This testimony is an expression of my gratitude to God for a healing that took place more than thirty years ago while I was on a business trip in an Eastern Bloc country that closely monitored the movement of all visitors from the United States. The Ministry of Oil and Gas of this country had asked my company based in the US to send representatives to give them a technical presentation on our computerized positioning system that the Ministry was considering installing on ships to be used in drilling for oil in deep ocean waters.

In the morning on the day of the meeting, I decided to take a walk in the neighborhood where our office was located. I was bundled up in a light-colored winter coat, and since most of the people out that day were wearing dark-colored clothing, my presence was quite noticeable. As I walked along the street, I took a few pictures of people and of the surrounding buildings and landscape. A local woman passed me and made some comments in her language, which I did not understand since I did not speak the language, but which I sensed had to do with my taking pictures. Suddenly, I was surrounded by several policemen, who motioned for me to give them my camera and escorted me across the street and into a building. They took me down a dimly lit hallway and into a room filled with several more policemen.

I sat there in silence without anyone speaking to me for a long time. This gave me time to turn my thought to God and pray. It was common knowledge that Westerners visiting this city in the past had disappeared without anyone knowing where they had gone or why, so I felt an extreme urgency in turning wholeheartedly to God for help. I silently declared that I was in the arms of divine Love, and that I was innocent of any wrongdoing. I knew that, as God’s spiritual idea, I dwell “in the secret place of the most High” and abide “under the shadow of the Almighty”; and that “He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust” (Psalms 91:1, 2). I did not feel fearful or concerned about my situation. In fact, I kept my winter coat on, fully trusting that I would not remain a captive. 

After a couple of hours without anyone speaking to me, the officer in charge finally told me I was accused of taking pictures of a military installation. They had prepared a written statement charging me with this offense, which was against their law. An officer translated it into English for me and asked me to sign it to indicate that I agreed that I had broken the law. The decision to sign the charging statement came to me instantly. I knew I was in God’s presence and was being guided by divine Mind. I was following God’s direction.

The officer in charge opened my camera and removed the film, exposing it to the light and destroying all the pictures I had taken. He then gave me back my passport and camera and escorted me down the dimly lit hallway, through the door, and into the daylight. I was free to go without any comments, and without restrictions being imposed on my actions or movements during my remaining time in that city.

As I reflect on the spiritual ideas that I had been praying with during my captivity, I feel that the following passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy expresses the divine Principle that sustained me during this experience and brought about my freedom: “The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus’ time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are the sign of Immanuel, or ‘God with us,’—a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime, 

I had been surrounded by a roomful of police, and the mental atmosphere certainly had been hostile, but my prayers to our Father-Mother God kept me safe. And my thoughts were like those of Daniel when he replied to king Darius after a night in the lions’ den: “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt” (Daniel 6:22). I had done nothing to hurt the people of that country by my actions, but was there to help them. 

My trust in God and reliance on the divine Mind to govern my every thought and action had set me free. I made my way back to our office in time to participate in our meeting with the Ministry of Oil and Gas. After our meeting was over, one of the employees in our office told me that he had been out searching the streets for me, since I had been gone a long time. Unexplained disappearances had happened in this area before, and because he hadn’t been able to find me, he hadn’t expected to see me again any time soon.

The divine Principle of scientific being governing the children of God, and also my actions during this experience, is expressed in the following words from the Christian Science Hymnal: Hymns 430–603: 

This healing was so complete that I was able to make several more business trips to this same location for additional discussions with the Ministry without any restrictions on my movements, and my company was awarded the contract for their special project. 

My career in international business has taken me to over thirty countries. I have felt the constant care and loving protection of our Father-Mother God all along the way. The spiritual fact expressed in the following statement by Mrs. Eddy in Pulpit and Press has been a beacon light, guiding me in conducting business and in personal interactions with people from many different cultures: “Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love” (p. 3).

Walter A. Bouwens 
La Conner, Washington, US