“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” —Hebrews 13 : 2

On a cold December morning in 1956, a thirteen-year-old boy named David huddled close to his mother aboard an elevated train bound for Manhattan. Just one week before, they had left their difficult life in Hungary to start anew in America, in a place called Brooklyn.

The boy’s cousin, Judith, tells this story of David’s mysterious encounter on the train that morning as he was bound for his new destination in Brooklyn:

David settled into the rattle of the train and pressed his cheek against the cool of the window, marveling at the towering buildings. “Good morning,” said an elderly gentleman jolting him out of his reverie. The man stood before him in a long woolen coat and imposing fur hat. David’s eyes drank in every inch of his elegant demeanor. He liked the warm gaze of his eyes most of all.

“Are you new to this country?” the mysterious stranger asked David’s father. “ Only one week ago we come,” the father answered. The stranger leaned over, making sure David was included in the conversation as he spoke. “When I came to America a long time ago, I was a little boy like you.” His eyes latched onto David’s open gaze. “Back then, I rode on a trolley car. An old man, about my age, came over to me. He said that he also immigrated to the United States when he was a little boy. He explained to me that back then he had not a penny to his name. Then the same old man held out a silver dollar and placed it in my hand, saying: “Here, my boy, this coin brought me great luck in my life. I’m now passing it on to you and hope it will bring you great luck, as it did for me.” He opened David’s hand and placed the silver dollar firmly on his palm. David closed his hand and held the coin tightly.

The next day, David examined the coin against the morning sunlight seeping through his window. “This is no ordinary coin,” he thought. “It dates all the way back to the 1800s! Yet, it shines like one freshly minted. I’m going to hold on to it for it is more than a coin. It is a sign of hope which that good man blessed me with.”

Over fifty years have passed since that memorable train ride. The small, frightened immigrant boy has grown into an adult. Happily married, David and his wife raised four children, all of whom have gone on to raise families of their own.

David kept the precious, silver coin with him always. “One day,” he told his wife, “when I am older, I’m going to look for some young boy, clutching onto his mother’s coat, gripped by the gnawing fear of living among strangers in a strange country. I’ll look for that scared little boy and reassure him, as I had been, that life can be lived with hope and joy in your heart.”

And, he did just that the first chance he got. He played it forward by passing on the goodness he received to another child who felt he was among strangers in a strange country.

Sometimes a stranger is more than just another person you meet. He or she may be fulfilling God’s purpose for you as an angel in disguise.

God’s ministering angels are all around us, and they minister to us in marvelous and unexpected ways as David, the frightened, little boy, discovered when he first came to America.

America is an immigrant country. Our ancestors may have arrived here on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat. There are many immigrants in our country today who live in the shadows and are marginalized by society. How do you treat them?

Do you see them as strangers or do you see them as friends you haven’t met?

David’s experience of meeting the mysterious man on the train to Brooklyn, who welcomed him as a friend, changed his life forever.