Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. – Job 22:21
On this day in 1960, after days of attempted cover-up, Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev revealed that he knew a downed U-2 plane in Russia was a U.S. spy plane. The Soviet Air Forces shot down the spy plane on May 1, capturing its pilot Francis Gary Powers alive after he safely ejected from the aircraft. Khrushchev deliberately hid the fact that Powers was unharmed to see how President Dwight Eisenhower would respond to the shot-down spy plane. In assuming Powers was dead, Eisenhower scrambled to craft a cover-up for the espionage effort. He told the press that the Russians had shot down a NASA weather plane, which was no reason for concern. Khrushchev’s revelation that the spy plane pilot was alive and in his care trapped Eisenhower in a political snare, hampering his relationship with both Russia and America for the rest of his tenure.
As the Lord leads, pray with us…
- For the president and his advisers to seek God’s guidance as they interact with and respond to foreign leaders.
- For U.S. military leaders as they oversee training and joint drills with other nations.
