“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.” Isaiah 43:2.
One year, I was invited to conduct an evangelistic program on Masbate Island, one of 7,100 islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago. Our colporteurs were beginning the work on this island. They were making the initial contacts, and several families were interested.
We had beautiful weather during the week, which made our work more possible. Even though we didn’t have computers and projectors—not even electricity—we were able to have wonderful doctrinal presentations. We were visiting families in their homes every day to encourage our interested friends.
As the evangelistic program came to an end, the weather started to change. The wind blew ferociously, and the atmosphere became darker. However, the weather did not deter me in my decision to go back home. The local brethren cautioned and advised me to postpone my return trip. They told me there was a hurricane brewing. But I was tired and missed my family. So, in spite of the cautions and advice of the brethren, I decided to travel.
I needed to get on a small ship that would take me to the other island where I was residing. Normally, the ship travels for three hours and its route passes the Philippine Trench—the third deepest point in the world.
When I arrived at the port, everything was normal. The captain was confident that he could navigate the ship safely—while the thirty passengers (including myself) and the seven crewmembers were apprehensive of the news of the impending hurricane.
As the ship made its way into the open sea, the wind with a mixture of rain immediately blew against us strongly and mercilessly. I saw big waves in front of us that seemed to swallow our little ship. The passengers paled. Some took their rosaries and started to pray, yet I maintained my calmness and observed the ship, the storm, and the waves.
After one hour of fighting the storm and the waves, all of a sudden three big, strong waves attacked our ship one after the other. The captain accelerated the engine instead of slowing down, and it caused the axle of the ship’s engine to break off. Immediately, water poured into the hull and for a few slow minutes we were on the brink of sinking into the sea.
The captain shouted, “All passenger go to the tail of the ship in order to prevent sinking!” That was the time that I prayed the sincerest prayer of my life. I said to the Lord, “Lord, if it is Your will that I survive, if you want me to be used in your cause, so be it, Lord. If not, then forgive all my sins, Amen.”
One of the crewmembers flung himself to the bottom of the hull and placed his shirt to stop the incoming water. Meanwhile, the other crewmembers were busy pumping the water from the hull. Outside of the ship, the storm and the sea began to calm down. Despite our broken engine, we managed to navigate until we arrived at the port safely. When I arrived home, I was terribly anxious and sweating with cold perspiration for an entire week, but I genuinely thank the Lord for answering my prayer.