Chapter 3

The Helsinki Débâcle

If Hanna was a little nervous she did not betray it. As the train pulled out of Tartu the couple settled down in their seats opposite each other by the window. The carriage was almost completely full and Hanna wondered whether any on their carriage might be Satanists and whether Stan would be able to discern them if they were there.

"How do you think they might try to move against us?" she had asked him anxiously the day before.

"Impossible to say. They are leary having either seen or heard about what happened during the baptismal service. There are a million-and-one ways to assassinate a person and so there's no way you can take precautions against all of them. They might even go so far as to blow up the entire train."

"Surely not!" exclaimed Hanna. "They might kill hundreds of people!"

"Has that ever bothered Satan?" Stan reminded her. "When Satan got wind of the fact that the Lord was about to birth an important prophet through an Israelite lady in Egyptian captivity, what did he do?"

"He killed every male child!" answered Hanna.

"That's right. And he did the same to the mothers of Bethlehem, killing off every firstborn baby within a certain age range." Stan paused.

"You see, Satan works in a partial state of blindness. There are a lot of things he doesn't know, and the future is one of those things. He somehow got wind that Moses and Yah'shua were about to be born and got into action, but his behaviour was crude and clumsy. That doesn't mean we should ever underestimate him because in spite of his limitations and handicaps, he is quite smart and has a lot of experience under his belt. Prudence pays."

Hanna thought for a moment. "How would he know about our movements, then?"

"The information would somehow have to be relayed to the demonic hierarchy. Satan doesn't have anything like the Holy Spirit which is everywhere. He relies on a network of demonic informants and their human accomplices. That's one reason why Satanists spy out Christian congregations across the whole world. Satan is particularly interested to hear or read genuine prophecy. So if a local prophet declares, through the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) that Yahweh is about to do something, and a Satanist plant overhears it in, for example, a meeting, then the demons possessing that Satanist can immediately relay it back viâ their heads to Satan himself. Satan can then use that information to forestall the event by sending legions of demons and princes of darkness to oppose or can use the prophecy himself by making it out to be his own prophecy. He might get a demon to convey the prophecy to a Satanist plant who is trying to win credibility in a congregation with the ultimate view of destroying that congregation (which is the goal of all Satanist plants). If a fake Christian gives a prophecy that is fulfilled that will immediately give him standing in the congregation and he will be trusted and believed in other things. And so Satan gains credibility through counterfeits in the Christian community."

Hanna had been astonished. "So that means that prophets have a very heavy responsibility when it comes to the way they share the information God gives them?"

"Absolutely. I am frankly appalled when I read on the Internet or in publications the number of prophecies that modern prophets splatter across the media. Satan has people monitoring all of it. His spy system rivals anything the CIA, KGB, Gestapo or MI5 have ever been able to organise. In fact, he uses people placed in secret services like these to spy on Christian activities," said Stan soberly.

"You mean that Satanists use government agencies to spy on churches and ministries?" gasped Hanna.

"Without a shadow of a doubt," insisted Stan. "Take the American IRS - the Internal Revenue Service - which has the responsibility of monitoring the tax-exempt status of various Christian organisations. In fact, the IRS now has the added, though strictly unofficial, mandate to spy on Christians and to make the going tough for them economically if they show any signs of being truly Bible-based, politically incorrect, and so on. If the IRS's Satanist overlords simply give instructions to close down a church or ministry because it is a threat to Satanist activities, then the IRS gets into action. I know of many ministries and churches in the States who are under attack in this way.

"What all this means, Hanna," he had said taking her hand gently but firmly, whilst looking straight at her, "is that we have to be circumspect. We must not be blabber-mouths. If God cannot trust a prophet or prophetess to keep his or her mouth shut until He says, 'Speak!' then He will quite simply stop talking to that prophet. Many prophets fall because they get an inflated sense of their own importance and make confidential heavenly instructions public knowledge, thus helping the enemy. That is why so much prophecy in Scripture is veiled, or hidden, so that only those with the Holy Spirit can understand it.

"There are lots of so-called prophets around the world, but principally in America, who have been given the keys to understand certain biblical mysteries who then publish everything they discover over the Internet!"

"So who is prophecy for?" asked Hanna.

"That depends on the nature of the prophecy. General prophecy about the fate of a nation if it turns away from the commandments is usually intentionally public knowledge. But prophecy as to when Christ is returning is completely secret. Only Yahweh Himself knows when His Son is returning!" said Stan.

"That must drive Satan crackers!" giggled Hanna.

"Oh, it does, it really does!" exclaimed Stan. "The return of Yah'shua marks the end of Satan and all his demons and so it's the most important piece of prophetic information there is as far as he is concerned. Many times he has thought his end was near and at those times he has launched into a frenzy of activity. But Satan has no idea. Right now he is worried because he knows that the earth is nearing the end of the sixth millennium and that the seventh millennium marks his downfall. But when does that millennium begin? Satan is desperate to get the world to believe that the 'Christian era' is over and that a New Age Aquarian era started in the year 2000. Christ could return any day so he is scouring the internet, magazines, newspapers, and listening to Christian meetings and conversation through his spies to see what Yahweh has told His servants. He's even been fooled by false prophets within the Christian community - Christians who believe they are true prophets but have simply deluded themselves by listening to the flesh instead of the Spirit. That's why there are so many whacky Christian movements about like Toronto and Pensacola. Many of these movements are, of course, started by Satan himself as part of his general plan to subvert the Body of Christ, but many just begin as fleshy human movements which he later hijacks, inserting spectacular miracles."

"He must have a full-time job, darling," said Hanna, eyes alight with surprise at the vision Stan was painting for her. "He must be going out of his mind!"

"Yes and no. Satan lost control of events long ago. He never really has had control. He's like a terrorist setting off spiritual bombs here and there and hoping to create enough confusion to make some use of the anarchy he has created. If you want to know how he works, just read the works of Leon Trotsky. He's just a mischief maker, but a very evil one. He easily goes into panic and then sends in extra troops to exploit a situation that's going in his favour. But the Lord is constantly spoiling his plans by sending angels to disrupt his communications or human ministers like ourselves to destabilise his tenuous hold on things. Look what's happened in Tartu! The Satanists were having their way, gradually taking over when, 'bang!', the Lord intervenes by killing a few off, bringing some to repentance, and exposing the rest. They're running scared, and because they're scared, they're desperate. It's for that reason we must be careful."

As she sat in the carriage Hanna thought back on what Stan had said and wondered if the Satanists might try to blow up their carriage or something like that. She had wanted to discuss it further there and then with Stan but there were too many people in earshot.

The journey to Tallinn was uneventful. Paul and Irene Hagelberg were on the platform waiting for them but there was no time to visit their home again. The four went to a restaurant for a late lunch before being taken to the docks to catch the ferry to Helsinki. With no sign of anything suspicious and nothing happening, Stan and Hanna began to relax more and for a while forgot there had been a satanist threat in the first place.

"Do you remember that it was here you told me we were going to be fully married?" said Hanna as they stood on deck, arms around each other.

Stan smiled, looking down into her face which had changed after all the high drama of their visit to Estonia.

"Yes, my love, a lot has happened in a couple of weekst, hasn't it?" and stared out to sea as if wondering what the future would have in store for them. "I have been richly blessed by the Lord to have not only been given you but in being given such an anointing. Yahweh truly works in mysterious ways."

Dusk was approaching as the ferry nudged its way into Helsinki harbour. Hanna's heart began to beat faster as it always did when she returned to her homeland.

"Oh, I wish we could spend a few days in Finland," she said to Stan, sighing. "There's so much I'd love to show you."

"Another time, my love, but right now we must get back home."

They disembarked and got on a bus to the airport and for the first time since they left Tartu Stan began to feel uneasy. Everything seemed normal - he glanced around the coach at the people but all seemed occupied with their own thoughts or with one another. But as more time passed Stan grew more and more apprehensive. Hanna noticed that something was not right and began to get nervous.

"What's wrong?" she whispered into his ear, not wishing to draw anyone else's attention. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," whispered Stan back, "but I have this feeling that something isn't quite right. We must each go into prayer and find out what the Lord wants us to do."

Hanna began to quietly mutter a prayer with one eye half open, as if expecting a terrorist to suddenly leap on the coach with a grenade, or for one the passengers to suddenly stand up and pull out a revolver, but nothing happened.

The coach drew up to a bus stop on the northern outskirts of the city and disgorged a few passengers.

"Grab your bags!" said Stan suddenly. "We're getting off!" and the two made a beeline for the exit doors which were just closing again. In a matter of seconds they were standing on the sidewalk (pavement) and the bus was drawing away into the night.

"What's going on?" asked Hanna, feeling scared.

"I don't know," replied Stan. "All I know is that the Holy Spirit told me to get off that coach. Why I don't know, only that there is danger ahead."

"What are we going to do now?" asked Hanna, but before she got an answer, Stan was already hailing a taxi cab.

"Helsinki Central Railway Station," snapped Stan, and they found themselves heading back into the city centre. He looked around to see if anyone was following them but it was hard to tell in so much traffic. If there had been a satanist on the coach he would have contacted his superior by now to warn him that Stan had disembarked, and would probably conclude that Stan was making his way to another point of embarkation such as the railway station.

He leaned across to the taxi driver: "Are there any car sales rooms open at this time of night where I might be able to buy a second-hard car?" he asked the surprised cabby who thought a moment and then shook his head.

"Not now. But I know where you can hire a car, sir. How far do you want to go?" he said.

"No, that won't do," said Stan resolutely.

"Then you'll have to wait until the morning when the showrooms are open again," he said. "Do you still want to go to the railway station?"

Stan thought a second. "Yes, carry on," and slumped back into his seat with his arms folded, not at all happy with the situation.

Hanna was by now biting her nails, wishing that Stan hadn't left her in the back so that she could hold his hand.

Though it was almost midnight the railway station was still humming with life.

"Where are we going?" asked Hanna nervously, as Stan set off at full pace towards the ticket office, practically dragging her behind him.

"Could you tell me the next train to Turku?" he asked the man behind the ticket counter.

"Tomorrow morning, at 7.32 a.m," came the disappointing reply.

Stan left the queue not knowing what to do. He was not his usual calm, collected self and Hanna was picking up the discordant vibes. He just stood and stared. The flight to Gävle had long since gone and he could not now reclaim anything on his ticket. Provision had not been made in his plans for such an emergency. Worse, he didn't actually know what was going on. This was not like the kidnapping in Raj where he could see his captors and was on home territory. Here his enemies were invisible and he was in a foreign land. Then he suddenly realised why he might have had Hanna with him at that moment.

"Hanna, my dear, this is your homeland, and I'm sure you must know someone here in Helsinki at whose home we could stay the night?"

Hanna racked her brains. "It's been so long and I don't have my address book with me!" She looked crestfallen.

Stan suddenly felt very tired and the two went over and sat on a bench. He began to wonder if it had been the Holy Spirit that had spoken to him on the coach after all or it it had just been his own imagination. All he really wanted to do now was to lie down and sleep. A life of high adventure was not to his liking, the last episode in Poland having taken a lot out of him. Running around the world like a Rambo or a James Bond just wan't what he wanted at all. And yet he could not deny that the Lord had used him mightily in Tartu. This was one of those moments when things just didn't seem to add up.

"Couldn't we go to a hôtel or something," pleaded Hanna, who not only saw that her husband was exhausted but didn't like being out in the open. "Mightn't there be satanists hanging around here looking for us?"

Stan jerked his head up and seemed once more to be engaged. "Yes, you're right. Let's go."

"Where to?" asked Hana.

"I don't know. Let's just leave here," and they left the building and went on to the street outside.

It was 12.20 a.m. and Stan's eyes were getting heavy. The sight of the two standing still with luggage on either side of them must have caught the attention of a cabby who drove up. He rolled down his window and asked in Finnish if they would like a fare.

Though he didn't understand a word, Stan immediately opened the back door whilst the cabby loaded their bags into the trunk (boot).

"The nearest motel," said Stan, and within ten minutes they had been deposited by the side of a rather drab looking building. They checked themselves in.

Stan collapsed on the bed without even taking his clothes off.

"I think I'd better 'phone home and tell them what's happening, don't you, darling?" asked Hanna. Stan nodded.

Kryztina, who was up late, took the telephone and spoke with Hanna.

"Will you all pray for us because we don't know what to do," asked Hanna.

"Yes, of course, dear, we'll get on to it right away," said Kryztina, slightly concerned.

"Can you call us back about 6 a.m. Helsinki time because right now we're going to crash out," said Hanna. "But ring us earlier if the Lord tells you to."

Hanna signed off and began undressing Stan for bed and after setting their alarm clocks, the two eventually drifted off.

Kryztina awakened most of us at Kadesh-Naphtali a little before midnight and we immediately went into intercessory prayer for half-an-hour under Andreea's leadership. At the end of it Andreea looked up.

"No wonder Stan was confused," she said. "The Lord wanted him to fly to Gävle from Helsinki as originally planned but not tonight. He's to take the next flight tomorrow!"

"But why?" I asked. "What was wrong with the flight they were originally booked on?"

"I don't know," replied Andreea. "Only that he and Hanna weren't supposed to be on that flight."

Andreea called back immediately and after Hanna had talked it over with a half-asleep Stan, telephoned the airport and booked them onto the next flight to Gävle which was at exactly the same time as the one they had deliberately missed.

From there on it was plain sailing for the couple. They dutifully boarded the flight to Gävle and returned home without incident. But Stan was a changed man when he and Hanna arrived back at Kadesh-Naphtali. He looked worn out, even depressed. The shine had gone out of his eyes.

I drew Hanna to one side.

"What's happened to Stan?" I asked with a tone of alarm in my voice. "He looks absolutely terrible. What's the matter with him??"

Stan went off to his room, closed the door, and remained there for some hours in spite of a housefull of wives and children longing to see and talk to him. It was completely unlike him.

"I'm not sure," aswered Hanna. "He seemed happy enough to get on the flight home to Gävle but he was sullen the whole trip. He hardly spoke a word to me - he seemed to be staring right through the passenger seat in front of him as though he was somewhere completely different."

Andreea and Kasia joined in the conversation, to be followed by one and all of the others once their little ones were in bed and asleep. Though I know I should have waited for all of them so as to preclude the need to repeat everything, I just couldn't.

"He looks a defeated man," said Andreea earnestly. "It's as though he's been in a battle and lost."

Kryztina looked up alarmed.

"Have you seen something we don't know?" she asked, concerned.

Andreea pursed her lips, started to turn away, but thought twice about it.

"If you know something then you have to tell us," said Sarah-Jane, who, as usual, when the atmosphere is charged, was as jittery as a flea on a hot shovel.

The others agreed and began to press her to speak.

"I don't know ... I'm not sure," said Andreea, hesitating again. "You see, I had a dream, but I'm not sure whether it's inspired or not. Stan says you have to be careful about dreams and ... well ... I'm just not sure. And if isn't inspired, it might get us onto a false path."

"That's fair enough," said Suszana sympathetically. "But why not tell us anyway so that we can ponder and prayer about it. Can't we trust the Lord to lead us as we've always done?"

Andreea looked into her elder sister-wife's eyes, grateful for her love and understanding. She had acquired somewhat of a reputation for 'spirituality' and didn't want it to go to her head and make her overly self-confident in case it lead to a spiritual fall. She knew how easy it was to flip over into the realm of the soul without even being aware of it. It was an easy thing to do and she had known people who had done so more than once, and sometimes with disastrous consequences. The power of the imagination was such that it could so easily lead to delusions of the mind. Only time and experience could teach a person where the power of the Spirit ended and that of the soul began.

"Well," said Andreea, finally plucking up the courage to speak, "I dreamed that I saw you - Hanna - and Stan in Tartu. You were standing outside a really impressive building with enormous white pillars ..."

"That must have been the university!" exclaimed Hanna excitedly. "That's exactly what it looks like!"

Andreea continued. "Well, there were four women with you - Elisa and the others, I guess - and also a large company of other people. You all seemed to be one group. I suppose that it was the Tartu Fellowship. Stan was talking and everyone was listening very intently.

"Around each person were little winged creatures, flying around their heads. Most of them looked like a combination of a human being and a dove, but some of them were dark and had wings like bats. They were fluttering around. Most of the people had white creatures, some had a mixture, and there were two or three who were completely surrounded by the dark creatures."

Hanna's jaw dropped. She knew exactly what Andreea was talking about.

"As Stan spoke, so the dark creatures began to flap their wings furiously and seemed to be shouting into peoples' ears. They created such a ruckus yet the people couldn't hear a thing. Sometimes a person with a mixture of light and dark creatures would slap one of the dark creatures hard with his hand and he would go flying off, only to return later. The light creatures seemed to be in warfare with the dark ones - at least around those people where there was a mixture of them - and sometimes the dark creatures would be driven off and sometimes they wouldn't. I could see that those who were surrounded by more dark creatures than light were distracted and stopped listening to Stan. Three people in particular were so covered in these dark creatures that to all intents and purposes their faces were hidden from sight."

"Those must have been the satanists - but I thought there were only two in the Fellowship," cried Hanna in alarm.

The others stared at her, not knowing what to say, for they had not been there. We had only received an outline account of the goings-on at Tartu on the 'phone which is one reason we all wanted to interrogate Stan so eagerly on his return.

"The scene changed and I saw two of the men with the dark creatures in some dark place and knew that they were plotting something evil. The creatures were whispering into their ears. Some flew off and then came back and whispered some more, as though they had been off to get some instructions from somewhere. Then I saw a huge angel of Yahweh come into the room - he was dressed in long loose-fitting white garments with a golden belt around his waste and without any sort of warning, struck one of the men a hard blow on his head, and he fell to the ground. At first I thought he was dead but I saw that he was just unconscious. I could see him breathing."

Hanna began to get very excited. "That must have been the satanist who was taken ill and didn't come to the Sabbath meeting!"

Andreea loked at her keenly, happy to be getting an interpretation of real live events - to be making some sense of the dream.

"The other man, who was still standing, seemed very nervous, and it was obvious that the two were companions of some sort. He disappeared into the darkness, leaving his friend lying on the floor. The little black creatures were trying to revive him but he did not stir."

Andreea paused again, looking to Hanna to help her with the interpretation.

"Do go on!" said Hanna. "I think I know what's coming next!"

Andreea gave a weak smile and proceeded with her account again.

"The dream changed and I was in a small but very bright room filled with people. It seemed to be the same people who had been outside the large building with the pillars. There were only two people surrounded by the dark creatures but they didn't seem to know each other. They sat on opposite sides of the room. Stan was there, preaching. As he did the ceiling of the room seemed to open up and there was an enormous white light which got nearer and nearer to those who were assembled. All at once the little dark creatures started flying off - all, that is, except from the two men. People were falling on to their knees and crying. The door opened and some other people came in. As it did, one of the men surrounded by the dark creatures slipped out and disappeared, leaving the other one trapped in a corner."

"Yuri Gubarev," muttered Hanna under her breath.

"He seemed to be surrounded by half a dozen enormous white angels so that he couldn't escape. Stan came up to him, and the angels stepped to one side so that he could get into the invisible ring. He spoke very harshly to him, waving his arm and pointing his finger at the little black creatures who were firmly pressed against the man's head. One by one the black creatures flew off until they were all gone."

"That was when Yuri the satanist was saved," said Hanna, as the rest of us gasped. "That was the day we were all filled with the Holy Spirit and started speaking foreign languages supernaturally!"

"Anyway, the dream changed again," continued Andreea. "This time I saw Hanna and Stan together with four women and two other couples standing by a building that I suppose was a railway station. You were all talking. And then I saw a man, just round the corner, not more than two meters away, hidden from view but listening to everything you were saying. His head was swarming with those little black creatures and I recognised him as the man who had slipped out of the meeting room. He heard everything you said."

A look of horror filled Hanna's face. "Oh no! We were talking about all sorts of things, including the details of our journey back home. That's when he must have learned about our flight from Helsinki to Gävle!!"

All eyes were on Hanna. Andreea broke the silence.

"Anyway, I saw the man slip away and that was the end of the dream."

"Wasn't there anything more?" begged Hanna, wanting to know what might have happened to them had they taken the original flight home.

"No," she answered. "That's all I saw."

"But we must find out who that other man was," cried Hanna. "He must have been a satanist who not only escaped Yuri's fate but also the exposure of the satanists at the baptismal meeting! He could be in the Fellowship right now."

"But surely all the satanists worked together?" asked Suszana. "Why wasn't he known by Yuri and the other man?"

"What if he was the sick man?" asked Kasia. "I mean, the one who listened at the railway station?"

"I don't know," replied Hanna. "But we've got to warn Pastor Kuusberg that there's at least one other satanist in his congregation, possibly two."

We all grew alarmed. Hanna rushed off to the 'phone and spoke to Andrus Kuusberg about Andreea's dream.

"Yuri says that his satanist companion, Alexandr Bogoyavlenski - the one who was ill the day the revival started - is still seriously ill and hasn't left his bed for over a week. The man Andreea saw at the railways station in her dream must have been the third satanist, the one Yuri knows nothing about," said Hanna.

"Maybe he was from a different coven. Does anyone in the Fellowship know anything about him?" asked Isabel.

"Pastor Kuusberg says none of the members remember anyone going by the description Andreea gave, but then there were several visitors that day. And Yuri said there was only one coven in Tartu so he must have been from out-of-town, and so unknown to the other satanists locally," said Hanna.

There wasn't much anyone could do in any case. The third satanist had obviously left town, for no trace of him was ever found again. We speculated that somehow they had come to know about Stan's visit before he left Sweden and that he was probably sent from Finland, since it was at Helsinki airport, or just before, they had planned to intercept him and Hanna.

"Obviously we have to be very careful when we start talking about our plans and travel arrangements," said Hanna soberly. "Stan's always telling us to be careful what we say and to follow the Spirit."

"Yes," I agreed, "getting control over our tongues is obviously a high priority, especially with so much demonic activity around us and so many occultists and satanists. And we women have got to watch ourselves when others are around us whom we don't know well. It's not nice having to be on guard but we really have no choice."

Hanna nodded in agreement. If she and Stan had checked out the railway station better then there might never have been a scare at Helsinki in the first place. As it was, the whole affair had seriously unbalanced Stan, and they were now all very worried about him...