Alexandria, Egypt, 2015
The saying, “The Lord works in mysterious ways” is to somewhat state the obvious. Despite what we may claim from time to time, none of us really fully comprehend what God is up to at any given moment. His ways are complicated and beyond our understanding – certainly mine. But the fact that we may not fully understand doesn’t stop us from being caught up in divine adventures and from time to time we get to be eye-witnesses to His extraordinary works.
I have had many of such adventures and one thing that I have noticed is that I seem to find myself in the centre of these things when I am most out of my depth and not in control of the circumstances that I find myself in. Such was the case in Egypt in 2015.
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331BC, making the city older than Christianity. My wife and son had travelled to her native Egypt to visit her family and I was at home in Australia with no plans to travel that year. But after a few weeks a generous offer came from my wife’s family, who offered to pay for my ticket to join them. So quite unexpectedly I was able to catch a Qatar Airlines flight to Egypt to be reunited with the family and enjoy a short holiday abroad. We had intentionally purchased a flexible ticket and the plan was they we would all spend a lovely time together in Egypt and then arrange to catch the same flight home together. Qatar Airlines, however, had quite different plans.
As the day drew nearer for my wife and son to travel home, I was facing and impossible obstacle with the airline. Despite having remaining available empty seats on the flight, Qatar Airlines refused to allow me to change my flight so I could travel with my family. Not without charging high and extortionate fees. And that was something that I simply wasn’t willing or able to accept.
Anyone who knows me can testify that I can tend to be somewhat pugnacious and combative when it comes to consumer rights. In the past I have had no problem taking on big corporations and reminding them of their obligations under Australian consumer law, and I really thought that this situation would be a problem that I could easily resolve. After numerous unsuccessful attempts over the phone, I finally visited the Qatar Airlines office in Alexandria and appealed to their sense of fairness and compassion. When that failed, I was so frustrated ( I am now ashamed to admit) that made a scene and tried to embarrass and shame them into action… all to no avail. When I explained that the ticket I had purchased was supposed to allow me to change my flights the Qatar Airlines staff just apologised and claimed that there were no remaining seats available. However, when I went online I found that I could easily purchase seats on that same flight. Not even confronting them with that fact would change their resolve to not change my flight time. And because the ticket had been purchased in Egypt, Australian consumer law was no help to me. This looked like one of those rare occasions where I just wasn’t going to win.
As the day for Hanan and Daniel’s return flight to Australia drew closer, I very reluctantly accepted that I would be staying on in Egypt without them for an additional 10 days. We all travelled to Cairo together and said our emotional goodbyes at the airport. My heart broke as they were going through the gates with Daniel (who wasn’t quite three at the time) was in tears and calling loudly to me, “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” It’s safe to say that right at that moment I was not a big fan of Qatar Airways at all!
I had a very solemn and lonely ride back to Alexandria and only then did I begin to turn my thoughts to the fact that maybe the Lord had some hidden purpose for my extended stay in Egypt. Thankfully I had been able to make arrangements for family and friends back home in Australia to meet Hanan and Daniel at the airport in Melbourne and get them home safely. And whilst I was very thankful for the hospitality extended to me by the family in Egypt, I still found it difficult because of the communication and language barriers that existed. My Arabic language skills were sufficient to get me by in a survival situation, but not well developed enough for everyday conversation with family, so I continued to feel a bit like a fish out of water without my wife present to translate and fill in the gaps.
Alexandria is a beautiful and exotic city with a long and rich history. But this wasn’t my first time to visit and I had done many of the touristy things during previous visits. So I spent my remaining days in Alex interspersed with time working on my computer, going out for walks where I would take opportunities to engage with those locals who were as eager to practice speaking in English as I was to practice Arabic. I spent time going for long walks around Alexandria, drinking tea in roadside cafes and shopping to find some nice clothes for my wife. I also watched a lot of the National Geographic and English movie channels on satellite TV. Even so, I still had a lot of free time on my hands. Then one day I got a call from Lydia, Hanan’s dearest friend in Egypt. Lydia invited me to come to dinner with her family who lived on the outskirts of Alexandria, about 2o minutes by car from where I was staying, and I welcomed the chance to spend time with them.
Upon arriving I sat with Lydia and her Dad and exchanged pleasantries while her Mum worked busily in the kitchen preparing the meal. Between my limited Arabic and Lydia’s (much better) English, I was able to speak to her Dad and other members of the family. I had known for some time that her Dad, Mr Hanna, was not in good health, but I had no idea of the specific details. When I inquired after his health he put his hand on his stomach and shook his head, his facial expressions communicating that things were not good even before Lydia offered her interpretation in English. Then I did what I frequently do in situations like this, I asked him if he would like me to pray, to which he nodded ‘yes’ and thanked me.
It’s probably worth noting at this stage in the narrative that I wasn’t feeling particularly full of faith or spiritual at the time. In fact, I can freely admit that I wasn’t the best version of myself and I hadn’t been for days. I was still quite angry at the airlines for their lack of flexibility and compassion. Nor had I completely accepted being in Egypt when I would much have preferred to have travelled home, and be at home, with my dear wife and son. In short, I still had a bad attitude about it all. But all of that seemed to fade away momentarily as I focused on the man in front of me who was facing serious health challenges of some kind. The three of us, Mr Hanna, Lydia and I, bowed our heads in prayer and I clumsily attempted to find words to pray for a need that I didn’t even fully understand. It wasn’t my first time to be in blind situations like this. There had been many times before when I had gathered with crowds of people in Uganda who sought prayer after my preaching. Similarly there, I usually had no idea of what it was that I was being asked to pray for, but had proceeded with desperate reliance on the Lord to guide and direct things that were beyond my own understanding.
As I prayed for Mr Hanna I soon came to an end of my own words, but the unction to pray still continued. As I had learnt in the past, that was usually the Holy Spirit prompting me to continue to pray in tongues, “as the Spirit gives utterance” (see the link here for more information about that if you’re unfamiliar with praying in tongues). As I prayed in tongues I genuinely hoped that neither Mr Hanna or Lydia would notice, although I didn’t know how realistic that hope would be. After a minute or two I felt that I had discharged the burden and I hoped that the mysteries uttered in the Spirit would connect with God’s redemptive plan for this family and the welfare of the man in front of me. When I finally opened my eyes from prayer both Mr Hanna and Lydia were looking at me in amazement. Apparently (and I had no idea of this myself) while I was praying in tongues I had used the Arabic phrase for ‘prostate cancer’ – the very form of cancer that Mr Hanna had been suffering from.
Needless to say, both Lydia and Mr Hanna were both surprised and encouraged, as was I. Their faith tradition didn’t commonly include the practice praying in tongues (one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Book of Acts, chapter 2, and elsewhere throughout the New Testament). Nevertheless they could not deny or explain what they had just witnessed. Neither could I!
The skeptic reading this may be tempted to rationalise this away by asserting that I had previously learnt some obscure medical phrases in Arabic (well, I can assure you that this was NOT the case). Or that my gibberish utterances were somehow merely coincidentally approximate to the medical term for Mr Hanna’s condition (yeah, that would be a stretch!). But perhaps what is even more extraordinary, and much more difficult to explain, is that 4 weeks later when Mr Hanna went for his scheduled medical checkup, no traces of cancer could be found. Hallelujah.
Jesus said that signs and wonders fill follow those who believe and these kinds of signs and wonders seem to keep following believers around. I don’t subscribe to the belief that healing is an absolute proof of the gospel, but it is a sign that should get our attention and cause us to take more seriously the claims of Christ. It’s clear and evident that for some reasons that we often don’t fully understand, sometimes some people don’t get healed. But I do subscribe to the belief that Jesus holds the keys of death and that no-one can pass that eternal threshold until He gives His final word. All those whom Jesus healed during his ministry on earth have, presumably, passed away by now, so the hope that we have in Christ is not merely about escaping death, but is a sure hope that transcends the suffering and frailty of our mortal bodies and a solid hope of eternal life.
Events like these are remarkable, not only because they show God’s glorious power over sickness and death, but because this dear man got an extended lease on life, much to the joy and relief of his family too. We’re all living on borrowed time. Let’s make an effort to make the most of the time we have by getting right with God before it’s too late. Jesus said, “He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And he who believes in me shall never die”. If you have not looked into the promises of the Bible, I invite you to get a Bible and begin looking at the life of Jesus by reading the gospel of John.
