Rattling Wheel

In Bulgaria, three Adventist men traveled to share the gospel with a small Roma group when their car broke down. Each time they sang hymns, the violent shaking stopped—allowing them to complete their mission. The miracle led to the founding of the Blagoevgrad Seventh‑day Adventist Church, which continues to grow today.

Three Seventh-day Adventists piled into the car and headed for Blagoevgrad, a city in southwestern Bulgaria.

It was the time of communism, and the laws were strict. The authorities wouldn’t allow an Adventist pastor to visit the city, where a group of five Roma people wanted to hear the Word of God. So, Mr. Borislav, a 35-year-old Roma Adventist, invited two friends to join him on the 45-mile (70-kilometer) trip from Kyustendil.

About halfway there, the car suddenly made a loud noise and shook violently. Mr. Borislav stopped the vehicle, and he and the passengers got out to find the source of the problem. They saw that something had broken near the front wheel on the driver’s side.

“We can’t continue,” he said. “We need to get the car repaired here.” It was Mr. Borislav’s car, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue.

But one of his friends had strong faith. “Let’s go,” the man said. “God will be with us.”

Mr. Borislav and his skeptical friend were reluctant, but the man of faith kept encouraging them. Mr. Borislav finally started the engine.

Pop, pop, pop! The car made a loud noise and shook again.

Mr. Borislav slowed down.

Pop, pop, pop! The rattling grew louder.

“Let’s turn on some music so we can’t hear that noise,” the skeptical man suggested.

“No, let’s sing so we can’t hear it,” the man of faith said.

The men decided to sing a hymn.

As they sang, something amazing happened. The loud pop, pop, pop stopped. The violent shaking ended. The car ran quietly and smoothly. The men sang all the way to their destination.

There, people were waiting eagerly to learn from the Bible. Mr. Borislav realized the trip had been important and that Satan had tried to stop them.

The men didn’t leave the little group until midnight. By then, it was too late to deal with the car. So, the faithful friend suggested they drive home while singing another hymn.

The car ran perfectly while they sang. But, after a while, the men grew weary of singing. They rode in silence for a minute.

Then came the dreaded pop, pop, pop!

The car rattled and shook again.

But as soon as the three men began singing, the noise and shaking stopped. So, they sang all the way home!

Mr. Borislav only realized the full extent of the miracle when he took the car to be repaired. The mechanic looked at it in disbelief.

“There’s no way this car could have driven there and back,” he told Mr. Borislav. “After the wheel bearing broke, the front wheel should have jammed within a minute or two.”

The meeting between Mr. Borislav and his friends and the small group of Roma people led to the establishment of a Seventh-day Adventist church in Blagoevgrad. It continues to meet every Sabbath and is growing larger all the time. Mr. Borislav later became a pastor.

Even after he retired, he never forgot the rattling wheel. It reminded him of James 4:7, which says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (NKJV).

“The lesson that I learned is that we should resist the devil so he will flee from us,” he said.

Part of the first quarter 2020 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped construct a church building for the Sophia West Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sofia, Bulgaria. Thank you for your generous support of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering!

Automatický systém — Misijné príbehy