We as Americans stand out on a bus in Riga, Latvia. We have a tendency to be too loud and we talk too much! Latvians are more quiet and reserved in public so anytime our missions group boarded a bus we were bound to draw attention, especially since we were speaking fluent English, with an accent!

Most Latvians under the age of thirty could speak English fairly well because it is the international business language and it is taught in the public school, but the older generation of Latvians and Russians do not understand English,  so we definitely turned heads whether we intended to or not.

Most of our journeys were uneventful; we took the bus every Sunday morning 30 minutes into Central Station, where we traipsed down into the tunnels to change buses and start the trip to Pinki. It was another 45 minute trip to this quaint little town where we rented a beautiful Lutheran church for our services.  In the evening we would worship in a rented centuries-old Anglican building in downtown Riga, so we would repeat the process, catching two different buses and quite a bit more walking.

After about three months of this, plus all of the walking every day for outreach and evangelism, our former home church, along with friends and family, raised the money to help us get a car for the rest of our time in Riga, we were so grateful!

One day after a series of meetings in the town of Balozi, we were traveling back late in the afternoon at rush hour. This was a 60 minute bus ride from our home and three bus changes, two tunnels, three flights of stairs, and seemingly endless walking involved. I suffer with SI degenerative joint disease, and I was hurting so badly that not even halfway into the journey I was in tears. The buses at rush hour are just packed to capacity, and then packed some more.

There is an unwritten rule on the bus for the elderly, and usually even the youth will honor that rule and give up their seat for the gray head. Well, fortunately, or unfortunately, in this case, at 51 my head is not full of gray hair. But I must admit, that day I would have given anything for a seat! I couldn’t imagine standing more than a half hour in the kind of pain I was experiencing, getting bumped and pushed and jostled all the way home.

I was facing the front of the bus and was sandwiched between my husband, Doogalas, as they affectionately pronounce “Douglas” in Latvian, and my then 19 year old son Korey, who was working with us for six months in Latvia. Suddenly an older lady, totally white-headed and obviously over 65, grabbed Doogalas and pointed to me to come and take her seat! She didn’t speak any English and we recognized her Russian. We had taken about eight weeks of Russian language classes before we came over but not enough to hold a conversation. We were all baffled by this because we had gotten on at the other end of the bus and I had my back to her. I am barely five feet tall and I am not sure how she could even see me let alone know that I was in distress. But she was insisting and pointing and pulling at Doogalas and I finally made my way to her and sat down and thanked her in Russian and English so she would know that I did not speak any more Russian. She chuckled at this, I think it was unnecessary; my accent had given me away!

But the story doesn’t end there. I sat down and she stood there guarding me, literally protecting me. Remember the bus was as full as I had ever seen it, you could hardly breathe.

Another elderly lady got on that wanted my seat and my “guardian angel” shook her head “No!” I have no idea what was said between them but it was not pleasant. She had insisted that I get up! But my new friend gave me a look of triumph, and a sly grin, as the elderly lady grumbled her way past. And for the rest of the trip she stood right beside me just as if the Lord had sent her to watch over me that day, knowing the pain I was in.

She got off at the stop right before mine and patted my arm before she left and told me “Goodbye” in Russian, the one thing I could say back, and after she got off she looked back and smiled and even winked at me. Now Doogalas, Korey and I had all become separated on the bus. When we finally got off at the next stop and started walking to our apartment, Korey, my ever-cynical son, said, “Mom, do you think she was a guardian angel?” It had already crossed my mind and I had secretly thanked God for sending her to me, but Korey had watched the scene unfold from the other end of the bus and was amazed at what he had seen.

A few years ago people were so caught up in angels and the focus the media and some churches were putting on them were really confusing people and almost putting angels in a place of worship, which should never be. But sadly, that should not keep us from believing what the Word of God tells us about angels and the Word tells us they ARE real and they are not only here for our protection but for many other things as well. All of the angels in Scripture carried out tasks designed to serve God, here are some examples:

1. Worship and Praise – This is the main activity portrayed in Heaven. Isaiah 6: 1-3, Revelation 4-5.

2. Providing – He used angels to provide physical needs; Genesis 21:17-20, 1 Kings 19:6, Matthew 4:11.

3. Protecting – He used angels to keep God’s people out of physical danger; Daniel 3 and 6.

4. Delivering – He used angels to get God’s people out of danger once they are in it; Angels released the apostles from prison in Acts 5, and for Peter in Acts 12.

5. Strengthening and Encouraging – Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation; Matthew 4:11, they encouraged the apostles to keep preaching after releasing them from prison in Acts 5:19-20, and told Paul everyone on his ship would survive the impending shipwreck in Acts 27:23-25.

6. Answering Prayer – God often uses angels as His means of answering the prayers of His people; Daniel 9:20-24, 10:10-12, Acts 12:1-17.

7. Caring for Believers at the Moment of Death – In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, we read that angels carried the spirit of Lazarus to “Abraham’s bosom” when he died. Luke 16:22. ~ Dr. John Bechtle

God is so good to His people! He provides for us in so many ways too numerous to count and we don’t even begin to tap into His resources that are available to us. The Bible says “He bends down to listen…” Psalm 116:2. He is as close as the mention of His name!

I watched for my “guardian angel” every time we went to the bus since she only got off one stop from ours, but we never saw her again. It doesn’t matter to me whether she was a real angel sent from Heaven or not. The important thing was that God DID send her for me at the right time that day whoever she was! He knew I was in trouble and He cared! And I am blown away by the little things like knowing that the Almighty God that created the universe looked down from Heaven and saw that I needed a seat on a bus! How cool is that?!

But I also can’t forget the wink and the smile as she walked away from the bus that day… “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:1,2 NIV.

Sharing with Hope in Every Season