God Answers Prayer Through a Burro

By Don Hare

"Well, Burro, we have a tiring trip ahead of us. I hope you are up to it, " Pastor Gumercindo said to his donkey. The pastor regularly traveled from village to village by donkey, called aburro in Brazil. Often the pastor talked to his burro. After all, there was no one else to talk to as he rode mile after mile over rough roads and trails.

Today they were going to a town where, as far as the pastor knew, no one had ever preached the gospel before. After about three hours as they were coming into the town, the one-sided conversation continued, "Here we are, Burro. Let's see how the people here receive us. Guess I'll start at the bandstand in the center of the town square."

The few people walking in the square paused to see this stranger climb up the steps of the bandstand. They came closer when he called to them, "All you who can hear my voice, come quickly and hear about the good news I have to tell you. My good news tells how you can be sure you will go to heaven. I know everyone here wants to go to heaven."

As the people began to crowd around the bandstand, Gumercindo carefully explained the gospel. He told the people about God's love and stressed that we can be saved only by believing on the Lord Jesus; there was no way they could work their way into heaven.

Just as the preacher was finishing his explanation, the town's police officer ran up. "Get down from there!" he shouted. "You can't preach in this town."

"Just a minute," replied Gumercindo. "Let me show you this article from the government's own paper. I have a statement signed by the president of our country telling me-and other people-that we can preach anywhere."

"Oh, yeah?" the policeman sneered. "Maybe the president says you can preach anywhere you want to, but he's not the authority in this town. Our religious leader here sent me to tell you that you can't preach here. If you do, I'll put you in jail."

"I have a few more words to tell these people." Gumercindo started in again.

I'm sure you know what happened. Gumercindo landed in jail. Some of the more curious people came to the jail to see what would happen next. They didn't have long to wait. In a much louder voice than before, Gumercindo preached the gospel through the bars of the jail window. The crowd outside began to swell larger than before. The poor policeman didn't know what to do, so he went to the religious leader and said, "He has a bigger crowd listening to him now that he is in jail than when he did when was preaching in the town square. What shall I do now?"

Back at the jail a few minutes later the policeman said, "I am releasing you from jail. But you have to leave this town immediately."

"That's all right," said Gumercindo, "I came here to preach the good news of God's way of salvation from sin, and I've done just that. Now I'm ready to leave. And, officer, that good news was for you, too.

"Well, burro, here we are on our way home. Did you see how well those people listened to the good news? No, I guess you didn't notice, you were asleep. I'm sort of tired myself. I think I'll have a sleep now."

Gumercindo was so used to riding on his donkey, he could fall asleep sitting up in the saddle. After a couple of hours, however, the ride seemed rougher than usual. It was as though the donkey were walking on a bumpy, unpaved surface.

Waking up, Gumercindo discovered that friend burro had left the road and was crossing a field. Disgustedly Gumercindo rammed his heels into the donkey's sides and said, "You really are a dumb donkey. Don't you even have enough sense to stay on the road?" When the preacher calmed down a little, he discovered that they were close to home.

Minutes later, passing close to his church, Gumercindo heard people talking. He climbed off the burro and listened at the door. People inside the church were asking God to help, to do something to bring their pastor home safely from his trip.

As the pastor opened the church door, the people jumped up from their knees. Almost in one voice they shouted, "Pastor, how did you get here safely? Aren't you injured?"

"I'm fine," he answered. "What's this all about?"

The people explained, "You know Senhor Lobo who has that large ranch not far from here and how he doesn't like you at all? In fact, he hates you. He's a powerful man in this area. He knew that you had left town. We discovered that he had sent some of his men up to the bend of the road where you would return. Those men were hiding to attack you, and maybe even kill you as you came by. We didn't know what to do, so we came to the church and prayed. How did you get around that curve where the men were waiting to catch you?"

Gumercindo looked at them for a moment and said, "I was asleep and the donkey left the road before we ever got to that place you are talking about. Burro made a short cut across the field, so we didn't even go by that bend in the road. Imagine that! The donkey saved my life. Now let's get back on our knees and praise the Lord. See how God answered your prayers in such an unusual way."

Then Gumercindo thought, I shouldn't have kicked my poor donkey in the ribs. Maybe I had better go out and ask his forgiveness.

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