As we rounded the corner of downtown
Atlanta everyone wasn’t really sure what we would see next. So far we
had been wandering the streets of downtown Atlanta since 10:00 pm and
now it was a little after midnight. Each of the girls on half of team
Swaziland seemed pretty tired after traveling to GA earlier, but also
were very energized from getting to pray together for each other and
the people of Atlanta.
Half of team Swaziland in downtown Atlanta.
They had been instructed to walk
around the city, talk and pray with people. No guidelines were really
given besides pray and see where God leads. At midnight we had given
each of the teams a challenge: a dollar per person to bless someone
else however they chose to. After thinking for a few minutes and
sharing different ideas, the girls decided to use the money to buy
some food for a homeless person. No one really had any person in
particular in mind.
So after leaving the pizza place
that we had stopped in to buy the food, it was thought that God would
bring someone our way who needed it. Now as we were walking down the
street just around the corner from the restaurant, everyone spotted a
lady in a purple tank top walking towards us. Before anyone could say
anything to her she pipes up and asks us if she could sing a song for
us, would we give her money for food? The girls say, “well, we have
food that we will give you but can we still hear your song?” She
says okay and seems a little shy but sings and has a really good
voice. The girls hand her the food and she says “thank you,” then
asks, “what are you guys doing? Where are you going?” Then
states, “You really shouldn’t be here.” Everyone chimes in that
we are just out talking and praying with people and someone asks,
“can we pray for you?” She immediately was so open and said,
“Sure!” Before we prayed with her she told us a few interesting
things, about the spiritual realm and mentioned how she used to be
completely different. She said howbefore she would have been talking
to us only to distract us while two guys came up to take everything
we had. Now God has changed her heart and she knows that’s wrong.
After sharing with us, we prayed for her and she seemed really
blessed by it. It was a good reminder for all of us to realize the
importance of showing love to everyone even when they don’t have it
all together. We also thought how simple it was for us to pray with
and give her a slice of pizza and a coke and yet it was so
encouraging for her.
The above picture is of a ministry that provide a meal a church service for people living on the streets. This is where we slept after going out.
Through this Challenge that we
made each of the teams accomplish in Atlanta people began to come
alive and find the joys of hearing God’s voice and being used by Him.
They were able to bring hope to the streets of Atlanta by encouraging
people through prayer and listening to their stories. It pushed
everyone to really step out of what they felt comfortable with for
the sake of someone else.
As we were walking around, I
couldn’t help thinking about how many adults would have a hard time
doing what they were, my self included. Yet these young adults mostly
still in college were being obedient to God’s voice in stepping out
to care for those who most of the time aren’t thought about. It was a
great group exercise and a woman named Robin got to hear about God’s
love for her through it.
Thanks for your continued prayers as we
go through the last 2 days of training camp and head to Africa on
Sunday night. God is already doing so much in each of the girls. I
wish you could know them and see for yourself how great they are!
