Back in the old days, when we served in Costa Rica, we were working a small part of the Pacific seaside city of Punta Arenas with a school administrator who was planting a church. At that time our custom was to first complete a prayer walk in the area we were targeting, and then do some sort of gathering event, where the Gospel would be shared.
To some people a prayer walk is a quiet contemplative thing, but as you might guess I have a hard time being quiet, so I trained our volunteers to begin relationships with people they might come across. I suggested they don’t bother someone who is consumed by their work, but rather look for people who might be hanging out clothes to dry, taking a break from fixing their vehicles, or watching some children playing while sitting under the shade of the cashew fruit trees. I asked them to approach people smiling and to tell them the truth that we were in their area simply praying for their community and for anyone who might have a specific need. Usually people would tell us to pray for their community or family - just generalities, and we would right there in the open for all the world to see pray with them. Then we would say, “Gracias, Dios le bendiga” and move along. Quite often those we had prayed for would hunt us down when we were already down the street or around the corner and ask us to come back with them and pray for their real needs, such as: serious illnesses, drunken or drugged spouses or children, work, relationships - you name it, and we probably prayed for it. These prayer walks created some close bonds with people quickly.
In this particular area of Punta Arenas, we found lots of fishermen, who were repairing nets, working on engines, and cleaning their boats. I mean we found a lot of them. It looked to me like the whole fleet was in the canals or docked. I didn’t suspect anything, because I really don’t know how professional fisherman do things, but we came to find out that this was abnormal. One fisherman asked us to pray, because pirates were boarding their boats at sea and taking anything of brass or had significant value. He relayed a story of one fisherman who resisted and the details weren’t pretty. We prayed, but then within minutes another fisherman had gathered many, many local fishermen, and as many of their families as they could, and we circled up to pray God’s protection from the pirates. We shared some Bible stories (I can’t remember which ones), talked with people some more, and invited them to an event we were having the next day, where there would be free food and more Bible stories.
The next day, they came. They packed the place. We were outside, and we really didn’t have enough room even outside. It was amazing. The church planter was going to be one very busy man. After the volunteer team left, I stayed behind to work with him for a few days on the followup, when a man brought to me this matchstick boat. It’s a replica that he made of the fishing boats in the Punta Arenas fleet. He made this while he was awaiting a miracle for the pirate problem. He told me with tears in his eyes, "The prayers worked, God saved us from the pirates.” Later I learned that God saved them by sending the US Navy to have training exercises with the Costa Rican Coast Guard just off shore, and the fishermen went back to work.
Prayers work. God listens. Sometimes He even uses the US government. God wants you to share with Him your hurts, worries and all your fears. This Covid Christmas is going to be very different, but God will see us through. He will see you through. I hope that in your life you have something like this matchstick boat that will remind you of His greatness, goodness and mercies every day.
Be blessed and Merry Christmas.
Steve D.