A few years ago I got a call about a flash flood. There were several villages affected so we went up to see if they needed any help and do an assessment. We traveled over two high passes through the mountains and then to the major city in the north of Gondor. We spent the night at a friends house there and the next morning we traveled up a valley along the edge of a huge reservoir and then up over another mountain that looked like the landscape of the moon. Then we crested a ridge and there was a beautiful city, all green and surrounded by barren granite mountains. This city is known for Islamic militants and in fact a year after we were there a wonderful local believer was martyred in that city. We drove on. We turned south to a very narrow valley and drove between great cliffs. An old fortress was up on one side of the mountain guarding the pass from ancient times. We traveled on through that valley and drove straight toward the cliff wall. I wondered how we would go on when suddenly we saw a fissure in the wall to one side and we drove through a very small pass. It reminded me some kind of old movie like 'Land of the Lost' or something. Then came the Redhorn pass and we drove through that pass and on to the next valley. There at the end was our destination and to our surprise the reported disaster was no disaster at all. Four houses had experienced some water damage but no serious need was in evidence.
But the trip was not a complete waste of time. First of all, it was a really interesting journey but more important it gave us a chance to try and connect with a group up in Redhorn. Years ago someone had wandered that way and gave out a video cassette of the Jesus Film- which is a Campus Crusade film of the life of Jesus based on the Gospel of Luke. Now, some forty people gather several times a week and watch the film. It is all they know to do as they don't have a Bible. Later a Bible was provided for them and some of them received some discipleship from the guy who was later martyred. The group still continues to meet and that to me is miraculous. How on earth, with so little input and teaching can a group of untrained believers continue in a fundamentalist Muslim area? The Father is always at work. Some time when like Elijah you think you are standing alone and everyone else has lost faith remember this group who truly stand alone, and can continue to stand because the Spirit makes them able to stand.
