Episode Transcript
It is all too often said that there are no miracles performed these days. Well, I'd like to challenge this idea with my story of three boys lost at sea. Welcome to Miracles in the 21st Century. And I'm Dr. Mark Turnbull. I work as a medical missionary in northern Vanuatu, and I operate a flying doctor service where we deal with sick people on a daily basis and get sick people from remote communities and bring them into our center, which is on Galwa Island. But I never thought that when I became a medical missionary that I would end up being involved in search and rescue. But a few years back, I was involved in a search and rescue operation because there is no search and rescue in Vanuatu. There are no facilities for it. There's nothing set up for it. So when somebody called me on a Sabbath morning, they said, there's three boys that went fishing last yesterday evening, Friday evening, and they've gone floating off into the ocean, and we have no idea where they are. Hundreds of people had been called into the search. There were boats going all over the place, and they just couldn't find these kids. So because I'm a pilot, because we have an aircraft, I'm the only pilot and the only doctor in the province, they called on me and they said, please, can you help us, Dr. Mark? We really need your help. Because these little boys are in a boat that's very fragile. It's a leaky boat. And the engine, they knew that engine was not a very reliable engine. They fully never intended for these boys to go out into the ocean in this boat. But they had gone fishing and just gone a little bit too far and then had been taken away by the currents. So anyway, we were searching all day. We were flying all over around that island, going up and down and going just trying our very best to find this little boat in the ocean. And it was quite discouraging for us because we spent a lot of money on fuel going back and forward, and we didn't see anything. And we really were combing it. We were doing zigzag flights all over the place, and we just couldn't find anybody. And so the only thing we found actually, was.
Speaker A
It looked like a whole lot of fish, and there seemed to be something red floating in the water. And so we started to think the worst, and we were quite discouraged by what we saw. We thought, maybe the boat has sunk, and maybe this is the remnant of the boat. And the fact that there was a lot of fish and birds in that area just gave the impression that maybe they drowned or something. Like that. So we were thinking the worst. And at the end of the day, we went back to our home base on Gala island, and we just. We basically decided. We. I think we've done everything that we can do, and there's not much else we can do. But on Sunday morning when we woke up, I remember thinking to myself, there is a possibility that these people are alive. These little boys are alive. And I just thought, I need to ask God to help us in case there's something that he wants us to do for him in the way of searching for these children. And so I remember distinctly praying and asking God if it was his will that he would help us to find these boys. And just at that time, there was somebody who I was in touch with concerning the currents in the area. And he told us that the currents would have swept these children in a direction that I would least suspect because it was against the prevailing winds. But he said, in spite of those prevailing winds, the currents are actually quite strong against the winds, and you need to look in that direction. And I believe that God touched that person to give me this information right at that moment, because I was on the point of giving up. And so we just prayed and we said, lord, if it's your will, if you can be glorified, if this is part of your plan, then please can you help us to find these little boys once again. We set off, and we went into a very remote area where boats and ships and planes and all forms of human life just do not go in that direction.
Speaker A
We were combing and searching through the area where this person had recommended we search. And he gave five GPS locations for us to check out. And we checked every single one of these places and were unable to find the children. So we decided, well, we've pretty much lost the case. We don't know how we're going to help these children. And every hour that went by, we were using more fuel. And so I said to myself, well, why don't we just make one last attempt to head between the area that this person had recommended and head back towards the island that they came from. And so we did that. And to our amazement, God answered our prayers. And we are just so thankful for the way that he did this. Because as we were leaving that location, heading back on our last.
Speaker A
Leg towards the island of these boys, right there in front of us, to our amazement, was the three boys in this little boat. And these kids had gone by this time, it was Sunday, from Friday evening, Friday afternoon right through to Sunday, they had no Water. They were getting a bit weak. And so we.
Speaker A
We had prepared for the situation. We had some coconuts in the plane and so we flew down and we dropped coconuts near to these boys. And the boys were able to get these coconuts and they had a bush knife with them and they cracked them open and they were able to drink and they could also eat the flesh of the coconuts. So we were so blessed. And we then made contact with the police who were also searching. And the police in that area had very limited facilities and limited transportation. But we made contact with them by satellite phone and were able to direct them by traveling between the boys and the police boat to help them to make contact. And eventually they were able to pick up these children. It was just a wonderful experience to go through and to realize the importance of asking God in everything that we do, that if he wants to, if it's for his glory, then he is going to bless and he is going to guide. I just want to make an appeal to those who are struggling with their prayer life and wondering about God's miraculous power. Please.
Speaker A
Attempt to pray to the God of the impossible. Ask God to teach you and to help you to pray. Because God really does answer prayer. Many times we think, we wonder if God is actually hearing us or if our prayers actually make a difference. But they do. They make a tremendous difference in the great battle between good and evil. And so when we pray, it gives permission to God to actually work with us and to answer our prayers and to provide for the things that we need most. So as we come to him and we pray and we present our need, he is most willing and most able to help us and to bless us. Pray that God will help you to understand more about praying and pray about your praying and study about prayer. When you open the Bible, ask God to teach you what the Bible teaches about prayer. Because as you learn more about what the Bible teaches about prayer, you you'll become more interested in praying. Particularly when we understand how much Jesus loves to hear us praying. And he presents our prayers to the Father in the most beautiful and attractive manner so that.
Speaker A
God finds those prayers irresistibly beautiful and.
Speaker A
Irresistible to answer. He wants to answer the prayers because the way Jesus presents those prayers to him. So let's pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to pray, how to have faith, and how he can help us to be a blessing to others. God is real and he is a miracle working God. God bless you.
