The Unseen Leader
Stories
56 Stories For Preaching
Mark Thomas and his wife, Susan, were excited by the
opportunity to live in the Middle East for two years while on
assignment for Mobil Oil. The only real drawback to their new
home was the government restriction on Christians gathering for
either worship or study. Mark and Sue both missed their church
and the experience of sharing Sunday worship together. There was
some talk of lifting the restrictions, but no official government
action had yet occurred.
As Easter Sunday approached that first year, Mark and Sue
decided to risk inviting some of their Christian friends to
gather in a basement room in their home. They soon found a number
of other people who were willing to take the chance to gather for
prayer and singing, in spite of the real risk they would face if
discovered by the police.
The day arrived, and Mark and Sue's friends began arriving
sporadically, so as not to attract attention. It was wonderful to
be together, to listen to the story of that first Easter morning,
and to sing "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today," even without
accompaniment. They were huddled together in a small basement
room with no windows, but the joy they felt in their hearts was
like being in a great cathedral with crowds of Easter worshipers
proclaiming Jesus' resurrection.
And then came the sound of footsteps and pounding on the door
of the room where they were gathered! Suddenly two officers and a
detachment of police with guns drawn burst into the room!
Quickly, the officers dispersed the group with warnings that if
such a gathering occurred again, all present would be expelled
from the country. The Christians left, grateful that there had
been at least some time to share their Easter faith, and that
there had been no arrests.
Meanwhile, the two officers returned to the police station to
file their report of the incident. They quickly discovered that
their recollections as to who was the leader of the group and how
many persons were actually there differed greatly. The senior
officer insisted that Mark was the leader since the group met at
his house, but the younger policeman insisted on the leader being
a man who had stood in the shadows, who had a radiant look on his
face.
Nor did the two officers agree on the total number of men and
women involved in the incident. The senior officer said he had
counted a total of nine persons, but the younger officer was just
as insistent that he had counted 10 people in the room. Unable to
agree, the two policemen left the station, with the intention of
completing their report the following day.
That night the younger officer was going over the day's events
in his mind when he fell asleep. In his dreams, the man with the
radiant countenance whom he remembered as the leader of the
Christian group, spoke to him softly saying, "Where two or three
gather in my name, there am I in their midst."
opportunity to live in the Middle East for two years while on
assignment for Mobil Oil. The only real drawback to their new
home was the government restriction on Christians gathering for
either worship or study. Mark and Sue both missed their church
and the experience of sharing Sunday worship together. There was
some talk of lifting the restrictions, but no official government
action had yet occurred.
As Easter Sunday approached that first year, Mark and Sue
decided to risk inviting some of their Christian friends to
gather in a basement room in their home. They soon found a number
of other people who were willing to take the chance to gather for
prayer and singing, in spite of the real risk they would face if
discovered by the police.
The day arrived, and Mark and Sue's friends began arriving
sporadically, so as not to attract attention. It was wonderful to
be together, to listen to the story of that first Easter morning,
and to sing "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today," even without
accompaniment. They were huddled together in a small basement
room with no windows, but the joy they felt in their hearts was
like being in a great cathedral with crowds of Easter worshipers
proclaiming Jesus' resurrection.
And then came the sound of footsteps and pounding on the door
of the room where they were gathered! Suddenly two officers and a
detachment of police with guns drawn burst into the room!
Quickly, the officers dispersed the group with warnings that if
such a gathering occurred again, all present would be expelled
from the country. The Christians left, grateful that there had
been at least some time to share their Easter faith, and that
there had been no arrests.
Meanwhile, the two officers returned to the police station to
file their report of the incident. They quickly discovered that
their recollections as to who was the leader of the group and how
many persons were actually there differed greatly. The senior
officer insisted that Mark was the leader since the group met at
his house, but the younger policeman insisted on the leader being
a man who had stood in the shadows, who had a radiant look on his
face.
Nor did the two officers agree on the total number of men and
women involved in the incident. The senior officer said he had
counted a total of nine persons, but the younger officer was just
as insistent that he had counted 10 people in the room. Unable to
agree, the two policemen left the station, with the intention of
completing their report the following day.
That night the younger officer was going over the day's events
in his mind when he fell asleep. In his dreams, the man with the
radiant countenance whom he remembered as the leader of the
Christian group, spoke to him softly saying, "Where two or three
gather in my name, there am I in their midst."
