Intro: Bob and Jean Robinson and their 4 sons have been friends of the Hornberger family for more years than my wife and I have fingers and toes.  Together we watched our children grow up, have children and start careers of their own. We first met when the Robinson family had to flee from Congo’s Simba Rebellion.  They lived on our Kijabe station as refugees in Kenya, until the fighting finished.  During that time, Bob and I became best buddies. We worked together on the Kesho magazine staff.  Shortly after returning to Congo, Bob died an untimely death bathing our souls with sadness, but gladness and eternal life for him.  Someday we’ll be together again.   In the meantime, Jean, who is now retired at AIM’s Retirement Center in Florida, continued their work in Congo.  She’s a natural storyteller.  And whenever she says, “I feel a story coming on….” we all sit back and listen.  From time to time I’ll publish some of her stories, until I can persuade her to start a blog of her own.  Here’s one of her true stories that I know will thrill your heart. — dave hornberger

Jean says:  “In the book, Praying For One Another, Gene Getz says, ‘Somehow, the simple act of prayer links a sovereign God to finite man.  When man prays, God responds.  Difficult situations change.  Unexplained miracles occur.”

     As I think back over the years God allowed me to minister in Congo, there are many examples of the above quote.  Let me share just one of them with you.

     When my husband died I needed to cross over from Congo to Uganda to get a new passport since I had been a dependent on his, which was now no longer valid.  The immigration officer, deeply saddened to hear about Bob’s death, reached across the big desk to express his sympathy.  He groped for words that did not come easily, finally blurting out, “It’s disgusting!”  And when you stop to think about it…that it was! From that time on, we fondly referred to this friend, as “Mr. Disgusting.”

     Years passed.  He left that office and was reassigned to some new location.  As a result I lost all contact with him.  During that time Idi Amin came into power in Uganda, unleashing a reign of terror in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.  During that awful time, I had to go to the East Coast of Africa to pick up my truck given to me while on furlough for the work at Adi mission station.  The route back home to Congo required that I pass through dangerous Uganda.  I came fearfully to the border customs and immigration office.  I was met by a young customs man who, I could tell by his demeanor, was proud of his authority and determined to give this lady a difficult time.  Gruffly he demanded I give him cash for the total value of my truck promising it would be reimbursed when I got to the Congo border. Of course I knew that promise would never be kept, even if I had that kind of cash. He was after a very expensive bribe.  I stuttered meekly saying I didn’t have any such cash with me!  So I was told I would have to return to Kenya and find some other way home.

     Outside the building were some truck drivers laughing at me.  When I got to the truck I noticed I had a flat tire — picked up on the way in there because of a nail they had put in the parking place where I stopped.  I got down on my hands and knees trying to release the spare tire from under the truck, and I didn’t know how to do it.  They continued laughing at me and at my efforts.  I did not know what to do, and thought, “This is no place for a woman alone…in this dangerous country at this time.”

     I heard a car pull into the parking lot, but just kept on with my work.  Suddenly I heard a voice saying, “Mrs. Robinson, what are you doing here?” I looked up and there was “Mr. Disgusting! My long lost friend!”  He told me he was the Chief Customs Officer at this post but it was his day off.  “But,” he said, “something told me to go back to the office to check things out.”

     I told him my problem, and that the man in the office wouldn’t give me papers to travel through Uganda (a trip of some 500 miles) and now I had this flat tire.  He ordered the laughing men, now very sober, (who, by the way, had been waiting for him) to fix my tire and that he would come back and check to see that they did a good job of it.  They responded with, “Yes, SIR!” and saluted him.

     Then he took me into the office and stamped all the papers and did not charge me anything, but rather, wished me a safe journey home!

     So, is that the end of the story?  No.  Not quite.  Sometime later I received a letter from a man from one of the churches where I’d spoken while on furlough.  He said he woke up one night and couldn’t sleep, so he got down on his knees and prayed for me, not knowing what my need might be.  After some time, the Lord spoke to him and said, “It’s okay now; the problem has been fixed.”  He then asked, “What happened on that date and at that hour?”  As I checked it out, it was when I was kneeling beside my truck needing help so badly, and when my friend, ‘Mr. Disgusting’ came to my rescue!

     And that is one of my favorite stories from my long life in Africa.

     For fifteen years my family and I lived on the edge of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley on a mission station known as, Kijabe.  It’s 7500 feet above sea level. Below on the valley floor, when the sun is shining on African villages and herds of domestic and wild animals, Kijabe is often ”fogged in” by clouds. 

     But one nice thing about living in the clouds is that Eagles also like to hang out at this altitude.  Actually about two miles from my home a pair of Eagles lived along the jagged cliffs.  The nest was snuggled rather precariously on an overhanging ledge, sheltered from the elements by jutting rocks.  Since Eagles use their nests year after year it becomes bulky and heavy as they repair and add to it season after season.  Some reports say a nest can weigh as much as a ton!  It’s built with sticks of all sizes.

     To see this nest I had to climb down, rather than up, the cliff.  I didn’t want to disturb them, so using binoculars I observed them from a respectible distance. I even noticed some bones woven into the nest.   Once the large basic infrastructure was built to accommodate about five large birds the holes and gaps were filled with smaller sticks from thorn bushes and other jaggy stuff.  This was then covered with lots and lots of soft items such as skins of animals, leaves, rags, and, I swear some of my long lost t-shirts.  The thorns and jaggy stuff kept it from blowing away. Pretty smart.

     On the ledge, next to the huge nest, was a flat slab which was used as a runway for a fast take-off.  I read that Eagle pairs live together beside the nest and are devoted to one another.  This was certainly true of the pair  I was watching.

     Usually the female lays one to three eggs which start hatching in about 35 days.  Their care for the young is very interesting.  When the young eaglets are old enough to fly (about 10 – 13 weeks after hatching) the parents disrupt the comfortable nest by “stirring” it up!  That is, they attack it (almost like a housecleaning)  by tossing out the soft skins, rags, and leaves.  Rather than having a place of peaceful rest as before, the eaglets are now confronted with a nest that pokes and jags and hurts.  The ploy works and the eaglets leave their comfort zone and walk on the ledge runway.  Daily they start flapping their wings, building flight muscle.  Through some instinct, along with a parent’s urging the young birds try their wings in flight.  If, as the little one flies downward and the parent notices it is having difficulty, the parent swoops down swiftly and spreads its wings under the little one catching it from a fatal fall.   I’m sure this is what the Bible means in Deut. 32:11, “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.”

NATURE-ly SPEAKING – several spiritual lessons can be learned from the Eagle.

• Sometimes, when God wants to move us, He makes our “nest” uncomfortable so that we are forced from our comfort zone into an exciting unknown.  But as we go he promises to never put more on us than we are able to bear.  He promises in Exodus 19:4, “You know how I brought you to myself and carried you on eagle’s wings.”  He reminded them of their wilderness journey and of the times their food and water supply dwindled, but He never failed them.  At the right moment, He reminded them, He ”carried them on eagle’s wings.”  His care for us, His children, is like the mother eagle’s care for her young.  With God on our side we can afford to take risks.
• Eagles fly above storms. One day I was in an AIM/AIR plane heading to an assignment when the pilot saw a storm brewing ahead of us.  No problem, he simply nosed the airplane up over the storm, away from the turbulance.  As I looked down and saw all the dark swirling clouds below I also noticed something else, an eagle flying, not through the storm, but above it.  When life comes at us with all its billowing thunder and wind, when catastrophe is all around, when things seem to be hopeless, as it was for David in the story found in 1 Samuel 30:1- 25 (please read), what did he do? vs. 4 says, “But David found strength in the Lord his God.”  He went above the storm for victory.
• Eagles have other birds who often fly after them trying to steal away a fish or rodent catch they just made.  How does the eagle deal with this enemy?  When such an attack occurs he will immediately put himself between the agressor and the sun.  By flying directly into the rays of the sun, the enemy quickly loses sight of him and simply gives up.  Likewise, as we get nearer to God the sun Son, Satan and other evil forces cannot touch us. “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1).

     Take a good hard look at this picture.  You’re looking at a killer.  “C’mon,” you say, “it’s only a goat!”  You’re right it’s only a goat.  But this  is not an ordinary goat.  He’s a killer by design.  When I first laid eyes on this creature, he was already responsible for over 500,000 deaths, and how many more since then, I have no idea.  Let me tell you a bit about this particular goat.

     First of all, his name is Judas, because he betrays others of his species.  He lives in Kenya, East Africa, several miles south-east of Nairobi just off the main Mombasa road.  His place of employment is a slaughter-house where tribesmen bring their animals in order to get cash for their material needs.  The animals, of course, are slaughtered and sold throughout Kenya to butchers, restaurants, and  supermarkets. 

     I was told Judas was chosen several years ago because he had the stature of a leader.  He looked like a goat that other goats and sheep could trust.  He was very intelligent and learned his routine very quickly.  You see, an East African slaughter-house has holding pens where cattle, sheep, goats, and other livestock are kept.  The doomed animals know something is amiss.  The smell of blood and death is everywhere.  As a result they are very skittish and difficult to lead to the killing rooms.  That’s where our friend, Judas, comes into the picture.  He is taken to a pen housing freightened sheep and goats.  His presence is immediately felt.  As he mingles with the animals their fears subside and soon they follow him around seeking refuge in the calm, stately, and confident Judas.  Once the animals completely trust Judas, a handler opens a gate allowing Judas to go through it along with eight other animals.  They faithfully follow him across the compound and he takes them to an elevator door where he patiently waits for the elevator.  As the door opens he enters.  The others follow.  Then he quickly slips out to safety as the iron door slams shut!  The others go up to the next floor which is the killing room, and thirty seconds later their throats are slit.  

     Judas then goes back to the big pen and takes eight more disillusioned followers to the elevator door!  All day long he leads sheep and goats to their doom.  Of course he doesn’t get a paycheck for his grim trade, but he is given his freedom to die a natural death.  Actually I saw his predecessor in a nearby pen, happily chewing on a piece of, all things, dried goat meat!

NATURE-ly SPEAKING a spiritual lesson can be learned from the Judas Goat.  He is a counterfeit.  Other animals that put their trust in him end up dead.

     Satan is like the Judas goat.  The Devil has laid out an intricate counterfeit plan, so cleverly devised that even Christians must constantly beware lest they fall into his trap.

•      Satan has counterfeit Christians. Whenever God sows one of His true children, Satan comes along and sows a counterfeit.  Jesus explained this in Matthew 13:24-29, 36-43. “(vs.24-29) Here is another story Jesus told: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as everyone slept his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat.  When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.  The farmer’s servants came and told him, Sir the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds!

     ‘An enemy has done it!’ the farmer exclaimed.  ‘Shall we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

     ‘He replied, ‘No, you’ll hurt the wheat if you do.  Let both grow together until the harvest.  Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds and burn them and to put the wheat in the barn.’ ”

(vs. 36 – 43)  Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house.  His disciples said, “Please explain the story of the weeds in the field.”

     “All right,” he said, “I, the Son of Man, am the farmer who plants the good seed.  The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom.  The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.  The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the Devil.  The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.

     “Just as the weeds are separated out and burned, so it will be at the end of the world.  I, the Son of Man, will send my angels, and they will remove from my Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil, and they will throw them into the furnace and burn them.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the godly will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom.  Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand.”

• Satan also has a counterfeit Gospel. In Galations 1:6 it says: “I am amazed that you are turning away so soon from God….you are already following a ‘different way [Gospel] to heaven which really doesn’t go to heaven at all.” (Living Bible)
• Satan has counterfeit preachers.  Listen: “God never sent those men at all;  they are phonies (counterfeits) who have fooled you into thinking they are Christ’s apostles.” (2 Cor.11:13, L.B.)

Let us learn to know the true Gospel so well that we will not be fooled by the many “counterfeits” of Satan.