God at the Controls Part Three: In the camp

Note to parents and teachers: Because of the nature of this story, please read beforehand and be sure it is appropriate for your audience.

As Paul took off in the airplane and flew over the Puinave village, he looked very closely for any sign of Tim or Bunny but saw none. He saw many Puinaves, though. They looked so sad, standing with their arms hanging down, watching the plane.

The guerrillas made Paul go to another airstrip, where a guerrilla commander got into the airplane. He was thin, with tousled curly hair.

"Hola!" he greeted Paul in Spanish. "We want you to make one more flight for us before we let you go. Let's go."

"I'm going to pray first," said Paul, and he did. No one said anything.

They arrived at a place where the commander told Paul to land on a small airstrip. From the airstrip he made Paul drive the airplane into a small jungle clearing. What a narrow path for an airplane! When Paul had driven the plane as far into the jungle as he could, the guerrillas were still not satisfied. They pushed the airplane on into the woods by hand.

A guerrilla took Paul on a path through the jungle to a well-hidden camp where there were simple shelters — beds made of four boards, thin foam mattresses and mosquito nets under sheets of black plastic.

Paul's guard pointed out a shelter for Paul. Paul dropped his bag on the ground and sat down on his assigned bed. How he wished this were just a nightmare and that he could wake up! But right now, he had important things to take care of. Most important was the airplane key in his pocket!

The guerrillas had taken the key he had used to fly the plane here, but they had no idea that he had this other key, and he needed to hide it before someone found out. Keeping his eyes on the guards, he pushed the key far into the lining of his shoe. No one saw him do it. "Thank you, Lord," he breathed.

As it got dark Paul climbed under his mosquito net. Every 3 to 5 minutes one of the guerrillas walked up to his net and shined a flashlight on him. Talk about high security!

In the morning Paul woke up before it was light, itching all over from mosquito bites. And as the long day wore on, he had plenty of time to think over how he had been captured the day before.

"The storm! That's how I got here," he suddenly realized. "If it hadn't been for the storm, I would have noticed there were no people on the airstrip, as there usually are."

Then it seemed as if God asked him, "Paul, who controls the weather?"

"You do, Lord," Paul prayed. And if God actually wanted them to land, well then, "Lord, that would mean that you want me to be right where I am!" Paul whispered. For the first time he began to relax a little bit.

But the next question was, "What do you want me to do here, Lord?" Paul looked around. Maybe he was there to tell the guerrillas about Jesus. So, he tried to talk to them whenever he had a chance. But he soon found that the guerrillas' training had made them very hard against any idea of God.

One guerrilla tried to explain it to Paul, "You're just like that log over there — both made of the same stuff. For me to kill you would be just like chopping that log over there with an axe."

How very wrong! And what an awful thing to believe! When Paul was alone again, he opened his Bible.

He started reading in 1 Peter that we have hope and a treasure that can't be destroyed. Because we believe in Jesus, we have a joy that can't be explained.

Paul started feeling excited. How different his whole life was from the guerrillas' lives because he believed in Jesus! He felt great — so great that he started to think about escaping. After all, he had the key. But only God could help him get to the airplane.

That afternoon Paul had a visitor. While the other guerrillas were dressed in camouflage or old uniforms, this man looked like he had stepped straight out of a city office. Clearly, he was a big boss guerrilla. He asked Paul lots of questions about himself and New Tribes Mission and asked to see all of Paul's licenses, passport and other papers.

He was very pleased to see that Paul was not only a pilot, but a certified airplane mechanic as well.

This was bad news for Paul. The guerrillas were excited about all the ways they could use a pilot and mechanic. They certainly weren't going to let him go!

But Paul did not let this discourage him. Once he was alone, he picked up his Bible again. This time he read, "Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. (1 Peter 4:19 NKJV)

"Wow!" thought Paul. "I'm putting myself into the hands of the One who made all of creation — the moon, the stars, the whole universe!"

That night Paul slept better. The next day he listened to the guards talking around him. From what he heard, although other prisoners had been just where he was now, sooner or later they had been killed.

So, Paul went back to his source of encouragement, the Bible. He read one story after another of how God had saved his people from their enemies. Sometimes they didn't even have to fight! As Paul read, he reminded himself that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV)

 By this time Paul had decided to escape that very night. What did he have to lose? If he stayed, he would be killed sooner or later. And now he felt sure that God would help him.

Slowly, very slowly, Paul worked at getting a small log under his bed. When he left, he would put it under his blanket so that it would still look like he was sleeping there.

That night, when the guards shined their lights on Paul, he looked like he was sleeping soundly, but he wasn't. He was wide awake, just waiting for his chance to escape.

Late at night he heard a motorboat coming up the river. It sounded as if it were going to stop at their camp. The guard who had his light shining on Paul turned away and headed toward the river.

Quickly, Paul grabbed the log and stuck it under his blanket.

Still lying down, he moved out from under the blanket and started putting his other stuff under it, when — swish — a light swung round and shone on Paul.

The guard came closer and shined the light right on him.

"Oh no! He caught me!" Paul thought. He lay just where he was, frozen stiff, pretending to sleep.

The guard watched him for a while, then went and woke up the guard who was supposed to be on duty next. Paul heard them talking quietly. Soon the new guard came over and shined his light on Paul, waiting to see if he would move out of his weird position. Paul didn't move a muscle, but his heart was pounding. "Lord, take control, please take control!"

Finally, the guard walked away. Paul sighed, "Thank you, Lord!"

The next thing Paul knew, it was Tuesday morning, and he felt exhausted. That morning a guard took away the little log. How discouraging! Then God seemed to ask him, "Paul, what was it that encouraged you yesterday?"

Paul knew what to do! He opened his Bible. He read how God delivered the Israelites when they were captives in Egypt. He read about a group of men that tried to capture Elisha, and the whole group was struck blind. He read how God made 3,000 of David's enemies fall so sound asleep that he could walk right into their midst — and out again — and not one awoke.

By the time night came again, Paul was really excited about what God could do. Again, he planned his escape. He would go to sleep and trust God to wake him just before dawn so that he could escape while it was still dark but land after it was light. With his spare tank he had enough fuel to fly less than two hours. That would not get him to his mission's headquarters, but it would take him far from the guerrillas.

That night Paul slept soundly. Not even the flashlight woke him up. When he did awaken, it was pitch black, and he had no idea what time it was.

Paul sat up and prayed, "Lord, please blind the eyes of the guards who are awake. Make their ears deaf. Make the sleeping ones sleep so soundly they won't wake up until I'm gone. Thank you, Lord!"

Paul's heart pounded. Around him everything was very, very quiet. "I'll wait until I hear someone snoring. Then I'll know God is answering my prayer," Paul decided, and he lay down again.

But no one snored. Paul lay still, listening, waiting. Seconds went by. The guard came and shined his light on him. Paul went cold with fear. The guard turned and walked away.

Right then Paul felt as if God nudged him saying, "Go! As soon as you get your feet out of this mosquito net, I'll do my part!"

Paul wadded up his clothes and bag and spread his blanket over it in the dark. "I hope it looks like me!" he thought. In a flash Paul was out from under the mosquito net.

Carefully, and oh so quietly, Paul took one step at a time toward the path to the airplane.

Just as he got to the last shelter of the camp, a branch broke under his foot. Crack! Oh no! Paul froze.