White Suit

Me:  You and Romans are looking good!

Prodigal:  Thank you!

Me:  It is good to dress nice sometimes.

This is from the book  Where Angels Walk by Joan Wester Anderson

Louis Torres, a youth minister who now works in Mexico, was the director of a Teen Challenge Center in Philadelphia.  He spoke to Betty’s church congregation one morning and further confirmed the Biblical perception of angels as strong soldiers who sometimes remains invisible except to those who need to see them in order to be convinced.  Betty reports this story about a young woman named Myra, which Torres told her congregation:  Myra worked for Teen Challenge at the time Torres did.  Since it was located in a rough part of the inner city, she was concerned for the teens who had shown interest in receiving Christian counsel.  It was difficult for them to visit the center because on the streets just outside, a group from one of the local gangs repeatedly harassed them.  For a short while each evening, Myra was alone at the Center, and the gang bothered her as well, banging on the door and shouting obscenities.

One night when the gang appeared, Myra suddenly felt inspired to tell them about Jesus.  Knowing the danger, she first prayed for guidance.  Yes, she felt sure she had heard the Lord correctly.  She opened the door and walked outside.

The gang moved around her and, keeping her voice steady, she spoke to them about Jesus.

Instead of listening to her, however, the gang shouted threats of drowning her in the nearby river.  Trying to appear calm, Myra walked back through the door of the Center and shut it.  They didn’t follow her.

The next evening the thugs were back, once again banging on the door, and threatening her life.  Still believing she should try and reach out to them, Myra breathe a prayer to Jesus.  “Lord, let your angels come with me and protect me,”  she murmured.

Then she opened the door and was about to speak when the gang members suddenly stopped their shouting, turned to look at one another and left silently and quickly.  Myra was surprised.  Why had they gone?

The  gang did not return for several days.  Then one afternoon, to the surprise of everyone, they entered the Center in an orderly fashion.  Much later, after a relationship of trust had been built with them, Louis Torres asked them what had made them drop their threats against Myra and leave so peacefully that night.

One young man spoke up.  “We wouldn’t dare touch her after her boyfriend showed up.  That dude had to be seven feet tall.”

“I didn’t know Myra had a boyfriend,”  replied Louis thoughtfully.  “But at any rate, she was alone here that night.”

“No, we saw him,” insisted another gang member.  “He was right behind her.

“He was big as life in his classy white suit.”

Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fished of the sea shall declare unto thee.  Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

Job 12:8-9

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

2 Responses to White Suit

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *