Bill Powell is a Christian who is not afraid to cry. A Birmingham dentist and member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, Powell said he was brought to tears when he encountered one dilemma after another in planning a recent missions trip to Brazil.
The culmination of the setbacks came when medicine and eyeglasses he had planned to distribute to the needy in Rio were seized at that city’s airport.
But just as Powell thinks the drugs’ seizure was an attack by Satan, he is just as convinced their release a few days later is the result of prayer by God’s people.
Powell led a missions team of 37 people who traveled to Brazil May 26-June 6. Along with Shades Mountain members, participants also came from Riverside Baptist, Helena; First Baptist Church and Mount Vernon Methodist, both in Gardendale; and Hunter Street, Hoover. Also included were several volunteers from South Carolina.
“We just put out the word,” said Powell, who was participating in his 14th international missions trip. “Folks who went before, they just sort of talked it up.”
The problems began almost immediately. Powell shared how the flight from Birmingham was delayed for an hour and 20 minutes because a technician could not be found to turn off water that was overflowing in an airplane toilet.
“The South Carolina group was telling me that their initial flight was canceled, so all these problems were already starting,” Powell said.
The entire group missed the international flight leaving Dallas because of the delay out of Birmingham and were reticketed to fly into Sao Paulo, Brazil, instead.
But as many problems as the flights had already presented, Powell said they were nothing compared to what they found at the airport in Rio.
“As soon as we started going through customs, we looked up and they had 15 of our suitcases already X-rayed and already tagged — they were going to confiscate them,” Powell said.
Powell said they were successful in convincing customs officials to release all but six of the suitcases, but that still left them short of all the eyeglasses and medicine they hoped to distribute.
“We had an optometrist going from Scottsboro and we had a registered optician going, so we were going to dispense glasses,” Powell said. “Those people, where we were, they can’t afford glasses.
“It was pretty devastating,” he said of the setback.
The confiscated medicine also held the promise of improved health for its intended recipients, with Powell saying the missions team had brought along blood pressure pills and antibiotics, along with vitamins for both adults and children. For the next six hours, they watched as customs officials dumped out the glasses and medicine, counting each item.
Although customs officials said they were told by other authorities the medicine would have to be held several days, possibly until after Powell and his team had already left the country, he believes other factors were at work.
“It was a power game, plus the fact it was just a pure satanic attack,” Powell said. “We knew we were under attack, so inwardly we were praying,” Powell said.
Powell and his group also began requesting the prayers of their respective churches in the United States, along with the congregations of other churches. Prayer was also requested at a service in which Powell preached the following night, resulting in one of the trip’s most touching moments.
“All the Brazilians got up, they got on their knees beside the pews, and they were praying for our medicine to be released,” Powell said.
The next day their prayers were answered
An official who outranked the customs officer reviewed a document listing the medicines, which had been verified by the Brazilian Embassy in Miami, but ruled invalid by the other customs officer.
Powell said the official, “I don’t see what your problem is.” By 3 p.m. that day, the medicine had been released.
“God had already prepared his heart and the prayers … had done it,” Powell said. “If I could have done a handstand without breaking my neck, I would have done it.”
Powell said God’s victory could not be ignored. He recalled the helplessness he felt at the airport when they first arrived.
“You just keeping thinking, ‘I’ve got one trump card and that’s when God’s going to act,’ ” Powell said. “And we just kept relying on that.”
In addition to medical care, the trip also included construction work, evangelism and more than 200 decisions for Christ. Powell said the success of the trip has led him to begin planning another trip to Brazil next year, with the hope of taking more than 100 volunteers.
“You never know how powerful it (prayer) is, until you’re in a situation where that’s the only way out.”
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