How our visit to Iona turned into a divine appointment

Back in July, my daughter, a U.S. Army captain, paid my way to come be with her, her husband, and my two grandsons in the UK. It was a wonderful experience, and we saw sights in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. While in Scotland I had what I would call a “divine appointment,” an experience set up by God so His gospel could be shared with people who needed to hear it. I mentioned this experience on Facebook, but never gave details. The reason was because I witnessed to two people and gave them my website, so I didn’t want them going there and reading what I wrote about them. Now that some time is past, and because last week our pastor asked us to share something God had done recently, I thought I’d type it up. It really was an example of how God can use any situation for His glory and for the spread of the gospel.

About the only specific place I’d asked my daughter to let us visit was an island off the coast of Scotland called Iona, a place where Celtic monks established a monastery and base for missionary outreach in the fifth century. A man known as St. Columba was the founding Abbott. My daughter looked into it and found it was rather complicated to visit. She reserved a place for us with Air BnB on the Scottish mainland. We would drive there from Wales, spend one night, then drive to a port where we’d take a 48 minute ferry ride to one side of a big island, ride a bus for an hour to get to get to the other side of that same island, then take a ten minute ferry to Iona itself. We arrived in the early evening from Wales, met our Air BnB hosts, and spent the first night.

In the morning, we drove our rental car to where the ferry launched, parked it, and started our journey. On the way out, we enjoyed everything. It was really beautiful. When we arrived on Iona, we had to walk about a mile to the Abbey. My daughter and son-in-law told me to go ahead alone, because the grandsons wanted to play and take their time, and they probably wouldn’t be that interested in an ancient stone church building anyway. So we made the fateful decision to separate without even discussing where and when to meet up again. There was only one way to the Abbey, so we thought we’d surely find each other again easily enough. We didn’t consider the fact that our cell phones had no signal on that island. We had gone separate ways in other places, but always had our phones to get back into contact.

I was fascinated by that beautiful island and the ancient abbey and nunnery nearby. I eagerly read all the material I found there about St. Columba and the gospel work those monks carried out over a period of centuries. After an hour or two, I headed back, retracing my steps along the road by which I’d come. Any moment I expected to see my family members, but when they never appeared, I began to feel anxious. Where could they be?

A ferry pulled up to the dock, and I asked some of the crew if they’d seen my little Mexican grandsons. They remembered bringing us all over, but said they hadn’t seen them since. I let that ferry pull out without me, sure that my family would show up any moment. Maybe thirty minutes later, the next ferry came, but still, there was no sign of my family. Again I asked the ferry workers, but no one had seen them. By the time a third ferry came and went, it was getting late and I was worried. I began to think they’d surely taken the ferry to the other side and were waiting for me there, so I decided to go ahead and take the next one, no matter what.

Arriving at the bigger island, I was dismayed when there was still no sign of anyone! I waited as two more ferries came and went, and still, nothing. Three big buses to the other side of the island were waiting there, so I went to ask the drivers when the last run for the day would be. “This is the last run now,” they told me. I was shocked. “You’re pulling out, and there won’t be any other buses?” They assured me that was the case. I asked if they remembered seeing the little Mexican grandsons, but they did not. What to do? As late as it was, I thought they’d surely gone on without me and we’d meet up on the far side of the island. If I didn’t take one of these last buses, I’d be stuck for the night, and I didn’t even have any cash with me!

I rode that bus for an hour, feeling more and more worried by the minute. What would I do if I didn’t find them at the end of the run? There was no phone signal the whole way. I thought there might be at our destination, but now my phone battery was almost dead!

No sooner had I stepped off that bus than my phone rang. It was my daughter Allison, asking where in the world I was! When I told her, she was dumbfounded! Why had I left? They had been waiting and waiting for me, and now there were no more buses. They were stuck and would have to try to find accommodations for the night, when they’d already paid for our place back on the mainland! Not only that, but I had their ferry tickets in my jacket pocket! I told them I’d leave the tickets with an agent and try to make it to our place. Then the phone signal cut off!

I rode the ferry back to the mainland, and my phone battery was slowly losing its charge. I was feeling rather desperate. Because of this mishap, my pregnant daughter, her husband German, and their two little kids didn’t even know if they would find a hotel for the night. And I didn’t even know anything about the place my daughter had rented. I didn’t know the address, how far away it was, or how to get there. I didn’t have the key to their rental car, nor did I have any Euros. I didn’t even have a jacket and it was getting quite cold for my thin tee shirt and nylon pants. I was also in considerable pain because I’d been having back problems, and my legs were worn out too. All I could do was pray for wisdom and help from God.

When the ferry docked, the first thing I did was see if there was any place I could buy a phone charger, since I’d left mine behind. Without my phone, I had no way to find out anything else I needed to know. I inquired, and was told where a store was that might have chargers about ten blocks away. I set out for the place, walking as briskly as I could, worried I might not have understood the directions. A heavy Scottish accent is quite difficult to decipher!

Fortunately, I did find the place and was able to get a charger. I ripped open the package before paying for it, and searched for an outlet. My phone was almost dead and I was desperate! Once I found an outlet, I began frantically texting my family in the States, praying I’d get through to somebody who could help me at least find the place I was staying. I figured Allison would be out of touch, so I hoped my son, who works for Air BnB in Portland, Oregon, would somehow be able to get into the system and find out the details.

It turned out my wife answered first. She found an email our daughter had sent which told where we’d be staying on our trip. It had a very rudimentary map of the place in Scotland, which showed the general location but didn’t list the address. I hoped it would be enough. I had intended to walk there, but discovered it was nearly 10 miles away. I knew I’d never make it that far in the cold and dark, and after a whole day of walking and standing on my feet. Once my phone got to ten percent charge, I paid for the charger with my credit card, then asked if someone could call a taxi for me.

When he finally pulled up, I discovered they only took cash. He pointed me to an ATM, but it wouldn’t take any of my cards! I went back into the store and tried to buy something and get some cash back, but even though my card had just worked to pay for the charger, it wouldn’t work to buy anything else! I was just out of options!

I sadly told the driver to go on; I wouldn’t be able to get any money. He looked at me a minute, then said, “Just get in; I’ll take you anyway.” I was amazed and humbled! Taxi drivers aren’t usually known to drive for no pay! God was just really taking care of me, of that I have no doubt.

We rode the ten miles back to the area, but the sketchy map I’d shown him wasn’t adequate. He pulled over to ask a fellow mowing his lawn if he recognized the place on the map, but the man had no idea! That wonderful driver took me up and down many different roads, but we just couldn’t find the place. It was getting dark. What was I going to do? Should I just get out and try to find my way on foot? I was just about to give up all hope when suddenly, I saw a street that looked vaguely familiar and asked if he’d just try that one. As he turned down it, I was pretty sure it wasn’t the place, but as we rounded a curve, glory be – there was the place! It was almost completely dark by then. Another few minutes and I’d have had to spend the night in the streets!

I asked the driver, James was his name, if he wanted to wait while I tried to borrow the money, but he waved me off saying not to worry about it. I thanked him profusely and told him I was a pastor and would pray for him. He thanked me and drove off. I turned and went to the landlady, who had a place right next door to the one she rented to us. I knocked on the front gate, and she came out, looking alarmed. What had happened?! I explained how we’d gotten separated from one another and asked if she could let me in. Her name was Marion. She said of course, but would I like a cup of tea first? I guess I looked frazzled. I didn’t want to be rude and say no, but of course, neither did I want to intrude or take her time. She assured me her offer was sincere, so I took her up on it, thinking I’d only spend a few minutes.

We entered her home, and I met her “friend” Richard, a grey-bearded man perhaps a little younger than I. At first he seemed a bit displeased, but we shook hands, then he sat apart as his girlfriend fixed the tea. She asked about our trip to Iona, did we see what we’d hoped to see there? Well, talking about monasteries and missionaries and Celtic Christianity and why I wanted to know about them opened up a tremendous opportunity to share the gospel! Marion told me she considered herself spiritual, but wasn’t sure she believed in the traditional God. Richard was quite intellectual and had studied under a philosopher named Anthony Flew. It turned out I knew of Flew because of my studies. The man had been an atheist and that’s what Richard was. However, I happened to know Flew had had a change of heart and become something of a believer. I asked if Richard knew that, and he admitted rather reluctantly that he did. He was amazed that I’d heard of Flew and said he almost never met anyone who had. That led me to a long discussion about how we can know God exists, and how faith in God is really the most reasonable way to understand life and the universe.

The long and the short of it was that I seemed to have been just the right sort of person to share the gospel with these two. I enjoyed it tremendously, and it seems to me they did as well. It was nearly midnight when I finally excused myself and went next door to go to bed. I was aglow with that wonderful fullness of the Holy Spirit that you feel when you’ve had such a divine appointment, and I prayed fervently for Richard and Marion’s salvation.

Then I began to think about how everything had come about. I realized that if we’d just gone to Iona and come back as planned, I would never have witnessed to these folks. I would’ve been with my family instead. We would never have gotten together if not for all the problems of that day.

The next day we said our goodbyes, I gave them my website address, and we drove off toward our next destination. Allison was still disturbed. She asked me why God had allowed us to have such a difficult time. Why didn’t we think better, plan better? Why didn’t our phones work? Why had we thought so differently and taken the different paths we’d taken? Why did everything go wrong?

I had to tell her that the divine appointment I had with that couple made it all worthwhile to me. I was sorry they’d had to spend more money and go through a lot of anguish. I was sorry we’d been separated and I’d had to worry and struggle so much to get back to our place. But in my mind, the reason for it all was obvious. At the end of the day, God loves a Scottish couple named Richard and Marion, and allowed all the trouble we went through just so they’d hear His Word!

Along the way of course, though it was difficult for all of us, we did end up getting what we needed. They found a hotel for the night, and I found a phone charger, my wife answered my text, she found an email with a map, God sent a taxi driver who would drive me for free, and we found our way to the Air BnB place. In the end, the whole experience built my faith and showed me more of God’s grace and care. The bottom line is, the marks of a “divine appointment” were all over this episode, and I’ll forever thank God for it!