I am in the process of writing my memoirs and was reminded of this remarkable example of divine providence - not really a miracle but an example of God's gracious care and providence.
We were living in Kenya. Nathan, our son, had just graduated from Rift Valley Academy, a school for missionary kids. I decided to give him a trip to remember. We left Nairobi August 3, flying El Al Airlines to Israel and Egypt. Because El Al left in the middle of the night for security purposes, we had booked a room in Mayfield Guest House for Flo and Joy to stay. We all hit the sack for a few hours that evening before the Mayfield taxi would take us to the airport in the middle of the night. Somehow we fell asleep and were suddenly jolted by an awareness that it was time to leave and our ride was waiting outside. We quickly got up, collected our things and off we went.
However, as we drew near to the airport I discovered that my keys were missing, keys to the suitcases and trunks. Desperate, we wondered, what we should do? Since El Al is always full, we feared that if we returned to Mayfield to find the lost keys, we would lose our seats, so we decided to hope for the best. (In the excitement of the moment I am not really sure I prayed about the situation.)
El Al has devised unique ways of protecting themselves from terrorists. Instead of examining everything manually, they asked many questions to determine whether we were suspicious characters. When the El Al officials came to us, I told them our loss of keys and that they would just have to break open the trunk. Their x-ray machines of course revealed pictures of the contents. “No, no,” they said. “You don’t need to break the lock. Just tell us what is inside.” I explained that the locked trunk had a four drawer wooden cabinet which Nathan had made, the drawers being full of cassette tapes. They consulted with each other and were satisfied and waved us through.
In Israel the customs gave us no problem. Fortunately, the suitcases with our clothes had never been locked so we had access to them throughout the trip without breaking any locks. In Israel we walked the streets of Jerusalem and saw the strategic sites from biblical times. We took a bus tour to Masada and stopped by the Dead Sea, floating on the top of the saline waters.
After a few days we flew to Cairo, Egypt. Once again, for whatever reason, they did not give us problems with this locked trunk and fortunately, the unlocked suitcases were left untouched by thieves. After seeing the pyramids, the sphinx, the Cairo Museum with Pharaoh Tut’s remains, and Memphis, we flew up the Nile (going south) to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. This visit to Egypt was most fascinating to me, giving me the feel of ancient history. Nathan always said that I arranged to take him to Israel and Egypt for my benefit. While that is not entirely untrue, I would hope that he would come to appreciate his own opportunity of a life time to visit these historic sites about which we read in books and in the Bible.
Our faithful friend, Al Russell, once again met us in J. F. Kennedy Airport and brought us back to Emmaus, Pennsylvania. When the Lord brought us home to Doris Hilbert’s home (my wife's sister)where we stayed, a letter was awaiting us from Flo. Inside were the keys we had dropped accidentally in Mayfield Guest House when we quickly got up from the beds in panic and failed to look around and take care. God surely was watching over us. It is quite incredible when you think of it! We had left our own suitcases unlocked so they could be used. The one locked trunk was not a problem, even when passing through Israel and Egypt. And now in Emmaus the keys for everything were in hand. God was good to us!
God does not always work on our behalf in this dramatic way, but when he does, we can only say, "Praise the Lord."
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