Was Mystery Man a Divine Being?
I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. Matthew 25:35 & 36
There was a heavy downpour on the last day of Pastor Bruce Allen's three day conference at Trinity Community Centre Petaling Jaya (TCC) from November 17 to 19. He was concluding his teaching on the significance of the 'Third Day'.
On the last day of the conference, the senior pastor of TCC, Rev. Dr. Colin Gordon and Pastor Bruce Allen had said a prayer at the hotel, where Pastor Bruce was staying. They prayed that God would make a tangible manifestation that night so all of the people could see Him. Little did they suspect that a visitation would take place so unexpected that people missed it even though they all saw it.
I saw a man slowly crossing the road as I made a u turn on Jalan Penchala to get to church," said Philip Rishen. "His clothes were torn, exposing his buttocks and he was bent over. I decided to park my car first and then check if he needed help. I thought he might have met with an accident."
Another member of TCC, Alex Ray walked with Rishen in the rain to help the man. The man was by now sitting beside a fire hydrant. "Buat apa sini?" Rishen asked. The man said he had been walking for days and couldn't walk anymore. So he decided to rest awhile. He showed Rishen and Alex the blisters on the soles of his feet.
A police car stopped beside them, questioned the man for awhile and when Alex and Rishen said they were from a church nearby and wanted to help him, the police left. Alex gave the man a pair of slippers. He and Rishen by now perceived him to be only a simple beggar. The beggar walked better with the slippers but still hunched. Rishen took him to the washroom while Alex prepared coffee and biscuits for him.
Rishen told him he could wash up. When the man discarded his clothes, Rishen saw marks all over his body. "The man washed his face at the sink. He began to scoop water in his hands and drink as if in great thirst. Suddenly he began to breathe heavily and I was worried he might collapse. So I went closer and that is when I noticed the marks were in consistent lines all across his chest, back, legs and arms. I immediately thought of whip marks because the lines were all long and in one direction. His breathing returned to normal and as he turned slightly I saw a wound on the right side of his chest. it was like a hole and still fresh," recounts Rishen.
The man then wanted to wash his whole body in one of the cubicles, but at the entrance of one cubicle he stopped and said in English, "Too smelly." Rishen was shocked to hear him speaking English because they had been conversing in Malay all this time. He then showed him another cubicle which was better kept and the man had used the hose there to wash himself while Rishen gathered his clothes. I could hear him groaning as he had his bath and that is when I realized he was in great pain," said Rishen.
Alex came into the washroom with a bag of clothes that had been donated for the poor. Rishen rummaged through and found a pair of jeans and t shirt. "He wore the jeans but rejected the shirt. I said it was a branded shirt. He only said he did not wear black. We then gave him a red t shirt and he wore it," said Rishen who added that the man now continued to speak to all of them in English. "We then offered him coffee and biscuits but he declined, saying he did not drink coffee. He asked for water. We gave him two glasses and he drank all of it.
"Alex and I took the man's clothes and began emptying his pockets. We found RM2,000 in two rolls of RM1,000. I counted them because I washed the soiled money," said Michael Yee who came to help Alex and Rishen with the mystery man. "I washed a passport too. It was soiled and partly damaged so that I could only make out the name Chin, but the photo did not resemble this mystery man," said Alex. Christie Abishegam who later came to help also claims the photo did not look like the man they helped.
Michael added that he found it strange that this mystery man had only two rolls of money and a soiled passport on him. People normally carry coins or small change and their identification, Michael said, but nothing was found on this man except the passport and rolls of notes.
The mystery man opted to go for the church service rather than rest on the third floor but at the entrance he stopped and asked Rishen. "May I go in? I'm dirty." "No. Please go in," said Rishen. The man fell asleep while Bruce Allen was preaching but at one point he suddenly woke up and asked Rishen, seated beside him, "Did you call me?" Rishen answered, "No. Go to sleep. it's okay."
The man again awoke the second time during the preaching and turned around. "The windows are vibrating," he said. Rishen looked behind and didn't see or hear anything. He worried if the poor man was now hallucinating. Again he simply said, "Go back to sleep."
"When I returned the money all cleaned to the man in a plastic bag as he was seated beside Rishen, he firmly said 'thank you' and looked at me with his compelling eyes," said Christie. "It was as if he didn't care about the money. He didn't ask Rishen or anyone else for his money while Michael and I were cleaning the notes and only briefly acknowledged me giving it back to him as though he valued the fact that I had returned it more than he valued the money."
Christie also noticed tiny holes that ran all around his head and began to wonder what sort of instrument could have caused injuries like that to this man's head. When people began to go up for prayers, Christie and Alex took the mystery man along so that the pastors could pray for him. They helped him to the front as he placed an arm around each of their shoulders. He was mainly transported from place to place with their help this way because he was hunched.
"I have a back problem and I had to bend over too because this man could not straighten up and yet I had no pain in my back whenever I helped to move the man. I thought that was unusual," added Christie. Another church member, Steven Chong said the mystery man was hunched as if he carried a load on his back. Then he noticed him bleeding from the forehead when he was standing in the front and immediately alerted Pastor Collin.
"I saw the man bleeding too and I called Dr. Jonathan Karuna to take a look at him," said Pastor Collin. "Strangely none of the other men noticed him bleeding although they came in close proximity with him. I also noticed the tiny holes all around his head." It was highly possible that the man began to bleed only when he had come to the front and as Dr. Karuna lifted up his shirt and examined him, both the doctor and Pastor Collin saw the same 11 whip marks" that the others noticed.
As they prayed for the man he began to straighten up and then walked normally. They all thanked God for his healing. When the service was over, Alex invited Jeffrey Foo from TCC's Chinese ministry to share the gospel with him. The man then spoke in fluent Mandarin with Jeffrey and his friend Matthew. 'We asked him if he were a Christian. He gave us a sweet, gentle smile and said 'No'," said Matthew.
During the interview with AGAPE, Pastor Collin explained that a Christian means a follower of Christ and Christ could not say He is a follower of Himself. He added that Christie and Rishen testified to seeing the man lift his hands and worship God when the praise and worship started even though he could not stand up. Matthew continued, I asked him where he came from and he said he had been walking for 7 days and novy wanted to rest."
A lady called Jessica Loke walked up to them and offered the man RM50. The man gave her the same compassionate look and smile as he said in a kind voice, I don't need the money". When the boys asked the mystery man if they could give him a lift somewhere, the man said, "No. I will not get into anyone's car."
"Jeffrey and I felt sorry for the man because of his scars. He looked at us with great love," continued Matthew. I asked him if there was anything we could do for him and he said he wanted water." While Matthew had gone to get the water, Jeffrey said to the mystery man "Do you know it is not by coincidence that you are here?” Jeffrey was a little surprised when the man answered boldly, I know. God brought me here as I was walking for~ seven days."
When Matthew returned and gave the, mystery man a bottle of water, he held the bottle with both hands, looked at Matthew with great compassion, smiled and said, "thank you." After that Matthew and Jeffrey left and Alex and Christie took the mystery man downstairs, repeatedly asking if he needed a place to stay or anything else. The man politely refused all help and just sat down quietly at the guard house where they took him.
"At the guard house the mystery man said suddenly 'Tonight I saw my wife and children'," said Christie. I thought to myself, 'My goodness! His wife and children were at the service? Why didn't they come to him? But the man did not elaborate and Alex was already leaving after asking the guards to take good care of him. So I left with Alex. Alex checked with the same guard on duty early the next morning and learned that the mystery man simply walked quietly away after ten minutes and the guard never noticed where he went.
Later that same night after dropping Pastor Bruce off at his hotel, Pastor Collin was praying and God spoke to him saying He had visited TCC that night. He then saw a vision of a beggar. He was wet and wearing a whitish green shirt. His buttocks was exposed. I was shocked. I hadn't seen anyone like that at the service that night."
The next day Pastor Collin described the man in his vision to his ushers and one of them he called was Rishen. Rishen was stunned to hear Pastor Collin accurately describe what the man looked like before changing his clothes. "But pastor, you were at the service and never saw what he initially looked like. You only saw him after he had changed his clothes," said the puzzled Rishen. Then pastor Collin explained the vision he had to Rishen.
"After that phone call with Pastor Collin I fell to my knees and cried, thanking God that I should have been so blessed to encounter a divine visitation like that," said Rishen. 'The seven men in my church who had come in contact with this mystery man confirmed the vision God had shown me and I have no doubts that this mystery man was the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ," concluded Pastor Collin Gordon. |
