Welcome to “Advent Adventure 2024”! Advent is a special season for drawing closer to God. On each of the 24 days leading up to Christmas, I’ll offer a brief lesson that the Lord taught me as I went through a 5-month jungle training program in Mexico more than half a century ago! And, yes, each thought relates to Christ’s birth.
In the Fall of 1970, after completing a year of grad school, I headed to the jungles of Mexico under the auspices of Wycliffe Bible Translators. My idea of outdoor life was to walk from one building to another. The prospect of living in a rainforest, learning survival techniques, building my own latrine, and acquiring a thousand other new skills did not excite me. Still, I felt a profound sense of purpose. This was where God was leading me. He would see me through.
Ex. 23:20 offered encouragement. “I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.” Little did I realize how busy that angel would be over the next months!
Other campers and I drove from Mexico City south to the Yucatan peninsula. Duffle bags, pistol belts, canteens, and other equipment weighed our car down to the point that the muffler was only 3” above the pavement. When we came to bumps and washed-out sections in the road, an angel must have lifted the car over them. At night, he pushed burros, cows and goats out of the way of our headlights. Stopping at a hotel, we prayed that the same angel would sit on top of the car so no one would walk off with our things: A car door that had never locked before stayed shut that night. Over and over, the Lord protected us on our way.
Jesus began a journey at Christmas, from heaven to earth. We know angels watched over him. Each of us is on a journey, in the opposite direction, and Advent offers an opportunity to prepare us for our ultimate destination, Heaven. The angel that guided God’s people in the wilderness is still in the business of guiding and protecting us.
Join me again tomorrow to see what God wants to teach us along our route.
