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Key Bible Verse: The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles (Psalm 34:17). Bonus Reading: Psalm 34:4-10

During the Pilgrim's first winter in the New World, 47—nearly half the original group—died. The rest were starving. Then Squanto appeared. The Pilgrims came to see this Native American as sent by God to save their lives.

Several years earlier, Squanto had been captured and taken to Spain to be sold into slavery, but some friars freed him and told him about Jesus. He'd returned to his home village just six months before the Pilgrims arrived, only to find that his entire tribe had been wiped out by an epidemic. The Pilgrims had settled on land vacated by his tribe, and when he learned that they loved Jesus, Squanto had to meet them. He knew that without help they would starve.

The first day he taught the Pilgrims how to catch eels. The next, he showed them how to plant corn the Indian way, fertilizing it with fish. In four months, the Pilgrims had caught exactly one fish! But Squanto encouraged them to begin hoeing. Four days later, the creeks were clogged with thousands of alewives making their spring runs. To prevent wolves from digging up the fish in the corn hills, he told them to guard their plots for two weeks—until the fish decomposed.

By the summer, the Pilgrims had 20 acres of beautiful corn.

—Steve Farrar in Survival …

My Response: Has God sent me a "Squanto" at a desperate time? If so, I'll thank Him now.

Adapted from Survival … (Nelson, 1999) by permission.

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, You see me, guide me, hold me close. Nowhere can I be lost from You. I am safe everywhere because You are near.

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