A sudden spatter of rain sent us scurrying for shelter. My "port of storm" was under the roof that stretched the length of the outdoor tables the dish washers used. We were at Bethel Camp in northern Alberta, Canada. As I reached my haven I found that Bill Fairholm, the camp director, had made it just ahead of me.
"I'll never forget one rainy spell back in the early days of our camp!" he laughingly reminisced as we stood together under the roof, waiting for the shower to pass over. "It rained and it rained. The road became such a rutty, muddy mess it was impossible to get to town for food supplies. We ran out of potatoes, and other necessities were low. At breakfast we prayed about it together with the one hundred or so young folks seated about the tables. Lifting our bowed heads we were just in time to see a car, pulling a trailer, churning through the mud, and pulling to a stop alongside the dining hall.
"I'll never forget the joy and wonder on the faces of those campers when they discovered that it was a farmer with a load of potatoes for them! Why, we had hardly mentioned the word potatoes before the Lord had a whole trailer full of them, right on our doorstep!"
Others had joined us as the rain continued to pour down, so "Uncle Bill" took another long look into the past. "Yes, that wasn't the first time, or the last, that I personally have known the Lord to send food in direct answer to prayer. Perhaps the most unusual happened when I was just a young unknown country preacher, traveling about through this north bush country with a horse and one seater carry-all. I'd been telling about the Lord Jesus in country school houses and farm homes here and there, finding folks who were complete strangers to the Lord. Many did not even know that the Lord loved them personally, and that the Savior had taken the punishment their sins deserved when He died on the cross.
"Some folks were friendly and treated me like home folks, urging me to stop for a meal, and sometimes overnight. Others were not so kind. There came a time when all I had was a loaf of bread, which lasted for three days. I was about to enter a forested area with no homes for many miles and was just passing the last farm house when the thought came to me that perhaps I had better stop and ask for a bit of food. This certainly appeared to be my last chance to get something to eat, and I was very hungry.
"But, no! The Lord seemed to check me before I could turn my horse into the lane leading to the farm house. If I were to ask for food, and they were to learn that I was a preacher, would this cause them to think dishonoring thoughts about my Lord? Would they think it strange that a servant of the Lord God should have to beg for food?
"Well, after talking it over with the Lord my horse and I went on by without stopping. It would be much better to suffer a little hunger than to bring reproach upon my Lord.
"But, my! I really was hungry! Night was coming on, and the woods seemed to be closing in about me as I drove along.
"Then I became aware of a noise overhead, and looking up discovered a large hawk struggling with a chicken in the air above me! Immediately I recognized what the Lord was doing! He was sending this hungry preacher a chicken dinner, using that hawk to make it `special delivery'!
"Jumping out of my wagon I quickly tied my horse to a tree and went running down that road after my dinner. The hawk fought to keep airborne, but the chicken was still alive and struggling. It was not long before the hawk dropped the chicken, right at my feet!
"In no time I had that chicken roasting over a bed of coals, and talk about delicious!... m-m-m-mh! Yes sir! The Lord can still provide a table in the wilderness!"
The shower was over and Bill Fairholm's joyous laughter seemed to follow us as we scattered to our activities. Today, as I picture "Uncle Bill" in my mind I can still see him as he often stood by the Bethel Camp dining hall door, singing heartily as the campers came running in answer to the dinner bell,
"Come and dine," the Master calleth,
"Come and dine,"
You may feast at Jesus' table anytime!
He who fed the multitude,
Turned the water into wine,
To the hungry still He calleth,
"Come and dine!"