On November 21, 2018, I flew from San Diego to Romania for a three-week vacation. It was my first trip back to Romania since moving to the US on July 2, 2018.

In Bucharest, I stayed at Pastor Nicu’s home. He pastors a small countryside church near the city and has a remarkable prophetic gift. Over the past year, I had received several prophecies from God through him. On the evening of November 23, as we prayed together, I received another prophecy through him, which included the following words:

Do not get lost in the trial, because I am there. I will calm the sea, I will calm the waves, I will calm the storm and I will bring peace, and I will let peace reign. Just look at Me and follow in My footsteps and obey My voice.

At the time, I was puzzled about what trial the Lord was referring to. Just five months earlier, I had relocated from Germany to the US, and life was progressing smoothly.

The very next morning, I took a flight from Bucharest to Munich to visit my daughter. My wife and I were in the midst of divorce proceedings, and the German family court had granted me permission to meet my daughter once a month, under the supervision of a social worker from Jugendamt, the German child protection agency. While still in the US, I had informed Jugendamt about my upcoming trip to Europe and arranged a visit to see my daughter in Munich on November 24, at 1 pm.

Shortly after arriving at the predetermined location, instead of being met by my daughter and the social worker, I was confronted by a court officer with three police officers in plain clothes. They presented me with an arrest warrant and informed me that they would take me to jail. Keeping my cool, I acknowledged their duty and allowed them to escort me to their vehicle and then to jail. Throughout this unexpected incident, I remained remarkably calm, remembering the prophecy I had received just the night before.

Later, the Jugendamt social worker visited me in jail. She expressed regret over the situation and explained that she had been unable to intervene. She said her superior was equally dismayed and had already filed a complaint with the family court. She also mentioned that the court officer had remarked on my composure during the arrest, saying it seemed “as if I had been expecting it.”

The arrest warrant was the result of a motion filed by my wife’s lawyer and authorized by the Munich family court. It stated that I was to be incarcerated for six months or until I paid the sum of roughly €100,000, the amount my wife’s lawyer claimed I owed her.

Before my wife filed for separation, a prerequisite step for divorce in Germany, I had made it clear to her that she could choose a divorce in Romania or a divorce in Germany under Romanian law. Initially, she seemed to agree, but later, possibly swayed by her German lawyer and perhaps her lover, she changed her mind.

At the start of my time in jail, I was somewhat worried about the prospect of losing my job in the US, but I chose to keep trusting in God. Just two months before, I had received a prophecy through Pastor Nicu, in which God said that He had brought me to the US to prepare my heart for the work He intends to do with and through me. In the same prophecy, He told me to remain in the Chinese church I had been attending in San Diego, assuring me that He had a plan for me there. With this in mind, I decided to trust in His promises and not dwell excessively on my worries.

Spending six months in jail naturally wasn’t easy, with moments filled with sadness and discouragement. But despair never got the best of me because I chose to trust God and was always aware of His presence. He would often give me almost supernatural peace during my lowest moments.

On top of that, He encouraged me by sending a prophetic message through Noelia, a sister from Argentina who has the gift of prophecy. I first met her and her husband online in the summer of 2017, and we stayed in contact. The message she delivered on behalf of God was clear and to the point:

God wants you to praise Him at all times. You will be freed from jail and return to the US, God will provide you with financial resources, and you will marry a godly woman.

While in jail, I occupied a single cell, as did most of the other inmates. We were allowed two hours of hallway time each day and one hour of open-air recreation, which I considered quite reasonable. I spent most of my time reading the Bible and other books, completing the Old Testament once and the New Testament three times, and about twenty novels in English and German, carefully noting unfamiliar words and phrases. Although I could have rented a TV, I chose not to.

In the inner courtyard, there was a sizable chapel where two services—Catholic and Lutheran—were held every Sunday. Occasionally, these services were combined into a single ecumenical service. After about a month, I started attending the Sunday services. Another month in, I joined the surprisingly good church choir. The choir director, also an inmate, was a competent pianist and organist who had been a church musician in his regular life. The Catholic and Lutheran churches also organized small discussion groups (comprising 5-10 people) that met weekly. These meetings were a refreshing break from the daily routine, even if the discussions weren’t of high spiritual caliber.

During my incarceration, I shared my faith with a few Romanians I met, as well as with other inmates who expressed interest in spiritual things. To these, I also provided Bibles obtained from the jail chapel, where they had copies in multiple languages.

Speaking of the Bible, I experienced a minor miracle on my second day in jail. As soon as I was incarcerated, I started praying for a Bible. The following morning, I stumbled upon a bookshelf in a room down the hall, where inmates were allowed to borrow books. Despite the majority of books being in German or English, I was astonished to find a Romanian Bible on the bottom shelf! It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. It was only a month later that I was permitted to visit the chapel, where I found an abundance of Bibles in various languages.

Another noteworthy experience involved a Chinese young man I met after I started attending the Sunday services. Before his imprisonment, he was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease, which led to kidney failure while he was in jail. A series of treatment errors exacerbated his condition to the point where his whole body swelled one night, and he felt he was about to die. In a moment of desperation, he cried out to Jesus, about whom he had heard from some Christians he had met before. Almost instantly, a yellow liquid started seeping from his body, and he knew he was no longer in danger. After this miraculous recovery, he began praying and reading the Bible daily.

During my six months in jail, I had the opportunity to see my daughter for half an hour every month, a visit that always brought me joy. Each visit was supervised by a social worker who accompanied her. Seeing her and spending time with her, even under such circumstances, was the highlight of each month. At the time, she was nearly seven years old.

On May 23, 2019, I was released from jail and immediately flew to Romania. I stayed at Pastor Nicu’s home for the next two and a half months, until my return to the US on August 9. Just two days after my release, I received another prophecy through him. Here’s a snippet:

I watched over you every moment, My son, and My hand was always extended to you in mercy. The proof that I have loved and continue to love you with an everlasting love is that you are here tonight… There are many things you still don’t understand, but what I did, I did out of love, to hasten other works and to fulfill some things that your heart longs for. Therefore, don’t focus on the wound anymore, but on the One who can heal and bind any wound…

Only a few days later, I received another prophecy, in which the Lord said:

It is good when you are tested and tried… for no one and nothing untested or untried will enter heaven. So all must pass through the school of breaking and suffering to distinguish and understand My will and My work.

Before returning to the US, I finally got the chance to visit Israel for the first time, something I had wanted to do for ages. I spent one week there, exploring the country by car and seeing nearly everything a tourist could: from the Dead Sea in the south to the Golan Heights in the north, including the cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.

I also spent some time in the Danube Delta, one of Romania’s most stunning locations, where I used to spend all my summer breaks as a kid. All in all, I found myself enjoying an unexpected two-and-a-half-month unpaid vacation, which was a break I really needed.

This account, however, wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging the remarkable way God orchestrated the events, ensuring that I kept my job, car, and rental place in San Diego.

About a month into my jail time, I managed to reach out to my manager at Intel, my US employer at the time. I informed him about my predicament, and this led him to notify the local HR team, who then discussed my situation with the HR team at the Munich branch, where I had been employed before moving to the US Ultimately, they decided to suspend rather than terminate my employment. This was quite remarkable, given that most companies would have ended my employment under such circumstances.

Once I was released from jail, I promptly notified them, triggering the process of reinstating me as an employee. The first step was for the company handling my immigration case to verify that my jail time wasn’t a result of a criminal conviction. This verification process took longer than expected. Then, the internal reinstatement process also took some time.

The timing of my return to the US about two and a half months after my release couldn’t have been better. It allowed me to enjoy an extended unpaid vacation in Romania and ensured that my return was just in time for the takeover of Intel’s cellular modem division by Apple.

The initial agreement between Intel and Apple was announced on July 25, while I was still in Romania. A few weeks later, roughly two weeks after my return to the US, we, the Intel San Diego employees, received our offer letters from Apple. Had I returned even a week later, I would have missed out on the Intel-Apple deal and might have laid off by Intel.

But that’s not all. On my return to San Diego, I was able to move back into my old rental place. Not only that, but my car was waiting for me right there in the driveway. The sequence of events that made this possible is another testament to God’s providence.

At the start of my trip from San Diego to Romania nine months earlier, I boarded a train from Solana Beach, a small coastal town just north of San Diego, heading to the Los Angeles airport. Initially, my plan was to leave my car at a beach parking lot I often used and then walk to the train station. However, a sign indicated that cars couldn’t be left in the parking lot on Mondays. This led me to change my plans, and I decided to drive to the train station and park there instead. Despite the lot being packed due to the Thanksgiving rush, I was fortunate enough to find a spot at the far end.

A month later, the daughter of my landlord’s wife was visiting from Los Angeles. Ordinarily, her daughter would board the train in San Diego when traveling back, but this time she chose to leave from Solana Beach—a remarkable coincidence! After seeing her daughter off, she remembered I had taken the train from the same station and decided to check on my car.

She spotted a car that looked like mine but wasn’t entirely sure. Once back home, her husband found my license plate number in my room, confirming that the car was indeed mine. The next day, he drove to the station to check on it, and everything seemed fine.

However, two weeks later, he happened to be in the area again and decided to have another look at my car. This time, there was a warning ticket on the windshield. It stated that if the car wasn’t moved within a week, it would be towed, and if unclaimed after a few months, it would be scrapped. My landlord then had the car towed at his own expense, paid for a new key (since I had the only one), and even took care of my annual registration to avoid penalties.

By the end of January, he learned about my situation—from my manager, who I got in touch with from jail—and decided to rent out my room starting March 1. The new tenant wasn’t the cleanest, so my landlord wasn’t keen on keeping him long-term.

After getting out of jail, I got in touch with my landlord, though I couldn’t say when I would be back. Knowing I would return, my landlord advised the other tenant to start looking for another place, which he did, and he moved out one week before my arrival! When I returned, everything was just as I had left it.

As I settle back into life in the US, I’m overwhelmed with relief and gratitude for how God worked in my life. My faith in Him has greatly deepened through this trial, and my love for Him is stronger than ever. The outcome of my divorce is still uncertain, but I find comfort knowing that God is in control and has a plan.

To me, these experiences are an undeniable proof that God is real, that He is in charge of everything down to the smallest detail, and that His care for His children is unending. Mere coincidence can’t account for all these points:

Update, September 2019: Just a week after my return to the US, I met Stephanie, a wonderful Christian girl from the Chinese church I attend. Within just 12 days, we both knew we were destined to marry, confirming God’s promise of a godly wife for me. You can read the amazing details of this story in my journal entry from August 30, 2019.

Update, June 2023: The divorce proceedings are still ongoing, but Stephanie and I are waiting patiently, holding onto our faith that God will fulfill His promise. Our mutual love and trust have only deepened over time, and we discovered that we are very compatible with each other and that God is an exceptional matchmaker.