■ Steven’s Amazing Adventures, and the Future of the World ■ (PART 37) - ◼ “The Search in the Vietnamese Jungle” // ◼ “The Package in Novosibirsk” - (A STORY about the END TIMES, with Messages from God) (PART 37)

(Go to previous part. ⬅   ➡ Go to the next part.)
[Right click link and select "Open link in new tab."]
__________________________________________
Steven’s Amazing Adventures,

and the Future of the World

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

Open this story as a free PDF file: 
Steven's Amazing Adventures PDF.

(Click here to open a safe website that reads text for free. 

You can copy and paste this post to have this story read aloud.)

(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.)

Miracles will abound and awesome sights will astonish people in these last days.

Copy and Print for Free!

Feel free to copy and paste this book or print it off at your pleasure. You can make as many copies as you want and save or print them. You can save this as a document. I offer this for free. I will make no money from this book. Just don't change the text by adding or removing words, letters, symbols, or numbers. I do this for the sake of getting the message out since we have little time left, compared to eternity. If you like, you can click here to print.

___________________________________________

(Click here to see The Table of Contents.)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

PART 37: “The Search in the Vietnamese Jungle" // "The Package in Novosibirsk"

________________________________________

(A jungle. Pixabay. Free images.)

A platoon of 24 communist Chinese soldiers walked on a narrow trail through a jungle in northern Vietnam. A young, 21-year-old soldier named Yong Tang was one of them. He wished he could be somewhere else. Mosquitoes pestered him, the temperature was at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and his feet felt somewhat sore and sweaty from all the walking he did for the past six days.

Each Chinese soldier was equipped with a rucksack, a rain-proof sleeping bag, a bullpup-style Type 95 automatic rifle, ammo, an all-purpose fix-bladed knife, grenades, rations, a map, and a compass. They had been hiking through the Vietnamese jungles for nearly a week, and many in the platoon were ready to return to base, but the lieutenant in command of the platoon had orders to locate and kill Christians, and he was determined to do just that. 

After all their time patrolling this section of the jungle, the platoon had seen very few people. But, they had killed one Christian man who they had found in the jungle carrying a backpack, which had contained three Bibles in Vietnamese. He was an older Vietnamese man who appeared to be in his late seventies. Something about this older Christian had struck Yong Tang as being remarkable. The memory of the encounter replayed itself in Yong’s mind.

(Chinese soldiers in Djbouti. Click for source.)

The soldiers at the front of the column had seen him sitting on a fallen grey ebony tree and reading from a Bible. Yong had quickly hurried up to the soldiers as they had stood around this Vietnamese man asking him questions, with their guns trained on his heart. But, despite the threat of the soldiers, he had remained peaceful and calm, and the appearance of joy seemed to cause his eyes to sparkle. 

“We will kill you unless you forsake your worthless religion,” a Chinese soldier said coldly as he aimed his gun at the Vietnamese man’s heart.

“I had a dream that in a very short time God was going to take me home to be with Him in Heaven. So, I am not afraid of dying,” the Vietnamese replied with a peaceful look on his face. “But, are you afraid of dying?” 

“Shut up, old man!” the soldier shouted. “I’m the one asking the questions. Where are all your Christian friends hiding? Tell me!” 

“I am not afraid to die because I know where I’m going,” the older man said calmly with a peaceful attitude which Yong had never seen in anyone before. 

“Answer the question. Where are your friends hiding?” another soldier said before he stepped forward and slapped the man across the face.

“May God bring His peace to your soul,” the Vietnamese man said as he rubbed his stinging face. 

The first soldier to speak scowled as he glared at the man seated on the fallen tree. Intense hatred swept through the soldier’s face. Then, he raised his gun and aimed at the Vietnamese man’s heart.

“Old man, you are going to die because you are big fool,” the soldier said fiercely as placed his finger on the trigger.

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” the Vietnamese man said as he looked up toward the sky, toward Heaven.

(Click here to read this story in a PDF format.)

Right as he finished his statement, a short burst erupted from the muzzle of the machine gun, filling the jungle with loud echoes, and the old Christian was caught up to Heaven in the arms of an angel. 

Seeing the murder take place, Yong thought coldly, ‘He got what he deserved.’ But, another thought entered his mind shortly afterward: ‘Why was this old man so peaceful and content to die? He actually had peace about dying?’ Many of the older people Yong had known dreaded the thought of dying. What made this Christian so sure about going to Heaven? Yong didn’t even know if Heaven existed.

Now, days after the killing, Yong still thought about the old Vietnamese man and wondered if that man had something Yong was lacking. 

The lieutenant at the head of the platoon suddenly barked out an order for the group to halt and stand at attention. Then, he walked down the line of men until he had reached about the middle and stood a couple yards off the trail. Facing the soldiers, he began speaking. 

(Learn more about the characters in this story here.)

“Men,” the lieutenant said, “our Vietnamese guide has located a trail made by humans. They could be Christians. We will follow it and see where it leads us. Hopefully, we will find a group of at least ten Christians to execute. So, keep your ears and eyes open for any hint of a Christian presence. The guide told me that Christians lurk in this area of the jungle.”

Then, the lieutenant walked briskly back to the head of the platoon where his Vietnamese guide waited. In a few moments, they continued their march through the forest. 

Yong looked forward to setting his sights on a Christian and taking him out, but something deep inside brought conviction that he shouldn’t do that, and that there was no justification for committing murder. But, he tried to shrug the conviction off. After all, he had been trained and it had been drilled into him that Christians were the number one enemy. He had been taught that Christians were a threat to the stability of China and of the Chinese empire. The empire stretched from Mongolia down to Australia and through all of Oceania and Southeast Asia. Wherever the communists had control, Christians were hunted down and tortured, imprisoned, and killed. 

(Map of East Asia. Click for source.)

A macaque squeaked at Yong from a high branch in a nearby Himalayan ash tree. An ape somewhere hidden from view in the jungle canopy hooted loudly as if it was warning its neighbors to beware of danger.

While a number of Christians had been killed for their faith, many Christians had escaped capture. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Christians had escaped capture and death, and had vanished into the jungles or into remote regions of Asia. Somehow, they had managed to stay off the radar. Unknown to Yong and the Chinese government, these Christians were supernaturally protected from the roving eyes of the Chinese government and from communist collaborators because they put their trust in God, and God had a purpose for them to continue doing His Kingdom work on earth. 

____________________

We will now go back a few years to the time when Steve, Sarah, and Jason first met Alexei Klebov, a red-bearded, Russian, evangelistic Christian. They had been translated or moved, by God’s miraculous power, from Cincinnati, Ohio to Novosibirsk, Russia, which is located in southern Siberia. The miracle was of the same magnitude as what happened to Philip in Acts chapter 8. The friends were inside Alexei’s apartment in a high-rise building when a loud knock had suddenly come from the apartment door.

____________________

“The Package in Novosibirsk”

A loud knock had come from Alexei Klebov’s apartment door in Novosibirsk, Russia. Steve O’Neill, Sarah O’Neill, and Jason Harper had recently been miraculously translated to the hallway outside Alexei’s apartment. After meeting the red-bearded Russian, the small group had entered his apartment and visited with each other briefly before the loud interruption. 

(Novosibirsk, Russia. Click for source.)

Rap. Rap. Rap. The knocking continued. 

“What should I do, Abba Father?” Alexei asked God quietly as he stared at his closed apartment door. His heart rate had increased since the knocking began only seconds ago.

“My son, Alexei, you may answer the door. It is just a mailman. Do no be alarmed. And, I the Lord your God and Abba Father have spoken,” God’s gentle, quiet voice said to Alexei’s spirit and soul. 

“I choose to trust you, Abba,” Alexei said as he started toward the door. 

He opened it to find that a mailman was standing before the door holding a small package in one hand and a hand-held electronic device in the other. 

“Hello sir, this is a parcel for Mr. Alexei Klebov. Are you he?” the mailman asked.

“Yes,” Alexei said, nodding. He felt a thought suddenly come to his mind, saying: ‘What if this man is only posing as a mailman? Or, what if he is an undercover police officer?’ 

But, Alexei tried to ignore the suggestion. 

The man handed the package to him and then extended the electronic device toward Alexei. “Would I be able to get a signature to verify the delivery?” 

Swallowing, Alexei tried to ignore another suggestion in his mind that the signature might be a secret way of incriminating him or framing him for something he didn’t do. 

He took a stylus which was attached to the device by a curly cord and quickly signed his name on a signature line displayed on the small touch-screen. Then, the mailman thanked him and left. 

Breathing out a heavy sigh, Alexei closed the door and locked it. Now, he faced a new challenge to his faith. ‘Should I open this package, or not?’ Alexei thought to himself. ‘Could it be a bomb? Or, could it be full of some illegal substance with which someone might want to incriminate me?’ These fears brought him to a place where he didn’t know what to do. 

“Friends, I’m facing a dilemma,” Alexei said slowly. “I have a parcel which came from some unknown location. It may be for a sinister purpose. Should I open it or not?” 

“What does God show you?” Steve said. “I’m going to seek Him too.” 

Having said that, he walked over toward the living room window and talked with his loving Abba Father God. 

Alexei had some fear attacking him about the package. His fear was that he may not hear God’s voice speak to him and that harm could follow if he opened the package against God’s will. That fear kept him immobilized. But, he realized it was unbiblical, and so Alexei began giving it to God. Then, he asked his heavenly Father a question: “Father God, is that package safe to open?” 

“Yes, My son, you certainly may open the package,” God’s loving voice said to Alexei’s soul and spirit. “Don’t be alarmed. I will keep you safe. And, I the Lord your God and Abba Father have spoken.” 

“I choose to trust you, Abba Father,” Alexei said below a whisper. 

“What did God show you?” Steve asked as he walked toward the red-haired Russian. 

“God showed me that it was safe to open the package,” Alexei said. 

“That’s what He showed me,” Steve said. 

“I also heard it was safe,” Sarah added. 

Alexei pulled out a pocket knife and slit the packing tape. Opening the flaps, he reached in and pulled out some folded maps; a compass; 1,500 rubles in cash;* and a computer printout. He walked over to dining table and spread the contents on the wooden surface. 

[* This would roughly equal $50 U.S. dollars from the year 2017.]

“This is a strange arrangement of items,” Sarah said as gazed at the objects. 

Alexei picked up the computer printout and read through some text. Then, a slight smile spread across his face. After a minute had passed, he whistled low and shook his head. 

“This is strange,” Alexei said. 

“What is it?” Jason asked, leaning toward him with curiosity on his face.

“The message I just read came from a brother in Christ I met back in the town of Sikorsky.* It’s a logging town where I used to live. I worked as a logger operating a wheel feller buncher, a knuckleboom loader, and other logging machines. One fells trees and the other machine loads them. While there, I met some loggers who were Christians and they invited me to a Bible study. It was a secret Bible study, which met several times during the week, in different locations.”

(A wheel feller buncher. Click for source.)

[* Sikorsky is a fictional town in Siberia, Russia.]

“The man who sent me this package is a good friend of mine called Konstantine Apalkov. The message he sent me is saying that God is showing him to prepare a place for me and for some friends I will have with me,” Alexei said, pausing. “You guys.”

Alexei continued: “Konstantine said that the maps he included will help us know where to find him if he or his group go into hiding. There are ‘safe houses,’ or locations that are hard to find, where communist soldiers, secret police, and agents wouldn’t think to look if they were to seek to arrest Konstantine and his group. They’re indicated in yellow. There are alternative ‘safe houses’ in blue if the yellow ‘safe houses’ are compromised.” 

“He sure has planned this out well,” Sarah said. 

“Konstantine Apalkov is a very thorough guy,” Alexei said.

“But, why would God want Konstantine to prepare a place for us?” Jason said, wondering aloud.

“Russia is not safe for evangelistic Christians,” Alexei said with wide-open eyes, expressing his deep concern. “It is full of spies, informants, and secret police. Men and women posing as Christians secretly work for the government and report on what they see and hear in Christian underground meetings. Just last month, four brothers in Christ and three sisters were arrested while having a Bible study. A spy had attended their group, claiming to be a new brother in Christ. He had turned them in. And, they were locked up in separate prisons near Novosibirsk, I’ve been told.”

“That is sad,” Sarah said.

“They are charged with conducting illegal religious activities and so-called ‘subversive’ work ‘against’ the government. But, that is nonsense. They were just meeting to have Christian fellowship and have Bible studies. I have been told that there are now secret concentration camps being established where Christians and political prisoners are placed. Once you are in a camp, it is impossible to leave, unless God does a miracle.” 

“But, if those Christians had sought God about this spy, wouldn’t He have shown them that the spy was not a true brother in Christ?” Sarah asked.

“God would, wouldn’t He,” Alexei said.

“Absolutely,” Jason said. “God does not want us to walk in the dark. God said in Jeremiah 33:3: ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.’” 

“That is good to know,” Sarah said. 

“And,” Jason said, “in John 16:13 Jesus said: ‘[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.’ The Holy Spirit speaks to us with His voice. I remember looking up the Greek word which was translated as “speak” in that verse. It is laleo,* which means to utter words or talk. The Holy Spirit utters words and speaks to us. But, hearing Him comes from just being still, waiting on Him, and desiring to know the truth He will show us. And, the Holy Spirit will never contradict the Bible, God’s Word. He is one with God the Father, of course. So, He speaks as God the Father speaks. But, we all know this, I think.”

[* Note: Laleo is found in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance under #2980 in the Greek section.]

“That is comforting to know,” Sarah said. “I want to seek to know God better. What you are saying reminds me of Psalm 63, where King David is speaking of his thirst for God. I remember Psalm 63. Psalm 63:1 says: ‘[1] O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;.’ 

“And,” Steve said, “verse 3 of Psalm 63 says: ‘Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.’

“God’s love is better than life. God’s love…is better than…life,” Alexei said as the thought about those words and pondered their significance. After a few moments of silence, his eyes fell to the maps on the table.

Deep inside his heart, Alexei wondered if God’s love really was better than life. He knew with part of his mind that it must be true, but he wondered. He had seen pain and suffering during his 35 years of living. His grandpa, an evangelical Christian, had died in a communist gulag during the cold war era. One of his uncles had been bitter toward God and had walked away from Christianity completely. 

‘But, should I hold onto these events over what the Holy Scripture has to say?’ Alexei thought to himself. ‘After all, I don’t fully understand why God allows suffering, but will I believe God’s Word, or will I believe my feelings and what I think I understand instead of what God’s Word says?’ 

Alexei decided that he must trust God and the Holy Scriptures no matter what. But, fears were still attacking him and doubts of God’s good intentions were creeping into his mind. ‘Perhaps,’ Alexei thought dismally, ‘it would be better to just forget about doing God’s best will if God’s best will is for me to die in a concentration camp.’

“Alexei,” Steve said as he placed a hand on the Russian’s shoulder, “is something wrong?” 

“No,” Alexei hastily said, but he felt conviction soon after lying. “Well, actually I mean, yes, I am troubled by something.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Steve said, with concern for his new friend.

“Let’s go to my spare bedroom to talk,” Alexei said. 

He led the way down a hallway and pushed open the door into a room which was used for storage. Large cardboard boxes were stacked in one corner. A shelf resting up against a wall contained more boxes. Against one wall, opposite from the shelf, rested a bed with a pillow and a sheet. It looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. 

Once the door was shut, Alexei turned around and faced Steven. 

“Steven, I am bothered by things that have happened in my past,” Alexei said with a gloomy look on his face. 

Drawing a deep breath, he continued, “My grandpa was a good Christian man, a non-denominational evangelical Christian, but he suffered in a gulag and died there during the years of the old Soviet Union. I don’t understand how God’s love is better than life if my grandpa had to suffer for so long. It must be true that God’s love is better than life, but why is there suffering for His children? And, if my grandpa had to suffer in a gulag, what makes me think that I won’t be captured and placed in a gulag too? I’ve heard that the new Russian government is starting up concentration camps.” 

“There are many things that we don’t fully understand about God and why He allows what He does, but have you ever asked God about these concerns you have?” Steve said. 

“I have, I guess,” Alexei said. 

“What did He show you?” 

“I didn’t really wait for the answer,” Alexei said gloomily. “I guess I just didn’t want to hear God tell me something which might trouble me.”

“God loves it when we ask Him questions,” Steve said with compassion for this struggling brother in Christ. “He will not make our lives miserable. Rather, God wants us to have fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11 speaks of how in God’s presence is fullness of joy. And, Jesus in John 14:23 told us that He and God the Father have made their abode with born-again Christians, who love Him and obey Him. So, we have God’s presence dwelling in our spiritual hearts. And, God desires us to have fullness of joy, which comes from His presence which dwells within us.”

Alexei nodded and scratched his red beard as he thought about Steve’s words.

 “Do you want to seek God about your concerns?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” Alexei said with a little more confidence in his voice. “I certainly do.”

Steve patted him on the shoulder and left the room, leaving Alexei to seek God, which he did. 

“Father God, you know what I am troubled about,” Alexei said when Steve was gone. “Will you show me why Christians suffer in death camps, and will you show me if it is your best will for Christians to suffer in such circumstances? I want to know that I can trust you.” 

“My son,” God’s loving voice said, “I am the Lord your God and Abba Father. Christians who walk out of My best will sometimes will find themselves in bad situations, but know that I will certainly, and I do certainly, work those out for their good, and bring them grace, and peace, and consolation through all their hardships that they face. 

“It is not My will that Christians suffer in gulags or in hard circumstances, but I do allow it to refine them. If they had sought Me and followed My best will, I would never lead them into such situations, but I would deliver them from those situations to use them for My Kingdom. 

“When I speak to My children, I speak in a quiet voice, and they have to believe that My voice is really from Me. But, they also need to be Bereans and test what they hear with the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make one wise unto salvation. If they will not go according to the Holy Scriptures, they will be deceived by clever evil spirits, but if they genuinely want to know the truth and want to know Me, I will deliver them from deception. 

“So, look to Me, rest in Me, and know that I will certainly deliver you from those who would want to harm you, and from those who would want to kill or hurt you. I love you very much, My son. And, I the Lord your God and Abba Father have spoken.” 

“That is amazing, Abba Father,” Alexei said, looking up. “So, if I follow what you show Me to do, I am in your best will, and I will never be tortured or harmed like that? I believe you. Didn’t you deliver Daniel from the lions’ den; and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from the fiery furnace; and King David from those who sought his life? You did. So, you shall deliver me from my foes, because I now choose to seek your best will and follow your specific leading.” 

“That is good, My son,” Abba God’s voice said. “You are doing well. Now, you may return to your friends. I will guide you in what to do. And, I the Lord your God and Abba Father have spoken.”

“Praise you, Father God! You are trustworthy and more than trustworthy! I choose to build my life on you and on your Holy Scriptures,” Alexei said, looking up excitedly, before he placed a hand on the doorknob.

____________________

(Click to Read Part 38)

(Click here to see The Table of Contents.)

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

(Click here to learn more about the 

characters and their backgrounds.

Right click link and select "Open link in new tab.")

[Footnote: The Chinese are not the enemy, neither are the Russians. 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 38 ("Underground Base" // "Encounter"):

"... a bird, hidden by layers of jungle foliage, took off, beating its wings rapidly. Sheng couldn’t see it, but from the sounds, he could tell that the bird was somewhere in the jungle to the left of the faint trail. ‘That’s odd. Why was it startled so suddenly?’ Sheng thought. ‘It could have been startled by me, but I wasn’t making much noise, and I was not that close to it.’ 

Without warning, some bushes suddenly rustled and a man burst out of them. He was wearing a camouflage combat uniform, a helmet, and a rucksack. Sheng felt his heartbeat quicken. The soldier was aiming a Type 95 bullpup machine gun at Sheng’s chest. 

“Raise your hands now!” the soldier said gruffly. ..." (Read all of Part 38.)

[Footnote: The Chinese are not the enemy, neither are the Russians. 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.]