Gorilla

Gorilla

Monday, September 5, 2016

Can an astronomical phenomenon be an answer to a prayer?

Answer:  Yes!

Of course, it happened in Joshua’s time.

But let me relate my experience, and you be the judge.

It was awfully hot here in Kigali the last few weeks of August. This is typical of the weather in July and August, and fortunately, many pioneers are close to finishing their hours for the service year, which was my situation also. So during this time I was just conducting studies and otherwise not doing much else.

In hot weather I don’t have a lot of energy, so even just getting out of the house to get lunch took effort. So I asked Jehovah, “Come September, when I have to get serious again, is there any way you can give us some weather that is cooler?” Usually the first of September I try to put in a full day of preaching, morning to evening, and I wondered how I would last all day in the heat, since hmmm…when was the last time I put in a full day?

Well, guess what. On September 1, I was preaching all day with my friend Jacques from the Remera French Congregation, and we noticed in the morning how cool it was. It seemed, in fact, that the sun was less intense than usual, less bright and less hot, though there were no clouds in the sky.

It turns out, when Jacques checked his phone for news, that there was a solar eclipse that day! The eclipse’s path cut through a wide swath of central and southern Africa, and reached totality in Gabon, Congo, and Madagascar. So in Rwanda, we had a partial eclipse. But even in cases of 80% totality (which is what we had), you can’t see the moon blocking the sunbecause the sun is so brightbut the reduction of the sun’s intensity is noticeable.

We finished the day after 8½ hours of preaching, and the weather was pleasant and bearable.

So was this the answer to a prayer?

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