Prayer works

I LOVE the Christian Heroes: Then and Now biographies. Here is one story that I thought should be shared.


Cameron Townsend, one summer, had something "Camp Wycliffe," a summer course that taught people how to be linguist-missionaries, particularly in Central America. There were just five students at this summer school and five instructors.The summer school was held somewhere up in the Ozark Mountains and they did not have any electricity or anything. Anyway, so there was this one lecturer at the summer school who suggested they hold a special day of prayer and ask God to open the doors to Mexico so that the students would be able to work freely in the country. This was because, at the time in Mexico, the president's cabinet was almost entirely made up of atheist and they had passed laws that restricted missionary work quite a bit (like banning sending religious material through the mail, or making it pretty much impossible for a missionary to get a Visa). OK. I'll let the book pick up the rest of the story.
"July 24, 1935, was set aside to pray for Mexico. In the morning, the students and staff gathered around on their usual nail keg seats and listened as Cam outlined the already familiar state of affairs in Mexico. As the morning progressed, everyone got down on his knees and asked God to open the doors into Mexico so that they could all go there and work among the Indian tribes and do their translation work unhindered. Cam was still outside praying at lunchtime when one of the students tuned in the large valve radio in the dining room to hear the midday news. 'Come and hear this!' he yelled to the others. Everyone raced into the dining room and gathered around the radio. The news announcer spoke in a booming voice. 'And now for an update on the political situation in Mexico,' he said. 'Only minutes ago, President Lazaro Cardenas announced a major shake-up in his government. He has dismissed his entire cabinet, saying he wishes to build a new one with more moderate views.' "
Anyway, so over the next couple of weeks, many of the harsh anti-religious laws in Mexico were struck down, and it became easier for missionaries to enter the country. In fact, the president himself recommended that translators be invited to the country to work among the Indian tribes!!