Angel at the Gas Station

By Terri Saelee

Lamphai Sihavong stared in bewilderment at the confusing maze of highways around and above her in the U.S. city of Chicago. She had no idea how to find her husband. She looked at the four children seated in the car and wondered what to do next.

Image © Pacific Press

The couple had arrived in the United States as refugees from the Southeast Asian country of Laos, and they were driving with their six children across the country to find work. Leaving Sacramento, California, the family first traveled 1,400 miles to Grand Island, Nebraska, where they had heard about work at a factory. But when they arrived, they learned the jobs were filled. Then they heard about a possible job in Holland, Michigan, another 750 miles away. The family started out on the 12-hour journey to Michigan. Lamphai’s husband led the way, driving the moving truck with two children and all their belongings. She followed with the other four children in the car.

All went well until Chicago. Lamphai tried to follow her husband closely, but she got stuck in heavy traffic and lost sight of his truck. Overwhelmed by the maze of roads, she stopped at a gas station. Neither she nor her husband had cell phones. She had no way to contact him, and she had no idea how to find their destination. Her only hope was God. She was glad that missionaries had visited their refugee camp in Thailand to tell them about God. Together, she and the four children prayed earnestly to God for help.

As they opened their eyes, they saw a pleasant-looking man walking toward them.

“Let me guess,” he said. “Are you looking for your husband, Veuy?”

“Yes!” Lamphai acknowledged with surprise.

She wondered how the stranger knew her husband’s name.

“Get in your car and follow me,” the man said. “I’ll help you find him.”

Lamphai followed him back onto the road and through a maze of highways until suddenly she saw her husband’s moving truck. Gratefully, she and the children turned to wave their thanks, but the stranger was gone.

The family arrived safely in Michigan, and Veuy and Lamphai found work and began attending the Holland Seventh-day Adventist Church. Soon they invited new Lao friends to join them, and the church gave the small group a room to worship in their own language. Today the group has its own church where Lamphai introduces people to the God who sent an angel to the gas station.

Several Lao congregations have sprouted up across the North American Division as a result of a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 2011. With this quarter’s offering, you will help provide pastors and resources to groups like Lamphai’s.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

“All through the week we are to have the Sabbath in mind and be making preparation to keep it according to the commandment. We are not merely to observe the Sabbath as a legal matter.” — Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 353.

“All heaven is keeping the Sabbath, but not in a listless, do-nothing way.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

On this day every energy of the soul should be awake, for are we not to meet with God and with Christ our Saviour? We may behold Him by faith. He is longing to refresh and bless every soul.” — Testimonies to the Church, vol. 6, p. 362.

“The demands upon God are even greater upon the Sabbath than upon other days. His people then leave their usual employment, and spend the time in meditation and worship. They ask more favors of Him on the Sabbath than upon other days. They demand His special attention. They crave His choicest blessings. God does not wait for the Sabbath to pass before He grants these requests. Heaven’s work never ceases, and men should never rest from doing good. The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity. The law forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds. The work of Christ in healing the sick was in perfect accord with the law. It honored the Sabbath.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 207.

Discussion Questions:

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