Christmas is one time of the year when God manages to get more of the world’s attention as our thoughts turn to the “miracle of the manger,” Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. There’s just something about reflecting on that act of divine intervention that kindles hope in our hearts. No matter what problems we have struggled through all year, Christmas still brings with it a special hope that things will work out.

On Christmas morning 2000, that hope flickered low at our Family International community in New Delhi, India. We awoke to news that an Indian Airlines plane had been hijacked and diverted to a desolate airbase in the remote mountain city of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Our hearts sank further as we realized that one of our dear friends was aboard that plane.

It’s hard to describe what happened next, but the thought of someone I knew personally, someone with a wife and two children, was now in danger of losing his life along with 120 other passengers, took me over. Almost without thinking, I got down on my knees and began praying. I had never prayed like that before. It was almost as though my entire being turned into a prayer as I asked the Almighty to intervene.

There’s a saying in show business that also goes for our volunteer work, where others are always counting on us: “The show must go on.” So we did our scheduled benefit Christmas musical shows that day—one at an orphanage, one at a prison, and one at a foster home for children from disturbed backgrounds. Our hearts were heavy as we empathized with those aboard IC814, but the happiness and laughter of those watching our shows gave us temporary reprieve.

Between shows, we prayed together and individually for the safety of the hostages. When we returned home, the mood was somber. The hijacking was headline news in every paper and on every network. It was all people talked about.

The next day brought more bad news. The hijackers had executed the first passenger—a young man returning from his honeymoon in the Himalayas. I went into my room and cried. Then I prayed for God to comfort the man’s widow and family.

That evening the hijackers threatened to kill one passenger every hour until their demands were met. The situation continued to look bleak.

That night I desperately needed supernatural assurance that God was in control of the situation. We all did. As I lay tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, a verse from the Bible came to mind. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

I decided to do something that I had done many times before—ask Jesus for a direct message to help me see things as He did. I found a pen and opened the notebook where I keep a record of all the things I believe Jesus has said to me about many personal situations, and I prayed, “Jesus, I really need to hear from You. I need Your words of encouragement and counsel.”

Then I quieted my spirit and tried to put my preconceptions and all other thoughts out of my mind—and I waited. Slowly, His words started forming in my mind and I wrote them down.

“I will stay the hand of the hijackers, and no more shall perish. I have set strong angels about the plane, and they shall protect the passengers. Keep praying, for your prayers shall form a force field around them. You shall see your friend emerge from the plane.”
It was a brief message, but a tremendously comforting one to me. All I needed to do was believe what the Lord had said, no matter what the circumstances.

I held on to Jesus’ promise for the next five days, and in the end the hijack drama played out exactly as Jesus had told me. None of the other hostages were harmed, and on the night of December 31st they were all released. As we huddled in front of the TV, watching a live telecast of the hostages being brought home, our friend was the first person to emerge from the plane.

Later we discovered what the Lord had meant when He said, “I will stay the hand of the hijackers.” Our friend told us that a few times during the crisis the hijackers had started preparing to execute the hostages one by one, but each time something seemed to stop them. I believe with all of my heart that the hijackers had been held back by the Lord and His angels, in answer to the prayers of many here in India and around the world.

Rohit Kumar is a full-time volunteer with the Family International in India.