Welcome to the Whyte House Family Spoken Novels podcast episode #272. Today we are reading chapter 2 of the novel “I Know What Prayer Can Do” by Daniel Whyte III with Meriqua Whyte.
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After an uplifting time of prayer and asking God’s blessings upon the day, Quintin and Aubrey set out for some sightseeing of downtown Dammam. Breakfast at Abu Nawas Restaurant ended their two-week honeymoon on a never-to-be-forgotten note marking their new life together.
It was a grand reunion with family and friends as they were met with good news and not-so-good news upon their return home.
“I’m sorry things have not worked out between you and your husband,” Aubrey said to Kiera who was one of the first persons she called. “I felt a little guilty leaving you like that, but don’t worry. We’ll see you through this to the end. Quintin has contacted another lawyer friend of his and they are securing a private investigator through the permission of the judge to help you get your children back.”
“I appreciate it, Aubrey. He was supposed to let me have the children that weekend of your wedding and when I went to get them neither he nor the children could be found. I received a threatening phone call from him stating that if I go through with the divorce I would never see the children again. I am worried sick,” Kiera shared with Aubrey.
“Don’t worry. My husband will take care of it,” Aubrey assured her. “Just trust God and leave it in His hands.”
On her first Friday back, Aubrey met up with Simone and Kelli at the Cherry Blossom Cafe for a time of catching up.
“What do you mean you all have not heard from Jennifer?” Aubrey exclaimed after they settled down in their booth and placed their order.
“The last we heard from or about her was the evening of the reception. I called her numerous times, but I kept getting her voice mail. We stopped by her place, but we received no answer,” Simone said. “I spoke with her once, but she kind of rushed off the phone. I am worried about her.”
“What about Brad? Have you been able to get in touch with him?”
“I had Trevor to call him; you know they’re military buddies,” Kelli said, “and he said Brad spoke with her up to a week after your wedding, but he has not heard from her and he has been unable to get in touch with her by phone or otherwise.”
“I know all of us being married now could not be affecting her that much, if at all,” Kelli said.
“Why would it? She and Brad are engaged to get married soon,” Aubrey said thoughtfully. “All I know is, it is not like her to just take off without letting us know something.”
Despite the disturbing news about Jennifer, Aubrey rejoiced with Simone over the good news about her husband.
“Kelvin is still enjoying his honeymoon period as a new Christian. Not only has he been praying up a storm,” Simone said, “but he’s expressed an interest in doing missionary work overseas with people who have not heard the Gospel. He picked up a Samaritan’s Purse magazine at one of the Christian book stores. They do a lot of work with quite a number of countries, bringing them the Gospel as well as providing relief materials during catastrophes, disease epidemics, and a host of other things. For some reason he seems interested in working with the Nomatsiguenga people group of Peru.”
Simone stumbled over the pronunciation of the name of the people group. Chuckling, she said, “I don’t see how we can even work with them, we can hardly pronounce the name. Anyway, he called a mission’s office and got a lot of information about this group. And guess what?”
Aubrey and Kelli waited eagerly for her to continue.
“He’s interested in doing translation work for them. So the next time you hear from us, not only will we be speaking the A-ra-wa-kan language, but we will be tucked away somewhere in Peru doing missionary work.”
“Does this mean you’ll be leaving us for good?” Aubrey asked.
“No. Not for good,” Simone said. “Kelvin has signed up with the mission agency to take a six month’s trip with them to Peru to visit the Nomatsiguenga people. Then we’re supposed to go to translation school. But it will be a few months before we leave.”
“I am so happy for you,” Aubrey said. “People are so hungry for the Word. While we were away in Saudi Arabia, we visited two house churches that Quintin’s grandfather and father support. Not only do they help those churches financially, but they also help to print and distribute Bibles and other literature in their language. The people shared with us stories after stories of fellow Christians being persecuted or mistreated for their faith in Christ; individuals have been ostracized; parents have been taken away from their children never to be seen again. One interesting incident happened on our last Sunday there.”
Aubrey went on to tell her friends. “We went through this single wooden door of a church named Resurrected Believer’s Church on the outskirts of the city of Dammam. The shopkeeper, who was also the pastor, holds services in the back of his shop. We had to use a secret password before we could enter.”
“Yes, your grandfather told us to expect you,” Hassau, the doorkeeper, said as he led them through a long dark hallway into a back room where others were seated around tables with tea, fig cakes, fruit, and nuts. There was a oneness in spirit in the atmosphere. The people greeted them with genuine love as they entered the room.
“Tea and cakes are just for show,” Hassau said with a grin as he directed them to their seats. Aubrey wondered what he meant by that as she noticed no one was munching on the food. As soon as they were seated, the pastor started the services. He was about ten minutes into the services when there was a pounding on the door. Hassau hurried into the room and whispered to the pastor who ordered everyone to pass their Bibles to the front. He quickly lifted his stool out the way and lifted a latch from the floor to reveal an opening.
The pounding on the door continued. All Bibles were quickly placed in the underground hole and the door was latched in place; the pastor slid his stool back in place and sat down. Everyone started to talk and laugh as they sipped their tea and nibbled on their fig cakes and fruit and nuts. Aubrey smiled as she thought of Alice at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Aubrey watched furtively as Hassau led two stoic looking men in uniforms into the room. The one with the deep-set eyebrows peered under a few tables, patted down a couple of the male occupants, shuffled things around in a couple of the cupboards while the other exchanged words with Hassau and the pastor. They glanced at Quintin and Aubrey every now and then as they spoke. Their curiosity satisfied, the men left. After Hassau gave the signal, the worship services continued with even more vigor.
“What was that all about?” Aubrey whispered to Quintin after the services.
“Those two men were looking for Bibles,” Quintin said. “They confiscate them.”
This was confirmed by Hassau. He smiled. “I told them you are here to celebrate your honeymoon and we’re having an early morning brunch for you.”
“Weren’t you scared?” Simone asked.
“More curious than scared,” Aubrey replied. “The pastor told us that so far they have been protected, but sometimes, Muslims would randomly choose a village, raid it and kill the Christians.”
“That’s sad,” Kelli said.
“It sure is,” Aubrey said. “We had the privilege of worshiping with the Resurrected Church family during one of their Sunday services and two of their Wednesday night prayer services. Talk about powerful prayer services. It brought tears to my eyes to see and experience the love for God that permeated that place.”
“Nothing will test our love for God like persecution and hardships and doing without the comforts of life,” Simone said. “I don’t know what’s ahead for Kelvin and myself, so please pray for us.”
“We’ll certainly be praying for you and Kelvin,” Aubrey said. “One bit of good news I want you to add to your prayer list,” Aubrey said, “and that is, we’re looking into adopting a little Saudi girl. Her name is Habiba al-Ahmet. She’s almost two years old. Both her parents were killed because of their faith. My heart was touched when we heard their story. Some Islamists raided their village. They begged for their lives for the sake of their little girl. A neighbor heard Habiba crying for a long time and went to check things out. That’s when she found the bodies. They had been killed during the night. I begged Quintin to let us adopt her and he agreed. Pray that the adoption process will go quickly and smoothly.”
“Praise the Lord,” her friends said simultaneously.
“God is good all the time,” Aubrey said. “I am glad we serve a prayer answering God. Now if we can just find out where Jennifer is, then our reunion will be complete. Have any of you thought of contacting her parents?”
“We did and her mother told us they had not seen her, but she did call them twice to say hello.”
“Well, things still sound suspicious to me. We have never gone a week without talking with one another.”
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Thank you for joining us for this episode of Whyte House Family stories. You may purchase a copy of this novel and any other Christian fiction books read on this podcast from Amazon.com.
Now, dear listener, please know that God—the divine Author of all things—wants to write a great story with your life as well. But first you must give Him the pen by trusting Him with the life He gave you and surrendering your heart to Jesus Christ as Savior. Here is how:
- Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 reads: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
- Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
- Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
- Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2: 8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
- Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
- With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
May God bless you until next time.
BCNN1 WP 