In 2002, when Ron Mueller and his wife, Donna — along with young daughters Breanna and Brooke — began missionary service in the southwest African nation of Angola, the country was emerging from 27 years of civil war.

“Every day for those 27 years, Angolan followers of Jesus agonized in prayer,” says Donna. “They told us they lived every day as though it were their last. To this day, many still just buy enough food to last the day.”

One night, two months after arriving in Angola, Ron and Donna lay in bed, unable to sleep.

“We were restless and were just lying there thanking God for everyone that we knew was praying for us,” Ron remembers. “Then a tap came on our window.”

To give to the Mueller family, click this link.

An Angolan colleague was alerting them that one of the armed guards outside the Muellers’ home had been shot and was dying. Ron leapt out of bed and ran to the side of the wounded guard.

“He was sobbing,” Ron remembers. “He was worried about who would care for his family.”

After bandaging the man’s wounds as best he could, Ron took the guard’s fallen AK-47 rifle and stood with the remaining guard until it was clear the attackers would not return. Miraculously, the wounded guard survived and later realized God had intervened on his behalf.

“When we first arrived here, I didn’t understand why local Christians greet each other with, ‘Thank the Lord we passed the night well,’” Donna says. “After the shooting, I came to understand. Fevers, thieves, and other evils often happen in the night, so to wake up each morning is considered a gift.”

On another occasion, Donna herself saw an angelic presence intervene in their situation.

“The spirit of fear that has ruled in Angola had begun to attach itself to me,” she says. “I was looking out our window one night, over a short cement wall and out into the tall grass. I saw an Angolan man in a bright white, untucked dress shirt. All the other Angolan men tuck their shirts in. He was patrolling slowly near our home. I turned to call Ron to see him, and when I turned back, the man was gone.”

The Muellers also received an email from Ethel, a supporter of their ministry who lived in California.

“I don’t know what’s going on over there, but I am praying for you, and I saw four angels dressed in white and standing at attention, encamped at each corner of your home,” she wrote.

After this event, Donna says that she took the words of Psalm 91 as her own. She says, “My trust had to go deep in who God is, though I did not feel it.”

Psalm 91:1-2

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

The Muellers note that a common conviction among Angolan believers is this: “We will not turn in any direction apart from God. We will not bow.”

“That is a place beyond any emotion,” Ron says. “That is a place of faith.”

To give to the Mueller family, click this link.

Angola: Freed from Fear

By Kristel Ringer Zelaya, AGWM Communications