Minnie Goes to Heaven (43)

(a novel continued)

“Yes.”

“What happened?” Minnie’s question escaped before she had time to wonder whether it was rude. 

“There was a flood. Our entire village was washed out to sea. We all drowned. And now we are here.”

“Doesn’t that make you frightened of water?”

“Oh, no, we love the water; it brought us here,” the girl said. “But, several people from our village aren’t here. They are in that other place. We told them about Jesus many times, but they laughed. Now it is too late.”

Minnie didn’t know what to say. She thought of her neighbours back on earth. Where would they go if they died? She hadn’t mentioned Jesus to them, not even once. She had asked them how they were and talked to them about the weather and the children, but never had she invited a neighbour to accept Jesus as personal Saviour.

After playing in the water so long Minnie was sure her skin should be wrinkling, Lydia and Minnie stepped back onto the river bank. Their clothes dried almost immediately and their skin didn’t look the least bit like raisins. “I love my skin,” said Minnie.

“Me too, it's just so perfect here. Back on earth I had white spots,” Lydia said.

They walked on for some distance, each busy with their own thoughts, when they came to a large castle. There was a moat around the castle, the drawbridge lowered.

“Let’s go in,” Lydia said.

“How do we know this isn’t someone’s home?”

“We don’t. But, this is heaven. Jesus has given us the freedom of the entire place.”

“You mean someone, anyone, could walk right into my cottage?”

“Don’t concern yourself about that,” Lydia said. “Our angels attend to those things. We’ll meet an angel in this place, before we meet anyone else.”

As Lydia had predicted, an angel, a large angel with four wings, stopped them just inside the wall, “Welcome to the home of Robert Burnham and his followers. Have you ever heard the teachings of Robert Burnham?”

The girls shook their heads.

“Robert Burnham had the gift of healing, but he got into some very false teachings. This place is full of those who need healing from the teaching. Unless you too have been exposed to the false fire, you probably don’t want to explore.”

Minnie and Lydia thanked the four-winged angel and returned back out across the drawbridge.

They walked on. Soon they came to another castle. Here the drawbridge was up. A flag hung from one of the turrets. The flag was red with a cross in the middle and a sickle in the corner.

“This castle is for the secret believers among the Muslims,” Lydia suggested. These people accepted Jesus into their heart but were too frightened to share Him with anyone.”

Once again, Minnie thought about the neighbours in her town in Canada.

“How do you know this?” Minnie asked.