■ Steven’s Amazing Adventures, and the Future of the World ■ (PART 9) - "Vanished" - (A STORY about the END TIMES, with Messages from God) (PART 9)

Steven’s Amazing Adventures,

and the Future of the World

(A Story about the End Times 
with Messages from God)

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(Click to Read PART 1.)

(This story chronicles the adventures of Steven O'Neill, his wife Sarah, and their friends during the End Times. Judgment has already struck the U.S., and Steve and his friends have reached the vast continent of Asia. Witness the amazing things God will reveal about the coming kingdom of the Beast (or the Antichrist), the Mark of the Beast, and the Tribulation period. This story should keep you fascinated, as a realistic account of the future unfolds in the form of a fictional story.

But, this story is not just a story. It contains messages from God and prophecies that actually shall happen. It is written as fiction with fictional characters, but the message of the story is very real, and the cataclysmic events, touched on in this story, will actually impact this earth as God’s Holy Bible and its prophecies unfold. The world will soon enter a time much like that portrayed in this story. I encourage you to seek God about this to see what He will show you.)

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Chapter Nine

(Click here to see The Table of Contents.) 

PART 9: “Vanished”

Chinese soldiers had just landed a fairly short distance from the group of Christians in a wooded area of northern China. The beating din of the rotors of a dark-green Changhe Z-18 transport helicopter “thwacked” the air some distance above the trees. The Chinese soldiers had fast-roped down from the helicopter and had scanned through the snow-dusted bushes until they spotted the Christians, dressed in their winter coats. Aiming their bullpup machine guns at close range, the Chinese troops placed their fingers over their triggers, ready to fire. (See "Footnote".)

The Christians held each other close and prayed, closing their eyes anticipating what they expected to happen next. “Burp!” The machine guns erupted into a loud cacophony of fire, which echoed through the trees. Rapid yellow flashes of machine gun fire burst from the guns, followed immediately by a wall of lead hornets.

Echoes from the shots faded into the woodland as the soldiers ceased firing, one by one.

They looked side to side, scanning the trees, baffled. They could not see any dead or wounded people. In fact, no humans were in sight. Only a multitude of snow-covered deciduous and coniferous trees, bushes, and snow-heaped ground reached their vision.

A soldier spoke into his two-way, helmet radio and reported the mysterious disappearance of about 50 people, who they were about to execute. The commander’s voice replied harshly, ordering the soldiers to search the woods immediately. Breaking from their stupor, many soldiers began searching through the bushes and trees, but some remained in a daze, certain that the Christians had only been a stone throw from them, and had not moved since the soldiers first arrived.

After fifteen minutes of beating through the bushes and searching around trees with bright flashlights, the baffled Chinese troops reported their failure to find any Christians. The commander was outraged and told them that if they did not locate those Christians, they would be put into work camps. Hearing that, the troops, fanned out into the forest and started a manhunt. More helicopters were ordered to the forest. But, the dazed soldiers knew that the Christians had vanished in front of their eyes.

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“City”

A wooden city spread out before Steve, Sarah, Jason, Sergey, and the group of Asian and Russian Christians. It rested on a hill, surrounded by a forest of pine trees. A forested mountain formed a back drop behind the city, and the moon’s pale face hung above the mountain like a glowing lamp. Chinese-style wooden buildings rose up into the air three and four stories high illuminated by yellow street lamps. They appeared to be wooden poles with four Chinese lanterns attached to outstretched wooden beams.

“We're finally back home,” Sarah said to Steve as they beheld the sight.

“I look forward to sleeping in an upholstered bed,” Steve said, yawning.

Among the larger buildings, some smaller structures rested. Many of these were single or double-story houses and shops. Each house had a small yard or a courtyard.

Sergey turned to Steve and said, “Where are we?”

“It is the city of refuge we told you about,” Steve said, smiling.

Sergey returned his gaze to the wooden city. Throughout it there appeared to be lavatories made out of stone for the sake of convenience. And, stone-paved streets formed a perfect grid layout. Large buildings throughout identified themselves as church buildings by the crosses mounted atop them.

Just seconds ago, Steve and this group had been translated by God’s angels to this amazing sight. They were about to be shot dead by Chinese troops, but they had been whisked away a split second before the burst of machine gun fire erupted from the muzzles. Many people were relieved, but the surprise of being translated had both shocked many and gave them great joy. People a short distance from Sergey talked excitedly and cried, seeing the city before them. Tears filled their eyes as they realized that what God had told them beforehand had now come to pass. It was a miracle that they were standing there alive and in one piece.

Some Asian Christians emerged from the streets on the outskirts and walked down a dirt road toward the new arrivals, who stood outside the city. In a short time they arrived, smiling. A Chinese man wearing a dark brown changshan tunic stepped forward and said, “Greetings, brothers and sisters. It is good to see more faces. Come into this city of refuge. You are welcome here. Here, all your needs will be supplied and you will be protected from all harm.”

The Asian Christians greeting them wore traditional Chinese clothing, but their clothing seemed more like autumn clothing than winter wear. As Sergey looked around, he noticed that no snow appeared on the ground. The trees in the nearby forest were also free of snow. But some miles away from the city, white powder covered the forest and the hills. ‘This is a mystery. It must be a miracle of God,’ Sergey thought.

He was impressed by the lack of snow in this region. Clearly, this was the city of refuge that God had prepared the group for and surprised them with. Sergey could not tell whether this was in Russia, China, Central Asia, North America, or Europe. The mountains and pine forests were common in all those regions.

“What do you think about this, Sergey?” Steve asked his new friend as they followed the group toward the village.

“I am truly amazed. Shocked would be a better word,” Sergey said. “What is this place exactly? And, where is it?”

“It is very shocking to be translated someplace new,” Steve said, “but you get used to it the more God moves you around. This place is in Eurasia, but God does not want me to reveal its exact location. And, this is a city of refuge. It is one of many that God has helped His people build and that God has committed to protect and provide for. It is a safe haven.”

“What do you think, Sergey?” Alexei, the red-bearded Russian said, as he approached them.

“I have wondered if I’m not dreaming,” Sergey said.

“You’re not dreaming,” Alexei said. “Trust me. I felt the same way you do when God translated me to this place.”

The Chinese and other Asian Christians were now in the outskirts of the town. As they entered, people opened shutters in upper floors. Seeing the new arrivals, the townsfolk began singing praises to God. Some people began emerging from their homes carrying flutes, mandolins, and other instruments. As they slowly gathered into a group of seven, the musicians present began playing while two others sang worship songs to the Lord in harmony with the music.

Looking around with a sense of awe and wonder, the new arrivals began clapping their hands, and some even sang with the music. After about twenty minutes had passed, the new arrivals were directed toward two different inns not far from the outskirts of the town. Sergey, Steve, Sarah, Jason, and Alexei entered the closest inn. It had four stories with a balcony on each story.

After a couple minutes of waiting in line, Steve and Sarah now stood before the concierge desk. It was their turn to get a room. They had a house, but they were too tired to walk there. Sergey stood behind them. He noticed that the concierge handed them a key without any transaction taking place.

When it was his turn, the concierge handed him a key with a metal tag dangling from it with a room number, 15. “I would like to know the cost for a room please,” Sergey said. “And, also what currency you accept here.”

The Asian man smiled and chuckled. “Almost every new guest says something like that when they first arrive. This hotel and everything in this city is free. We do not use bartering or any currency.”

“Okay. Thank you,” Sergey said, baffled.

He headed up the stairs to his room on the second story, down a hallway, and up to a wooden door with the number “15” in gold affixed to it. Inside, he plopped down on the bed, avoiding a large ceramic vase with Chinese artwork depicting jagged mountains and clouds. He tossed his shoes beside an ornate wooden dresser and slipped under the white bed covers. One his bed, Sergey prayed some before falling fast asleep.

After breakfast had been eaten the next day in a large dining room downstairs, Sergey stood to his feet and found Steve and Sarah chatting with a Chinese man he’d never seen before. The man excused himself and left just before Sergey approached them.

“Good morning, Steve and Sarah,” the Russian said with a cheerful note in his voice.

“Good morning, Sergey,” they replied, in unison.

“I wonder if you would like to take me through this city,” Sergey said. “I am curious about it.” 

“You want to see the sights?” Steve said.

“Yes,” Sergey said. “Yes, I want to see the sights. Let’s go.”

“That sounds good. I’ll just clear my table first and take our dishes to the kitchen,” Steve said.

“Steve,” Sarah said, when Sergey was some distance ahead, “it looks like Sergey is truly dumbfounded at this city of refuge.”

“He will really be amazed,” Steve said, “at the worship that takes place in the Church buildings on the Sabbath.”

____________________

“Alone”

It was totally dark inside the stone-walled room. The door had last been shut 24 hours ago and Vasily had seen the last glimpse of light coming from the hallway outside. He had been in the cell for over a day.

He sat on the concrete floor, feeling its cold surface removing heat from his body. Still wearing a coat, hat, and gloves, Vasily shivered, despite the fact that they gave him a thicker jacket for his stay in the cell.

The cell door had been specially designed to close tight, leaving no light visible through gaps. And, the hallway lights outside his cell were dim and separated at distant intervals to minimize light getting into the cells in the solitary confinement building, in the labor camp.

Vasily stood and paced around his cell, thinking about the terrible decisions he had made that brought him to this point. He cursed himself for trying to turn in the Christians, who somehow managed to escape before the Russian soldiers were to arrest them. It was because of his second failure to turn in Christians that the Russian authorities suspected that he was working with Christians, instead of against them. Now, in this “cursed” camp, he had let himself be conned into joining a group of “escape artists,” who had failed to escape the labor camp. Most of them were in isolation cells, spread some distance apart so that there would be no way they could communicate with each other.

He was at the lowest point he’d even been in his life. ‘If God exists, why did He let this happen?’ Vasily thought. But, he knew deep in his heart why. God was calling out to him. He had heard the Gospel, but he had never wanted to know Jesus or trust Him alone for salvation. He had wanted to turn in Christians to get more rations and favor with the Russian government. But, everything he had tried had backfired.

Now, he would be stuck in this solitary confinement cell for three weeks: three weeks of the cold, of boredom, of loneliness, and misery. He would not see the sun or a human face during that time. The only time anything eventful would happen came when a small flap in the door, near the ground, opened twice a day and a hand shoved a plate of food through the opening. The food was a bland and tasteless ‘slop,’ made of a thick soup mixed with lentils. Vasily hated lentils. He was also given three large bottles of water. Some hours ago, they had opened his door and tossed in a folded blanket, a sleeping pad, and a pillow. A toilet tucked behind a partition wall was his only other ‘amenity.’

In the near-total darkness, Vasily looked up and shook his fist at God. “If I ever get out of this miserable camp,” he shouted, “I will hunt down your people and kill every last one of them!”

Then, Vasily plopped down on his hard sleeping pad and tucked the blanket around his body. Resting his head on the hard pillow, he sighed and tried to drift to sleep. But, sleep wouldn’t come to his tired body. To Vasily’s troubled soul, the pad felt almost as hard as the cement. The pillow felt lumpy and hard. And, the blanket was not long enough for his length, even though he was less than 6 feet in height.

He tossed and turned for nearly an hour before he leaned up and stared at the cold darkness before him. The shapes of hideous beings strangely began to appear in his imagination. Serpents with sharp teeth and dragons with glowing, yellow eyes seemed to stare at him from the surrounding darkness. He tried to get them out of his mind and picture what it would be like to escape this horrible place. But, the more he tried to get the ghoulish creatures out of his mind, the harder it became to forget about them.

After a few minutes of this, he shouted, “Stop it! Stop it! Leave me alone.”

But, the fearful mental pictures or hallucinations continued along with the sense that something very evil was lurking around him. Vasily suddenly felt his skin itch. It seemed that insects were now crawling over his body. He tried to crush them or flick them off, but they kept seeming to creep over his skin, when no actual insects were present. To make matters worse, his head started to throb with a migraine headache. He cursed and tried to think about happy memories to get his mind off the bizarre and troubling afflictions. He thought of childhood memories of fishing with his uncle along with other happy memories of the past, but they didn’t last. The unbearable pain in his head kept him from enjoying the reminiscence.

“God, help me,” Vasily screamed after two hours of this had passed. “Make it stop!”

But, the headache continued and the feeling of insects crawling over his skin didn’t let up.

Breathing hard after shouting loudly, Vasily sat up in bed and said, desperately, “Please make it stop. Please. I was wrong to want to kill Christians. I was wrong to hate you, but please make this stop. Please.”

The headache began to leave and an evil presence standing beside him faded away. Then, the feeling of insects crawling over his skin assuaged or lessened. In a short time, the feeling was gone and Vasily was back to normal. He sighed and dropped back onto his bed.

He was asleep for five hours before a loud, high-pitch ringing sound filled his ears, and the throbbing pain of his migraine headache returned. He sat up in bed and cursed the pain. But, he stopped himself and looked up into the darkness, blinking his weary eyes. “God, please make this stop. I will not seek after your people. I will not kill them or turn them in. But, please make this stop.”

The pain and loud ringing in his ears continued, and it began to increase a little. Tears came to his eyes. ‘Why does this have to happen to me?’ he thought. ‘I am a good person. Why me?’ But, thoughts came to his mind of his sins and all the times he lied to people, when he slandered his neighbors and friends, when he cheated people out of money, and when he took God’s Name in vain or treated God with disrespect.

Then, it donned on Vasily that the pain and torment he was suffering was nothing compared to Hell. And, he began to realize that the sins he had done were not insignificant in God’s sight. He felt that God was calling out to him and calling on him to repent and turn to Jesus Christ, the One whom he had scoffed at, mocked, and blasphemed so much.

“God,” Vasily said, after some moments of deep thought. “I have treated you and your people poorly. I have hated your Bible and your people, and I want to tell you that I am sorry. I did wrong. I did many wrong things in my life, but I thought you’d overlook that. Now, I feel that you can’t overlook my sin. That is why you are allowing me to go through this misery. So, I ask you to please accept me.

“Please accept this miserable wretch and forgive me for my sins. I trust that Jesus died for sinners like me. I trust that He is your Only Begotten Son. Please accept my apology and forgive me for all my sins, and cleanse them from me by the blood of Christ. I guess that is my prayer of repentance. I heard someone teach me about repentance, but I never really wanted to repent until now. Take me, God, and save this wretch.”

The headache remained for half a minute before it faded away and was completely gone. And, the ringing in his ears stopped.

Vasily heard himself gasp. “It really works. The pain is gone. And, I’m saved. Father God saved me through Jesus Christ. I’m saved!”*

He leapt to his feet and began dancing around his cell hollering, “I’m saved!”

After some time of rejoicing, Vasily settled down and felt a special peace descend into his soul like no peace he had ever felt before. Joy that had warmth and life to it settled into his heart. He had truly done something different than he’d ever done—something he never thought he’d do. He had become a believer in Jesus Christ, and he was enjoying every moment of it.

[* To learn more about being saved, click here.]

____________________

(Click to Read PART 10.) 

(Click here to see The Table of Contents.) 

(If you would like to know more about Jesus Christ, click here.)

[Footnote: Russians are not the enemy, neither are the Chinese. Both are people just like you and me. But, God will use Russia and China to judge wicked nations, which will not repent from their rebellion against Him. And, the devil will seek to stir up men to persecute the Church. But, God will deliver all who seek Him and trust in Him.]

EXCERPT from PART 10:

... “Excuse me, sir,” a man said in Chinese from a few feet behind him.

Sergey turned to see a Chinese man in his early seventies, about ten years older than Sergey, standing behind him. A long white beard flowed down his chest, giving him the appearance of a Biblical patriarch. He wore a light blue changshan tunic, the hem of which rested about a foot above the ground. Grey trousers and black, leather shoes appeared underneath.

“Yes?” Sergey said.

“You must be one of the new arrivals to The Mountain of Peace,” the white-haired man replied. ...

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