One Sunday afternoon, Kenneth and Filomena, who live in Curaçao, went to visit a married couple with whom they were conducting a Bible study.

“When we arrived,” relates Kenneth, “the house was closed up and the car was gone. But something impelled me to call the wife’s phone.”

The woman answered the call and explained that her husband was at work. However, as soon as she realized that Kenneth and Filomena were there, she came to the door and invited them in.

They could immediately see that she had been crying. As Kenneth began the Bible study by opening with prayer, the woman started to cry again. So Kenneth and Filomena kindly asked her what was wrong.

The woman explained that she had planned to kill herself that very afternoon, and she was writing a suicide note to her husband when Kenneth’s phone call stopped her. She told them that she was suffering from depression, so they shared with her some comforting thoughts from the Bible. That encouragement proved to be a lifesaver.

“We thanked Jehovah for letting us help this distraught lady,” says Kenneth, “and especially for moving us​—perhaps by an angel or by His holy spirit—​to make that phone call!” a

Are Kenneth and Filomena right to believe that God intervened, whether by means of an angel or by His holy spirit, or active force? Or was Kenneth’s timely phone call simply a happy coincidence?

We cannot say for sure. But what we do know is that God uses his angels to help people spiritually. For example, the Bible says that God used an angel to direct the Christian evangelizer Philip to help an Ethiopian official who was looking for spiritual guidance.​—Acts 8:26-31.

Various religions promote belief in supernatural spirit creatures, some of whom are portrayed as benevolent creatures who carry out God’s will or act as personal guardians. Many people believe not only that angels exist but also that those spirits affect them in some meaningful way. However, many other people do not believe in angels at all.

Are angels real? If so, what is their origin? What is the truth about angels? Can they affect your life? Let us examine the evidence.