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Acts 8:26-40: On the Road to Smithers...

Let me tell you a true story.  I was helping with The Salvation Army’s forest fire relief program in BC. Myself and another person, Chris, were posted to Smithers to give The Salvation Army ministry lead there a bit of a break. Our job was to support the staff, volunteers, evacuees, and the people who were at the reception centre. People who were evacuated needed to come there to register and we would offer them food and emotional and spiritual support as it was required.

We were staying at the Salvation Army Mountainview Camp between Houston and Smithers and we would drive in every day.  On this one particular day as we were driving back from a day’s work in Smithers we were so engaged in our conversation or something that we drove right past the camp and right into Houston before we realized what we had done. We thought it was an accident but the truth is that we had a divine appointment. Just like the Ethiopian picked up Phillip from the side of the road, Chris pulled over and we picked up a firefighter looking for a ride back to Smithers. And just like the Ethiopian was reading the Scriptures; so was Lukas, the fellow we picked up from the side of the road. He was reading from the book of Mark. And just like the Ethiopian asked Phillip to explain to him what Isaiah meant; Lucas, when he heard we  were providing spiritual care for people, hauled out a little New Testament Bible that he had just been reading by the side of the road and flipped through Mark, asking us to explain whatever we could from his gospel: what does it mean to hide your light under a bushel? How about the parable of the mustard seed? And what is the yeast of the Pharisees? Phillip explained Isaiah to the Ethiopian, building on whatever had happened before and then he stopped by the side of the road, baptized him and was on his way. We were blessed to explain excerpts from Mark, after he had had an initial conversation with some medics and picked up his Bible. As we reached Smithers we prayed with him as we let him out of the car and we continued on our way. I have had this passage in Acts 8 going through my head ever since. I don’t generally pick up hitchhikers and if I were to, I wouldn’t expect them to have a Bible in hand asking me to explain it to them. But this is the grace of God.

God loves us so much that He has saved us. He promises that He will be with us through tough times – like losing our homes in a fire or any other such trouble – or good times – like meeting new friends and praying with and for them. And we never know when God will give us a chance to do just that. So like Susan encouraged us last week to share our testimony, I encourage us to pray and read our Bible because who knows when God may send someone into your path like the Ethiopian or Lucas who just wants you to explain the love of God to them

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