step over them. They set their minds on the money they would receive, thinking that would ease their troubles.”

“Did you tell them about God?” Judd said.

“I told them so much they threatened to throw me overboard. I spoke to them individually; I preached from the bow, the mess hall, and anywhere there was someone who would listen. Sadly, it took a disaster to get their attention.”

Mr. Stein shuddered and continued. “We were a hundred miles off the coast of Malta when the storm hit. I have seen movies about such waves and violent winds, but I have never experienced anything so powerful.

“I was asleep belowdecks when I heard the screaming. Men who had already felt the pain of the locusts were now fearing for their lives. I ran onto the deck and saw a sight I'll never forget. Black clouds as thick as soot and waves three times higher than the mast. Waves crashed against the deck. Some men simply leaped into the sea, trying to take their lives.

“Of course, I knew they would not die. The Scriptures are clear that even if a person wants to die during this period he will not. I knelt and asked God to give me something to say, something to comfort the crew. Then I realized again that nothing we do is by chance. Nothing that happens to us is a mistake. God can use us in any situation.

“God brought to my mind the passage about Jesus asleep in the boat when a terrible squall came up on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples feared for their lives and woke him. Do you remember what happened?”

“Isn't that where Jesus spoke and made the wind die?” Lionel said.

“Exactly,” Mr. Stein said. “God had led me onto the deck and I called the men forward. The wind howled around us. Somehow God gave me the strength to speak above the noise.”

“What did you say?” Lionel said.

Mr. Stein closed his eyes and put both hands in the air. As he spoke he gestured, as if he were back on the deck of the ship. “You have heard the message of God, and you have not believed. You have survived an earthquake and meteors and freezing temperatures, and you have not believed. The stinging locusts came, and you have not believed.

“Hear me, not one of you will perish because of this storm. But you will all surely die if you do not accept the one and only Son of God.”

Mr. Stein opened his eyes. “They shouted at me, ‘How do you know we won't be killed?' I said that it was prophesied in the Bible.

“The captain stepped forward. He was such a hardened man. He knew the ship wasn't going to make it without some kind of miracle. ‘Can you save us?' he shouted. I told him only God can save, and each one of them must come to him for forgiveness.”

Mr. Stein stopped talking and knelt on the floor. He put his face in his hands. “I tell you this not to boast, but to rejoice in the power and goodness of God. I have no power of my own. But God impressed on me to raise my hands and shout at the wind, ‘The Lord God wants to use each of you for great and mighty things which you know not. So you will know that God alone has the power to save, I say, Peace, be still.'”

Mr. Stein wept until tears streamed through his fingers. The other witnesses and Yitzhak knelt beside him, hands on his shoulders, praying and weeping.

Judd looked at Lionel and whispered, “Wonder what happened?”

Lionel put a finger to his lips, and they waited until Mr. Stein stopped crying. He sat in a chair and wiped his eyes. “As God is my witness, the wind stopped almost immediately. Within a minute or so, the waves stopped and the sea grew calm. A yellow spot about the size of my hand broke through the dark clouds. It widened until the sky was a brilliant blue. The sun was out, and it was the finest day I have ever seen.”

Judd shook his head. He had read about miracles like that in the Bible when he was a kid, but he never expected anything like that to happen in his lifetime.