After my mother-in-law passed away in 2001, I decided to bring my father-in-law to church with us and we searched for a church with a Hakka dialect congregation. We settled down in one particular church.
We had good bonding with the elderly folk in the church. One day, when we informed them that we would be going for a short 4 day holiday to Ho Chi Minh City from Sunday to Wednesday. We were surprised that 20 of them would like to join us. I ended up planning a tour package for all of us. The church leaders were upset that some 22 of us would be absent from attending the Sunday worship service. I told them I could hire a bus to bring us to the airport from church on that day. But the lay leader was still unhappy and warned that God would punish us. I prayed against such curse. On that very Sunday before we left for the airport, one elderly lady received news that her brother-in-law had passed away and she could not join us to Ho Chi Minh City after all. 2 days later, she suffered a heart attack. Had she joined us, the lay leader would pounce on such bad news to justify that God had indeed punished us.
Another such incident happened recently. I was supposed to leave on a ministry trip on a Friday to a third world country together with a brother. Just 2 days before departure, he suffered a mild stroke. Had he joined us, good medical care might not be available there. Thanks be to God for all such journey mercies. Hallelujah !