Eiffel Tower pin ignites divine appointment

Master’s student Lee Hyatt was preaching in Portland, Ore., for “Revive This Nation” when he, the pastor of the church at which he was preaching, and the pastor’s family had lunch at a French restaurant. Whenever the pastor’s mother goes to this particular restaurant, she likes to wear an Eiffel Tower pin she obtained in Paris. This pin, which she wore during this visit to the restaurant, ultimately served as the catalyst for a divine appointment.

A French woman noticed the pin while passing by their table and stopped to talk, inquiring if they had actually been to Paris. The pastor’s mother explained that she had visited there and even has family in the area. A conversation was ignited, and eventually, the French woman revealed some startling news.

“I don’t want to ruin your lunch,” she said, “but I’m actually dying.” She explained that, five weeks earlier, she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“I’ve been fighting for five weeks,” she said. “They give me two more weeks to live.”

Struck by her openness and vulnerability, Hyatt searched for a way to share the Gospel. The pastor then spoke up.

“Ma’am,” he said, “I don’t want to presume upon you, but are you a woman of faith?” She said “no.”

The French woman explained that she grew up in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. She still remembered the experience of lacking for both food and clothing. She recalled her grandmother making clothes from the parachutes with which the Americans had dropped into France. “I was so angry at God because He allowed this evil to happen,” she said.

The pastor compassionately explained that such evil is the result of living in a sin-filled, broken world. But, he said, God sent Jesus to save the world from such sin. The discussion continued about the content of the Gospel, with emphasis placed on God’s love for the French woman.

Unfortunately, before an invitation could be extended, the French woman had to leave. Still somewhat shocked by what had just transpired, the group looked at one another for a moment and then began praying for her.

Hyatt recalls their prayer: “Lord, would you reach down and continue to send believers to share the Gospel with her. God, would you intervene in this illness and not allow her to pass into eternity without knowing you.”

“And all of that because of a little pin that she happened to see,” Hyatt reflects. “What that taught me was, looking at this woman, you would never know that she has stage 4 cancer; you would never know that she was sick. And it really reiterated to me the urgency.

“She’s two weeks away from stepping into eternity without Jesus. … You never know where people are, and there is a desperate need to constantly be sharing Jesus, to constantly be available to be a witness to Him.”