Pray for your Government Leaders
The e-mail below was written by Lindsey Yeskoo, a Christian and the wife of
Paul Yeskoo, a Foreign Service Officer serving in Shanghai, and details her
experience of meeting the President when he was in China a month or two ago.
It underlines why we need to be faithful in praying for the President in
particular and all our national leaders.
Dear Family!
It is a dull, polluted Monday morning here in Shanghai and we await news of
President Bush’s safe arrival back in Washington, D.C. He just left here less
than twelve hours ago. Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief that no
terrorist incidents occurred here over the past days. Security was tight, as
you will have seen on TV.
On Friday afternoon, a crowd of 600 consulate/embassy staff + families were
invited to a reception in the Atrium of the Shanghai/Portman complex, at
3:15pm, to meet both GW and Colin Powell. We waited a LONG time (due to all
the security we had to go through), but our anticipation outweighed our tired
bodies and sore feet. [We had left the house just after 10:30am in order to
do all this!]. Finally, Bush was announced, and it was SO INCREDIBLE to see
him walk in with Powell and take the podium before us, especially with all
the recent events. Quite emotional for us all, actually.
He gave a tremendous, candid yet heartening speech, and then was escorted
down to the floor to meet the crowds. Everyone was of course behind a tight
rope, and there were Secret Service men and security everywhere. There was no
way he could meet all, but he sure did a great job of shaking hands with as
many as possible.
Anyway, the three kids and I were in the very front row, and had an
extraordinary experience with President Bush. Bush came along and shook
Chris’s hand first, noticing that he was all dressed up, and said, “You’re
looking sharp today, boy!” Chris was SO PROUD and SO PLEASED at the
recognition (if only GW had known what a struggle I’d had to get him to wear
a jacket and a tie!). Then he shook my hand and I told him how much we value
his strong leadership at this time, that we are 100% behind him. He went on
and took the girls’ hands and talked to them.
Then I leaned over and mentioned that we pray for him every day. He stopped
dead in his tracks (a definite security NO-NO… the SS men got REALLY
antsy). He searched my eyes as if to see how much I really meant what I was
saying. Then he gave me the most amazing and unexpected personal response,
Paul said for a good 20-30 seconds.
He told me what the effect has been on him, waking up every day of the crisis
and knowing within himself that he is being faithfully prayed for. He almost
pleaded with me not to give up, but to persist with it, for this is only the
beginning. Then he looked me even more squarely in my eyes, and gave me a
very personal and specific series of instructions about the very things he
most needs prayer for, on behalf of himself and of the nation.
He urged me that the threat against America is very great, and that one of
our focuses in prayer to God needs to be “the shielding of America”…and
wisdom for him as he leads the country through this time. I don’t know why,
but as I looked straight back at him directly into his face, he let me see
for those brief moments a tiny part of the agony he himself is going through,
and the weariness. He finished the conversation by putting his hand on my
right shoulder, almost as if it were the close of a commissioning, but
affectionate too in a brotherly sort of way.
People were pressing in at this point and almost knocking the four of us
right into Bush. Many of them were the Chinese staff who work for Paul, who
would not have understood ANY of that conversation; but others caught
snippets and came afterwards to ask me WHAT we had been talking about. The
President moved on.
Needless to say, the whole experience was unforgettable. I cannot begin to
tell you how deeply it has affected me. Certainly, I do not think I have ever
prayed for a leader or government or nation (or world!) so extensively has I
have done since then. It was really quite an unusual and unexpected and
powerful encounter.