News
A Donut or a Blessing?
by Craig Carter, Courageous Third
December 3, 2024
“Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.”
Mark 1:40
God works in mysterious ways. In our fast-paced lives, we are more prone to miss a God moment unless we are attuned to what our Father in heaven has to say to us. On one such occasion, God told me to forego the highly anticipated donut my hungry stomach wanted and instead take a detour. A detour that unbeknownst to me would unleash countless blessings. Here’s what happened…
Just Another Travel Day
I arrived at the Seoul, South Korea airport, late for my flight to another Asian country. I hurried through security to my gate. Once through I saw a tourist store selling items made in Korea, outside were a number of people dressed in traditional Korean clothing, beautiful silk dresses and amazing warrior outfits for the men with big plastic spears. It put a huge smile on my face, and I almost missed the sign that was right above me as I was quickly walking to my gate, that said “Prayer Chapel”. As I glanced at it, I felt God was whispering to visit the prayer chapel. This is not something I normally do when I go to airports, and I really didn’t want to today as I was running late for the flight and had not eaten lunch yet. So, I quickly walked to my gate, not thinking too much about it. Upon arrival at my gate, I happily noticed there was a Dunkin Donuts café and next to it was the prayer chapel. Amazing I thought, but a donut first! I was hungry for a donut and a coffee, so I started to walk that way, but I felt God nudging me to immediately go to the prayer chapel.
An Unexpected Encounter
I walked into the prayer chapel and looked around. There was a Muslim looking man who was putting his shoes on, getting ready to leave. He must have read my mind, because he said that the prayer room is for all religions, and that he is a Christian. I walked over to him and asked him where he was from. He said he was from Cameroon in Africa; Aaron* is his name. I felt compelled to ask him about his story and why he was traveling to Korea. With that question, his face changed. It went from a smile, to a sad frown and deep tiredness in his eyes. He asked me, “do you really want to know?” I said, “yes”. Aaron proceeded to tell me how he had been stuck at the airport for two and a half months, a prisoner there. Unable to enter as his tourist visa had been revoked when he arrived, and he was fearful of being killed if he went back to his home country of Cameroon. He was isolated, feeling completely alone at the airport, digging for food, even as he walked the airport daily surrounded by thousands of people. He was alone, isolated, hurting… a prisoner. I was shocked, my heart was moved. I had never heard of anyone who was in a situation like this.
Sharing God’s Heart
Later, I would find out Aaron was not alone, but a few dozen men and women were in the same predicament, some for up to a year, all at that airport. I asked if I could pray for him. He looked at me with huge eyes, tears forming, and he said, “absolutely!”. So, we both knelt down in the prayer room. With my hand on his shoulder and my other hand holding his two hands, I asked for God to bless him, to set him free from this prison at the airport and that God would hear his cry. That he would feel the deep love of God and know that God sees him. I felt led to pray like Moses, that God would part the Red Sea for him, that he would be able to walk through on dry land. That Aaron would be molded by God in difficult situations to be a powerful man of prayer, realizing this was his call. How he was a strong man, as only God would put a strong man into such a challenging situation. That his prayers and life would impact people and nations with the love of God, as he would pray, lives would be changed, and mountains would move.
Hope for the Hurting
At the end of praying for him, Aaron turned to me with eyes wide, many tears at this point. Saying no one had really talked with him in all his time here, and definitely no one had prayed for him in these last two and half months. It meant everything to him. He said there was a woman he met a few weeks ago that said she would pray for him, but she was in a hurry and didn’t have time to do it at that moment. It hit me and tears formed in my eyes. All of this was happening in a country that had the largest percentage of Christians of any nation on Earth. Also, I had just left a Christian conference with 5,000 Christian leaders, most of which had gone through this airport both coming and going. In the hustle and bustle of the busy airport and busy lives, others had not seen him. We are all busy, especially this time of year, but may we open our eyes to see the hurting – just like Aaron.
The Bible tells us that Jesus would see people in need, feel compassion, and move toward them – and I almost prioritized a donut over this! I felt extremely blessed that God had opened my eyes and my heart, as I had almost missed it. As I boarded the flight, who was there waving at me? Aaron, waving with a smile filling his face. God gave me a choice. A donut or a blessing. The blessing of Aaron was priceless! But after praying for Aaron, we did go to Dunkin Donuts! In the end, God gave me a blessing and eating at Dunkin Donuts!
The Blessings Continue
I was miraculously able to see Aaron a second time on my flight back from Asia to my home in the USA. Praying for him again and encouraging him. We have stayed in touch, with me listening and praying for him. I am likely the only person consistently caring and loving him. He brought a friend of his to one of our conference calls, a young lady from Rwanda. She had been in the airport for a year! I was able to listen and pray for her, the same day she had a mental and physical breakdown due to the stress of being there for a year. Her knowing she was loved – on that specific day – I believe helped her get through it and she is now back in her home country.
Aaron is still at the airport. He is leaning into his calling to be a man of prayer, excitedly telling me that he has copied what I did. Recently while he was looking for food, he met a man who was in route to have a major surgery. The man was in tears after Aaron prayed for him. He felt seen and blessed.
My heart is overwhelmed with joy knowing Aaron, as I continue to talk to him and pray for him. He calls me “Dad” and it is priceless. What is Aaron’s worth? He is much more important than a donut with cream filling, yet that was my first choice! But God gave me an option to follow Him. Every person we meet at work, the airport, or out in life has priceless worth. May the Lord open our eyes so we prioritize the person over the donut. Amen!
*Name has been changed for privacy.
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