Lord, Please, Make Me Invisible

In Ukraine we have a mine called The Western. The mine is rich and its employees make good salaries.

The Orthodox Church has a strong influence on this mining operation. A cathedral was built on the grounds of the mine and a priest conducts services. All the employees who work at this mine are required to attend services. In the administrative building there are many religious icons and in each office is a Bible. When somebody fills out an application for a job at the mine, he/she will find a line that asks: “to which denomination do you belong?” It’s a generally known fact that if an applicant is not Orthodox then there is no chance for him/her to get a job at the mine.

One day the Holy Spirit impressed me that I was to meet Mr. Baysarov, the general manager at the mine. I was not sure how to gain an appointment with Mr. Baysarov but I was sure, that since it was God’s will, He would provide an opening. So I prayed.

In my canvassing work I always try to meet the directors first and then the workers. This strategy makes it easier to visit different offices. Also, once the employees hear that their director has purchased books they have a different attitude and are more interested the books.

The Western has a very strict entry system. Since the mine is located outside the city the workers board a special bus. Each employee must have his/her own pass to get onto the mine grounds.

How would I to get into the mine? I tried to get an official pass, but it was not possible. I persisted but I could not get a pass even to get on the bus. So one day I decided that if I did not have a pass, I would go without it. I took my two bags full of books, walked over to the bus and asked the driver if I could ride the bus to the mine. I explained that I sell books but he said no, he did not want to risk his job by allowing me on the bus.

I felt impressed to try again. But how could I hide my two book bags? I went over to the bus, walked up the steps, and chose a seat. The driver did not say one word! The doors closed and the bus began the trip to the mine. As we travelled along, I began to pray earnestly: “Lord, I am afraid!” I did not have my passport with me, and I had not received permission to sell books.

During my prayer I remembered that the Lord could make people invisible. So I my prayed: “Dear God, only You can do something in this situation. If I get into The Western Mine it will be a miracle that only You can perform.”

When we arrived at the mine the bus stopped to pick up a supervisor. I put my bags on the floor and waited. The door opened and the supervisor came in. Everyone prepared their passes, but I did not have a pass. “Lord,” I prayed “please make me invisible. Let them not see me and my bags. Please, please, please, perform a miracle.” I was afraid to look, but I heard the supervisor pass by me. I cautiously looked over my shoulder and watched him get off the bus. I was in!

When I got off the bus I walked directly into the administrative building. I prayed again for the Lord to make me invisible, except to those who needed me. I was beginning to like being invisible.

First, I went to the vice-president of the mine. He asked me, “How can you sell books?” I told him that I had gotten permission from God.

Then I went to the president’s secretary. She informed me I must have an appointment in order to meet with the president. I handed her the Conflict of Ages series along with several other books and told her that the president could look at the books when he had time, and purchase them later. The secretary did not ask about permission to sell the books. She simply said that she would give the books to the president. When I left the mine that day, I knew I would have to return to ask about the books I had left in the president’s office.

Some days later I went back to the mine. Again, no one asked me for a pass. At the checkpoint it was as though they could not see me. When I arrived at the president’s office, the secretary told me that he had looked through the books, but something wrong was wrong with the publishing house. “It is not a publishing house we cooperate with. We only buy Orthodox books”, she told me as she returned the books.

One day, after several trips to the mine, God arranged for me to meet with the president of the mine. Remember, the authorities at the mine are very cautious about working with publishing houses that are not Orthodox. That day I went first to the vice-president’s office. The vice-president had already purchased the Conflict of Ages series, and now I wanted to show some other books to her. As I talked with her, the room suddenly became very quiet. I looked around and noticed that everybody in the room was staring at the door. “What is going on in here?” the president asked as he came into the room. Everyone in the room turned pale. They knew it was prohibited to sell things at the mine.

“What is going on?” the president repeated. “What do you have?” he looked directly at me. I did not know what to say. Quickly I began to pray: “Dear God, I do not know what to do. Please, help me, I do not want these people to suffer and I have a husband and three children.”

“Take it out” he said, motioning to my bag.

“That’s it,” I thought, “he is going to confiscate all my books.”

“I have almost nothing,” I said as I began to pull books out of my bag. He began leafing through the pages of each book.

I watched him for several long seconds. “Parents and Teenagers, is a very good book.” I said quietly. “A Guide to Successful Parenting is another really good one.”

“And what is that?” he asked pointing to a Bible. Someone at the mine had ordered a Bible with a golden shear and I had not yet had the time to deliver it.

“That’s a Bible. It’s very expensive.”

“I like it. I will buy it. Call my secretary, she will bring the money.” His secretary was the lady who told me that our books were not printed at the orthodox publishing house and therefore could not be sold at the mine.

When the secretary arrived the president told her to pay for the Bible. She reminded him that the Bible was not from an Orthodox publishing house therefore they did not have a right to buy it.

“I don’t care what publishing house printed it,” he told her, “you can see that these are good books and we will buy them for our library. I like these books and you should work with this lady so we can have these books.”

Again, the secretary told him that since the Bible was not from an Orthodox publishing house they did not have a right to buy it. As the president turned and walked toward the door his secretary picked up the telephone. “I will call our spiritual mentor and get a consultation from him.”

When the secretary opened the Bible, and read the name of the publishing house to the person on the other end of the telephone, I began to pray. “Lord, please give her permission to buy these books.”

I noticed the president standing just outside the door, waiting to see if permission would be granted.
“Can we buy these books?” I heard the secretary ask.

“Yes, you can,” the person on the phone told her.

“You see, I told you,” the president said. He came back into the room, picked up the Bible and left.
God works in mysterious ways. His power and might are used for the good of His people. He made me invisible so I could sell His books at the mine and then He arranged for the books to be officially placed in the mine library, inside an Orthodox area. God is so good.

Irina Mironuk
Eastern Conference, Ukraine


 

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