An Honest Debate.com

In commenting on my last post on this subject one of the readers, Daniel, summarized the Bible answer to the question, what about those who have never heard, very nicely when he wrote: “I think that God in His providence will bring the message of Jesus to those who respond to the light of natural revelation.”

In this post I want to share an actual example of this principal from my own ministry. Over 20 years ago, while I was pastoring a church in the Denver Metro area, I served for over a year as a volunteer chaplain at Swedish Hospital. I swear — except for minor details that may be incorrect due to the fact that I was told this story over 20 years ago — this story is true.

One night I was called to the emergency room to help with a situation. When I arrived I learned that there had been a tragic accident. A young Vietnamese man had been changing a flat tire on the edge of a busy highway and had been hit by a passing car. He had been rushed into surgery. He has internal injuries and was in critical condition.

Some family members had already arrived, others were on the way, and I was asked to work with them. There was one slight problem. None of the family members present spoke English. The nurse told me that some younger family members who spoke English had been contacted and that they would be arriving shortly.

Fortunately I didn’t have to wait, because their arrival at the hospital and my arrival at the waiting area were almost simultaneous. But when I entered the room, rather than the chaos I had anticipated there was a calm, quiet dignity. The clear leader of the family was an elderly gentleman that looked a little like Ho Chi Min. He was a skinny man with a trace of a mustache and a long, scraggly beard. I can still see him in my mind’s eye, sitting on the edge of his chair, leaning with both hands on his cane.

As a hospital chaplain one of my responsibilities was seeing if there was a minister or clergy person I could call for them. Since they were Vietnamese I asked them if I could call a Buddhist priest for them. The quickly informed me they were Christians. I recalled that there was a significant Roman Catholic minority in Vietnam, so I asked them if they were Catholic. “They told me, no, we’re Baptists.” This intrigued me.

They didn’t have a pastor, and surgery being performed was a long one so I spent most of the evening with them. At some point in the evening the conversation came back to religion. I told them that I was somewhat surprised to hear that they were Baptists, and asked them to tell me their story. The following is there story as best I can remember it 20 years after the fact.

Their family had indeed been Buddhists, and made their living as fishermen. Sometime after the fall of South Vietnam they, like so many others, decided to make their escape by sea. They were what was know at the time as, boat people. They had a fairly large boat and so the entire family was able to make the escape. The boat was power by sail and a small outboard motor. They set out fairly well provisioned. They had extra water, food, and fuel on board, and favorable winds soon carried them safely around the tip of the Indochina Peninsula and into the Gulf of Thailand.

Unfortunately their luck quickly changed. About halfway to the goal, Bangkok, they were set upon by Thai Pirates. These monsters preyed upon this poor family for hours. I don’t know what all they had to endure at their hands, but they told me they were thankful that no one was killed. However, their tormenters last act was to steal all of their valuables, all of the extra fuel, and to dump all of their fresh water into the sea. All this poor family had left was the clothes on their back, their boat and motor, the sails, the fuel that was still in their gas tank and their empty water containers. And so they were left to die in the middle of the gulf of Thailand.

After they had drifted in despair for several hours the old patriarch of the family – the man who sat calmly leaning on his cane while the told me this story – called the family together. He told then that as they had sailed he had been looking at the stars and the sea, and he had come to the conclusion that some God unknown to them must have made these things (he had heard the silent sermon). He went on to suggest that perhaps a God powerful and wise enough to make the wonderful things would be merciful too and might have mercy on them if they were to call out to Him. And so, there in the boat they prayed the old man led them in their first prayer to this unknown God.

That evening a gentle rain began to fall. The men quickly spread the ships canvas sail to catch the water and they were soon able to refill their water containers. Then, as soon as they had finished, the rain stopped. At this point the old man reminded them of their earlier prayer. He told them that the unknown God must have heard and answered their prayer. And so they prayed a second prayer, this time thanking God for the rain. And so with their water supply replenished, and greatly encouraged, they sailed on.

Several mornings later (I don’t remember how many), the old man called them together again. He told them that a shining messenger of the God they had prayed to, appeared to him in a dream. The messenger had warned him that a great storm was coming, that the boat would be sunk in the storm, and that they should use the remaining fuel in their outboard motor to get into Bangkok Harbor as soon as possible. And so they started the motor and headed north as fast as they could.

They arrived in Bangkok harbor just ahead of the storm. The storm was so severe that their boat sunk in the harbor. However, they were rescued before it sank and transported to the safety of a refugee camp. Once again they thanked the unknown God for rescuing them.

The first night in the camp the old man had another dream. The same shining messenger appeared to them and told them that a white man would come to them the next day and tell them what to do. That day a Baptist missionary was visiting camp. He was there to visit someone else, but he just happened to notice this poor refugee family – this in itself was quite amazing given the hundreds or perhaps thousands of refugees in the camp. As he noticed them he sensed that God would have him approach them. He did so. They told him their story. He introduced them to the unknown God. And they received Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

The young man who had been injured in the car accident survived. If memory serves me he ended up losing a leg. I talked to the family at the end of my shift the next morning. I never saw them again after that. But I have always remembered their story. To me it is the ultimate illustration of the principle that if one responds to the light one has, then God will ultimately lead them to the source of the light, Jesus Christ.

P.S. If by chance someone out there is acquainted with this family I would like to get in touch with them to firm up the details.