Andy3...sounds like God was answering your question...This may indeed be in your not to distant future. Things in America are going to get dicey and Christians will face persecution. These indeed may be places of refuge during the coming storm. You asked...God gave you a answer...just keep that in the back of your mind for the trials ahead.
Andy, I'm at a loss as to the connection your making between the refuge, the Catholic churches, and the Star of David. Could you please clarify? Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
I just thought it was rather odd when I prayed to God about potential safe zones of refuge close to me. I instantly then saw the town of Caanan, IN on the radar (the promised land for the 12 tribes of Israel a place of refuge so to speak out of the bondage of the Egyptians). I then also found it strange that the entrance to the wildlife protected area was bookended by 2 Catholic churches. What I found even more significant is that these 2 churches were both churches named after the 2 Mary's who were there, present at the foot of the cross of Jesus. I feel that our potential protection or places of refuge will be under the protected mantle of our Blessed Mother so was she showing me this place and also showing that to the West was potential protection by a church and congregation named after and devoted to her and to the east there was a church and a town called New Marian, IN as in the Marian movement within the Church. My further thoughts on this is that it is almost as if the cross is the wildlife refuge in the middle and Mary our Mother is on one side of it and Mary Magdalene on the other in the town named New Marian. I did not notice the star of David image in the wildlife area until the next day when I was talking to a friend about it who shares my passion for the Catholic faith. As we were looking through the area together he noticed the strange anomoly of the star of David pattern in the refuge area. Now maybe none of this means anything but I viewed it as another "sign" if you will that this safe refuge west of Caanan had the symbol of the 12 tribes of Israel in it. This could all be coincidence but the timing of the discovery after a prayer followed by the reassurance the next day from another who found the strange anomoly in the area as seen from satelite on google earth just seemed like a rather a large exclamation point on what I had discovered the night before. I urge you all to check it out on Google Earth and you will see what I am talking about. I don't want to be stretching and searching for signs or things that aren't there but a direct answer to a prayer instaneous then with all this discovery is hard for my mind to dismiss it.
I must say it's hard to ignore and to refuse to connect those dots. More importantly, you have a committed Catholic friend with whom to share your thoughts and concerns. Alleluia! After all, if we are called to seek sanctuary we are called together. http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/features/somethingaboutmary/lavang.asp At the end of the 17th century, the persecution of Catholics in central Vietnam was so severe that many of the people fled to a remote jungle area in the mountains near Lavang. They wished to be free to practice their religion, as well as to save their lives. One evening as the community was reciting the rosary together, there was an apparition of a beautiful lady holding a little child in her arms, and with angels surrounding her. The lady was dressed simply, but wearing a crown. The people recognized the beautiful Lady as the Queen of Heaven. She spoke to the people in the loving tones of a mother. She encouraged and comforted them. Displaying a tender concern for her children, she taught the people how to make medicines from the plants and herbs that grew in the area. She also promised her protection to any who would come to that particular site to pray. Unlike her messages at Fatima and Lourdes, the Lady of Lavang brought only messages of comfort, not warnings. She simply expressed her tender mother's care for her persecuted children. The apparition appeared again a number of times. The people of Lavang built a simple church of leaves and rice straw, and dedicated it to their mother Mary. Devotion to her grew, and a number of miraculous cures and favors were reported. Through other persecutions, the Lavang area continued to be a sanctuary for oppressed Catholics. Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
