May 24 - Miracle at Sea

A jukung is a traditional Indonesian boat.

The jukung in this story
looked like any regular jukung.

It wasn't a special color.

It wasn't a special length.

It didn't have a special engine,

but it had a special passenger.

Pastor Eduard saw the jukung arrive

at the island where he lived.

He saw government medical workers
get off the boat

and visit his village.

Then he saw the medical workers
preparing to leave on the jukung.

He asked where they were going

and learned
that they were traveling to an island

where he wanted to go.

On the island, lived
three Seventh-day Adventist families

who didn't have their own church.

They also didn't have their own boats

to travel to an island with a church.

They met in one of their homes

to worship on Sabbath,

but now, it was the end of the quarter,

and they wanted Pastor Eduard
to come and worship with them.

Pastor Eduard didn't have
a boat of his own,

so he asked the medical workers

if he could travel with them

on their jukung to the island.

They agreed,
and the jukung set off Friday afternoon.

The jukung sped
across the surface of the water.

The wind felt good
on Pastor Eduard's face.

He looked forward
to worshiping with the villagers,

but then a storm struck.

The rain fell hard.

The wind blew fiercely,

but the boat kept speeding
through the rough waters.

Suddenly, the "vroom" stopped.

The engine fell silent.

Pastor Eduard and the medical workers

and the boat captain
looked at one another.

All they could hear
was the pounding of the rain

and the howling of the wind.

The boat captain yanked on a cord

to try to restart the engine.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

Yank! Yank!

Nothing happened.

The jukung stopped speeding
across the water.

Now it was at the mercy
of the wind and the waves.

It tossed back and forth
like a cork in the water.

An hour passed, then two hours,

three hours,

four hours.

The medical workers were scared.

All were crying.

They had heard stories
about boats sinking in storms,

and they were afraid
that they were going to die.

One woman who wasn't a Christian

remembered that Pastor Eduard
was a Christian

who believed in Jesus,

and she begged him to pray for the jukung.

At that moment,
Pastor Eduard heard a voice.

The voice was soft and gentle,

yet he could hear it
above the roar of the rain and wind.

It said, "Tell the boat captain

to connect the fuel hose
to the other fuel tank.

On the jukung were two fuel tanks,

a regular fuel tank

and a backup fuel tank for emergencies.

The tanks provided fuel
for the boat engine to run.

Pastor Eduard was surprised
to hear the voice,

but he didn't argue.

He felt like he had to obey.

Even though he didn't know
anything about boats,

he went to the captain
and told him to remove the fuel hose

from the regular fuel tank

and connect it to the backup fuel tank.

The captain had already tried connecting
the hose to the backup fuel tank,

but he didn't argue.

He also felt like he had to obey.

He immediately pulled the hose out
of the regular fuel tank

and connected it to the backup tank.

Then Pastor Eduard called
the captain and medical workers

to join him in praying to Jesus.

The medical workers stopped crying

as they strained their ears
to listen to the prayer.

"Lord Jesus,

our lives really are
in Your hands of mercy,"

the pastor prayed.

"Your will be done."

Then he turned to the captain.

"Start the engine," he said.

The captain pulled the cord
to restart the outboard engine.

Yank!

A split second passed

and the engine sprang to life.

All the medical workers,

including the woman
who didn't believe in Jesus,

exclaimed at the same time,

"Praise the Lord!"

The rain didn't stop

and the wind didn't die down,

but the engine kept roaring

and the jukung reached the island safely.

The medical workers immediately told
everyone on the island

that Jesus had saved their lives.

The Sabbath was an extra special day
for Pastor Eduard.

Not only did he worship on the island,

but he also had
his own special mission story to tell.