“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.”” -Matthew 10:5-11 NIV
This passage was to be the basis for our day of ministry while in Nepal. Our host Brian called it “Faith Day”, and we were to live by these instructions. No food, water, money, backpacks, anything. We simply had to go out into the world and let God provide for our day. The bonus challenge that Brian added was we had to use some type of transportation during the day. Honestly, these challenges to step out in pure faith scared me.
I had never done anything like this before. I trusted that God would provide the funds for me to go on the World Race. I trusted Him to protect me through dangerous situations. I trusted Him to be there for me when I was stumbling. But I had never been to a point in my life where I was asking Him for a bottle of water or a piece of food. Nonetheless, we went!
I would like to tell you about one of the moments in this day where God provided:
To start off, I partnered up with one of my sQuadmates, Heather. We were both excited and nervous about the day. We began by walking out of our host’s house and down an alleyway that we do not normally go. As we began our journey we prayed that God would “blow us away with His love and blessings throughout the day”. Eventually we came to a local coffee shop called Higher Ground. It is a Christian coffee shop that also helps women in need.
When we got to the front door of the establishment we turned to each other to figure out what our game plan was going to be. We decided to explain what we were doing and then ask if the manager had a bottle of water he could spare. We entered slowly, found the manager, and asked. He didn’t even blink before saying, “yes”. And followed up with, “what else?” and placed a menu in front of us. We said that the water was more than enough, but he continued to insist. So, we order a helping of pancakes to split and with to find a table to sit down at with our water.
Once we sat down we began praising and praying, thanking The Lord for our water and the food that was coming. When our waitress, Mina, brought our food out she was carrying a plate of pancakes for each of us. Not one plate to split, but a helping for each. I am a crier when experiencing the Holy Spirit and Heather is a laugher, so I am crying over our meal and she is laughing. We begin praying and praising again at the multiplication of our food and the generosity of the manager. We are about halfway through our meal when the manager comes up to check on us. We thank him for our meal, and he asks us if we want a coffee or a tea with our meal. Again, we tell him that water is more than sufficient, but he continues to insist. So, I get coffee and Heather gets tea. And again I begin crying and Heather begins laughing at God’s provision.
Now we are sipping on our caffeinated beverages, enjoying our pancakes, and having amazing fellowship with each other. That is when Sarah enters the room. She walks up to our table and states that she overheard us telling the manager that we are World Racers with no food, water, or money, and that she felt concerned enough to come check. Both Heather and I chuckle a little and then explain what our ministry was for the day. You could literally see the relief roll over her when she heard this. We then began chatting with her and found out that she is a Christian, her boyfriend is a missionary, and she knows many people who have participated on the Race, which is why she was so worried. And then she disappeared and we continued eating and chatting with each other.
A few minutes later I have a feeling that Sarah would be coming back, and I tell Heather. She replies, “okay”, and returns back to her meal. Heather showed pure faith that if I was sensing something from The Spirit that it would come to be. About five minutes later I see Sarah turn the corner with a bag in her hands. She handed it to us and said, “See, God does provide. Blessings for the rest of your day”, and then turned and left. We looked in the bag and saw it was filled with food: croissants, chips, cookies, and food for the rest of our day. Again, I cried and Heather laughed, and we both praised The Lord for providing.
The rest of the day we prayed over people, gave out some of our food, road motorcycles (God gave us our transportation!!), and followed God’s prompting. It was a day so filled with joy that we came home on fire. We were fully provided for and protected throughout our day. We could see the love the Father has for us and the blessings He wants to give us.
I will not question God wanting the best for me. I will not question Him providing for me in all areas of my life. I will not question letting Him into every area of my life and giving them all to Him. He blew me away with His love. He looks after His children and loves to pour out blessings on them. I know He only wants what is best for me, and I am excited to see what life has waiting!
