What Do Angels Look Like?

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in angels? I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I have questioned if God really takes notice of the little things in my life. It was just a few days ago that I returned from South Sudan and the testimony I am about to share erased all doubt from my mind and I hope it builds faith in you as you read it.


It was the last day of the trip and we were in a hurry to get to the capital, Juba, for me to catch my flight to Kenya and make my way back to the States. We had struggled with our truck almost every day of the trip and it seemed like no matter what we did, our efforts were in vain. We purposefully rose early that morning to take the truck to a nearby mechanic to look over the truck before making the four hour trip to Juba. After a few major repairs, they assured us that we shouldn't have any more trouble and wished us "luck". I don't know about you, but I don't like setting out on a four hour road trip, in 100 degree heat, on rough dirt roads, in the middle of NOWHERE and have our mechanic wish us LUCK.

We had been on the road for a few hours when we started to feel the left front wheel start to wobble. We jumped out of the truck to check things out and noticed that three of the four main bolts which had been replaced that morning had fallen out and all the oil had poured out of the crank case on to the wheel and all over the road. There was only one bolt holding the whole wheel assembly together. We got back in the truck and decided to inch our way down the road. We were literally in the middle of NOWHERE, with no spare parts and no help. We were still 30 miles from Juba and there wasn't a person or village anywhere. As we crept down the rugged dirt road about only 100 feet, a small truck passed us with the driver hanging out the window pointing vigorously at our front wheel. He motioned for us to stop and he kept going.


When we stopped the truck, we were under the only shade tree along the road as far as the eye could see. Again, this was NOWHERE! As we stood under the tree, Global Response Network's (GRN) (My wife, Elli, and I founded GRN many years ago and currently direct it) field coordinator, Dickson Mutiso said, "Brother, what are we going to do?" Trying to sound confident I declared, "We're going to trust God, that's what we're going to do!" I said the right words, yet, I must admit I was asking myself the same question.

Within less than two minutes the truck that had passed us had returned. When the truck stopped, six guys jumped out and headed straight for our truck. Two guys were putting on coveralls while one guy was carrying a jack. Without asking permission, they started jacking up the truck and passing wrenches to each other. They did not speak the local language, so Dickson could only pick out a word here and there. We just couldn't believe what was happening. They worked as though it was fun and their expressions were almost playful. 


After about twenty minutes they lowered our truck and rushed over to their truck and began jacking it up. The guy who was driving the truck climbed underneath it and removed one of the bolts holding his wheel on. With that, he lowered his truck and vigorously began to jack ours up once more. He took the bolt from off his truck and put it on ours. He now had three and we now had two.

After tightening the bolts, he motioned for Dickson to give him the keys. He jumped in the driver's seat, started her up and put her in gear. He drove down the road, turned around and moved slowly back toward us. The other guys squatted down with their hands on their knees and looked intently to make sure the wheel was no longer wobbling. When he reached us, he put it in park and jumped out and threw the keys to Dickson. With a big smile, he gave us two thumbs up and started joking with his friends. Dickson then tried communicating with them and trying to give them money but they refused. I went up to the main guy and said "Thank you", he looked me square in the eye and in perfect English said, "God loves you!" I almost began weeping right there. 


I took their picture and then they jumped in their truck and took off laughing, smiling and waving at us. Dickson and I climbed quietly into our truck and sat stunned with tears in our eyes. Dickson turned to me and said, "It was a miracle. God is with us!" He started the truck and we made our way toward Juba. All along the last 30 miles to the capital, we couldn't help but just keep saying, "It's a miracle!" We made it to the airport with time to spare. 


I don't know what angels look like, but to us, just a few short days ago, they looked like six happy African mechanics. God was so kind to show us that He cares about the "little" things in our lives and He made it clear that yes, He is with us. 


So if you think God is too busy to help you, let this simple story plant a seed of faith in your heart and remember... God still does miracles.


By Tom Zurowski