“They had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and now they were both very old.” (Luke 1:7, NLT).

**Subha and Mumtaj (Prayer Children) 1989**

In January 1989, Sue and I joined a dozen other Americans on what we thought would be a typical short-term mission trip. The plan was to travel to India with “Go International”, work at an orphanage for a few days, and come home. Little did we know that India and the prayers of two little girls would change our lives forever. The powerhouse prayer duo of Subha, age 4, and Mumtaj, age 6, would make a difference for eternity.

The trip got off to a rocky start. Indeed, in hindsight, one might think the devil himself was trying to discourage us from any more contact with India.

We left Kentucky for New York City on a cold Monday morning. The first bump in the road was Air India’s cancellation of the connecting flight to London. We spent that Monday night in a NYC hotel owned by Air India, or so we presumed based on the curry smells in the lobby. We left for London on Tuesday afternoon, arrived safely at Heathrow, and changed planes for Bombay. It was now Wednesday, and we were 24 hours behind schedule. No big deal.

But… with very little explanation, the pilot announced that we would be landing in Istanbul, Turkey. No one really panicked as the plane landed but then we parked a half-mile away from the terminal. We all were a little nervous now. These were the days of hijackers and such. At some point in the saga, my dear Sue who said to me, “I told you we weren’t supposed to come on this trip”. We laugh now, but at the moment it made perfect sense.

It felt like we were actors in a movie. How would it all end? We were quickly evacuated, and a bus took us to the terminal where they finally announced that there had been a bomb scare called into Air India by some terrorist organization. Every Air India flight around the world had been grounded since the caller never identified which plane. Bomb experts arrived to assess the situation. We laid on the floor in the terminal for a few hours until Air India announced that we would be taken to a hotel for the night. No luggage. We would sleep in our travel clothes.

I had always wanted to visit Istanbul so this didn’t seem so bad. But the dingy and small Turkish hotel room was changing my mind. On Thursday, a bus picked us up and returned us to the airport where the journey to India would continue- just three days late.

Of course, we missed our connection flight from Bombay to Bangalore. It was Saturday afternoon when we finally landed in a one-star hotel in Bangalore. This was before cell phones so the people from Bethel who were supposed to meet us had given up. It was no surprise that our luggage did not arrive, so I can still see Sue trying to get some sleep in the same green jumpsuit that she had put on Monday morning in Lexington, Kentucky. It was so hot (no AC) that our windows were open and a bird flew into our room. Welcome to India!

The first time we ever saw Richard Samuel was that next day. He was part of the crew from Bethel sent to rescue the Go International latecomers. Our arrival at Bethel was like arriving in heaven. About two hundred children were lined up with flowers to welcome us with songs and smiles. We met Bethel’s founder affectionately known as P. Sam (Richard’s father). He apologized for Air India even though he had nothing to do with them.

The highlight of the week was an elaborate ceremony, not much different than a wedding. Each pilgrim in our group was partnered with one of the younger children. Our two “Prayer Children” would be six-year-old Mumtaj and four-year-old Subha, both orphans. We were told that Mumtaj’s mother was alive but in prison. Her family had been Muslim. Subha was orphaned from a nearby Hindu family.

Both girls vowed in the ceremony that day to pray for Auntie Sue and Uncle Tim every day.

We also agreed to pray for them as well. It was a sacred covenant, like a wedding. This was serious business. After the ceremony, they quite proudly took us to see their room. It was shared with about a dozen other orphans. There were no beds in the room. Each child rolled out a mat to sleep at night. Both Mumtaj and Subha were so proud of their space and a few personal items- their ‘home’. Quite similar in some ways to the typical American child who proudly shows you their bedroom with all the NFL stuff or Barbie doll paraphernalia.

So, these two little girls took on the childless Philpots as a serious prayer project. They were especially serious about praying that we would have a baby, since childlessness is seen as quite a tragedy in Indian culture.

I saw them again in 1990 and discovered that Subha and Mumtaj were disappointed that we had no children. Their child-like faith was sure we would have a baby. Perhaps the Lord used our story to teach them one of their first lessons in God’s ways of answering our prayers. The good Lord says Yes, No, Maybe, or Later— and not necessarily in that order.

Now, fast forward many decades. These little girls are now over forty.

Sue and I had lost touch with these girls. Our prayers for them were sporadic, not as faithful as they should have been. We heard through Richard that Subha and Mumtaj were both married and both were nurses, especially good news for my nurse wife Sue.

And then August 2023 was a grand reunion. Thirty-four years after our Prayer commitment, we managed to locate Subha and Mumtaj, who had stayed in touch with each other. They were both married to good men. They both had two wonderful children of their own.

So, the prayers of two little girls seemed unanswered in 1989—no babies for the Philpots. But now, with 34 years of hindsight, we know better.

Just think about this for a moment………. two orphans with no parents were seriously praying for Auntie Sue and Uncle Tim to have children. Child-like faith in its absolute purest form. They were blissfully unaware that a baby was ‘impossible’- and guess what? The impossible did happen. Sue and I have two ‘daughters’ in India named Subha and Mumtaj, as well as four grandchildren.

Plus spiritual children galore after thirty+ years of evangelism, discipling and of course, Family Court, where we had thousands of children for fifteen years.

Biological children never happened for us but the impossible and child-like prayers of little girls in India have been answered. Thank you Subha and Mumtaj.