Basic HTML Version
1
got out of Bucharest just in time to
avoid the most devastating of re–
cent earthquakes.
It
seems provi–
dential.
1 had planned originally to spend
another week at the Otopeni Clinic.
Then l decided to cut ita week short
because of the need to get to South
Africa. So I planned to leave Buch–
arest on Friday morning, for an a p–
pointment in London on Friday.
Then
J
learned the Friday appoint–
ment had to be moved up to Thu rs–
day morning.
That made it necessary to plan to
leave Bucharest Wednesday after–
noon, spending the night in London
in order to be on time for the Thurs–
day-morning appointment. Ac–
tually, [ was a lmost angered at the
change in the London appointment.
lt
was planned at the very last
minute.
And it got me out of Bucharest
just approximately a day before that
devas ta ting 7.2 (on the Richter
scale) earthquake struck. The epi–
center of the quake was a few miles
northeast of Bucharest. The clinic is
sorne four or five miles northeast of
the center of Bucharest. 1 have not
been able to get any news as to wha t
happened to the clinic.
Telephone calls poured into Pasa–
dena inquiring if 1 was injured in
the quake.
Do you believe in angels? I'm
sure many do not today, but the
Bible has a lot to say about them.
Th ey a re described in sorne deta il in
the first chapter of Hebrews.
God says of angels: "Are not all
angels merely spirits in the divine
service, commissioned for the bene–
fit of those who are to inherit
salvation?" (Heb. 1:14, Moffa tt
translation.) In the King James Ver–
sion, which is used more than any
other transla tion, it says: "Are they
[angels] not all mi!listering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation?" Many
times in the Bible it speaks of angels
protecting or ministering to people
of God, especially Jesus.
1 think 1 wrote in my autobiogra–
phy of the time when 1 was driving
at night in a heavy rain southward
on the highway between Salem and
Eugene, Oregon. This was before
the present freeway system- the
highway was a narrow, paved, two-
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977
Personal from...
How 1Have Been
Providentially Protected
From Harm and Even Death
way road fuU of sharp cu rves. I was
turning on a sharp curve when sud–
denly in front of me was a horrible
wreck. Directly in front of me was a
large truck s tanding still , also
headed south. Because of the sharp
curve I did not see it until l was
within lO or 15 feet of it. l was
driving only about 25 or 30 miles an
hour, but still there was no time to
stop without crashing into the rear
of the truck.
Believe it or not,
suddenly
sorne
UNSEEN
force wrenched my steering
wheel sharply to the left. 1 missed
striking the side or rear of the truck
by possibly not as much as one inch.
Then straight ahead of me on the
other side of the road was a stalled
car standing still , headed north . The
sa me unseen force powerfully
turned my steering wheel sharply to
the right. My car passed between
the car headed north and the front
of the truck headed south. They
were so close that there was hardly
one inch of space between the left
front of the big truck and the left
rear of the passenger car. It hap–
pened so
QUICKLY,
1 hardly knew
what happened- but 1 do know that
l myself did not turn tha t steering
wheel. Sorne unseen
FORCE
turned it
in spite of me. 1 brought my car to
an immediate stop safely in front of
the big truck. Upside down, in a
ditch to my left beyond the north–
bound passenger car 1 just barely
missed, was anothe r passenger car,
its radio still blaring. 1 think those in
it were killed.
You may not believe there was any
angel there, or that God was provi–
dentially protecting me by an angel.
But I
KNOW
that 1 could never have
steered tha t car so skillfully, so sud–
denly without warning, and have
missed both the truck and the stalled
car with not an inch to spare.
1 have on other occasions written
of the time 1 was driving a car on
Foster Road in Portland. I was ap–
proaching a side street where l had
visited a serio usly c rippled and
paralyzed man who had gone to an
Aimee Semple McPherson meeting
to ask the lady evangelist to pray for
his healing. l had offered to help
carry this man in. We had to enter
at the rear stage entrance. But they
refused to let the man see Mrs.
McPherson. 1 had taken his borne
address and called on him, offering
to pray for his healing myself. But I
had reason, l felt, to read to him
from I John 3:22: "And whatsoever
we ask, we receive of hjm, because
we keep his commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in his
(Continued on page 40)