God Navigated the Cargo

Captain Johnson was serving as chaplain on an island in the South Pacific during World War II. He prepared to go on a bombing raid on enemy-occupied islands several hundred miles away. The mission was a complete success, but on the homeward course the plane began to lose altitude and the engines faded out. A safe landing was made on a strange island. It was learned later that the enemy was just one-half mile in each direction, yet the landing had gone undetected.

The staff sergeant came to the chaplain and said, “Chaplain, you have been telling us for months of the need of praying and believing God answers prayer in time of trouble, and that He does it right away. We’re out of gas, base several hundred miles away—almost surrounded by the enemy.”

Johnson began to pray and lay hold of the promises and believed that God would work a miracle. Night came and the chaplain continued his intense prayer. About 2 A.M. the sergeant awakened and felt compelled to walk to the water’s edge. He discovered a metal float, which had drifted up on the beach—an octane gas. In a few hours the crew reached their home base safely.

An investigation revealed that the skipper of a U. S. tanker, finding his ship in sub-infested waters, had his gasoline cargo removed so as to minimize the danger in case of torpedo hit. Barrels were placed on barges and put adrift six hundred miles from where Johnson and the plane crew were forced down. God had navigated one of these barges through wind and current and beached it fifty steps from the stranded men.