Hey Family, Friends,
As you may already know, I’m in month two of the World Race, second country Ecuador. I wanted to spend some time talking to you guys about the part of the World Race I most enjoy. Though being in these beautiful countries is on top of the list. It is the opportunities I have been given to make relationships and connections with strangers and share the gospel with them, pray with them, or just love on them which I enjoy the most. Since being in South America, I have noticed the way in which I used to not notice people in my life at home.
I would be so busy, as we all are sometimes, and I would miss so many opportunities to talk with people. I think it is good to stop and pay attention to the people around us. Why don’t we get to know the individuals we constantly run into? Whether buying coffee at the same store every day, or the same people we run into on the bus stop, we see people everywhere. Not just those that we see often but those that a we may see once.
God places people in our paths for many reasons. He calls us to pray with them, encourage them, speak words of wisdom into us or just to show us the world in his eyes. Here in South America, I have been practicing being more aware of God’s voice and ceasing the opportunities he has for me each day. I want to share with you some cool experiences I have had in South America so far. These stories happened because I let go of my agenda and let the Lord lead.
During debrief, we wind down after a month of ministry and reconnect with our squad and leadership team – spending a few days resting in God. Here, one of my squad mates asked,
”Would anyone want to go to the mall with me?”
Sure, I wasn’t doing anything else, so I thought, “why not”.
Upon arriving to the mall we realized we were about an hour or so early and most of the stores were closed. We walked around talking and checking out the stores that were open. She had her heart set on a particular type of cargo shorts. We had no luck finding these shorts and decided to head back to our hostel. Before we left the mall, the cutest little store caught our attention. Of course, we decided to go in and look around.
As we entered the store, we were greeted by this smiling energetic spanish speaking woman. I knew right in that moment I had two options:
1) proceed with minimum interaction, avoiding this lady, and continue helping my squad mate find her cargo shorts
or
2) sacrifice my own plans and get to know her while my squad mate searched for shorts
I choose option two, not knowing where it would lead. I chose to give up my plans for whatever God may have.
I began to speak with this energetic woman. We introduced ourselves, and asked the basic questions. I could tell from her energy she desired to talk more; I desired to listen. Her name was Jasmine which I found so befitting for her, she was very beautiful and fun light. Jasmine quickly realized how small my spanish actually was. I responded to most questions with the response, “no se” (spanish for “I don’t know”).
My squadmate joined in on the conversation, and we both realized neither one of us spoke enough spanish to communicate effectively. Jasmine quickly whipped out her phone to use “google translate” so she could translate the questions she had. I was surprised because normally after I say “I don’t speak spanish well”, people give up or get frustrated because they want me to communicate with me.
This has been something I have been praying about because I don’t want my little spanish to keep me from sharing the gospel or getting to know people. I know the phrases in spanish to share the gospel or to pray with people but with out a translator I can not communicate as well as I would in english. I believe God has answered my prayers because He is consistently providing a way for me to communicate with the people I encounter.
We begin having a conversation with Jasmine about us being missionaries in Colombia. Jasmine gets very excited and tells us how she desires to become a missionary. We tell her about our organization and how they have a route called Fusion. Fusion for your reference is a route where all the missionaries come from all over the world to go on the race together instead of all coming from the United States like my route.
Jasmine asked us “what kind” of missionaries we were. We shared with her how we are missionaries sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in three countries in South America. We told her we were there to tell people of Jesus and in that moment Jasmine lit up like a Christmas tree. She is a Christian and desires to travel and tell people about Jesus too. We asked her where she thinks she is being called to go. She answered, “wherever God wants me”. I rejoiced at this point. We both understood that God is the one who calls us to places. Many people have asked me why I chose the World Race, and why I chose these specific 11 countries. The only thing I can tell them is that I felt a strong pull to go to these specific countries. To me, this pull is from God. I have watched God open and close doors for me. He wants what is best, and He opened this door for me.
I asked Jasmine if I could pray for her because I wanted God to open doors for her to share the gospel abroad and also for boldness to share it right in her community in Medellin, Colombia. I knew that it was not by chance that we wandered into Jasmines store just as she was opening, and just as we were leaving. She told me she had to get to work and that her co workers did not like her always talking about Jesus there.
At that moment, I got excited because I knew Jasmine was secure enough in her faith to speak about Jesus in her work place. We told her we would leave but we wanted to come back to pray with her. Jasmine was so excited we spent over 15 minutes trying to line her schedule with ours. Finally we decided we would meet an hour after she got off work. I left feeling so glad I took advantage of what God had for me and was not so consumed by my own desires. I spent all day thinking about how I would get to go back and talk and pray with Jasmine.
Later on that night, I had a team meeting which lasted longer then the expected hour and pushed into the time I was suppose to meet Jasmine. When we finished I was panicky and sad because I felt like I was not only letting Jasmine down, but showing her how unimportant her time was to me. As I ran to the mall trying to make it, God calmed me and said,
“Shakila I have Jasmine. You love her after a moment of knowing her so imagine how much I love her and I made her.”
That calmed me because I knew it was not my prayer that would change everything for Jasmine. I am just his hands and feet, He does not need me, but chooses to use me. I rushed into Jasmine’s store asking where she was. They pointed me down stairs; they grabbed their phone and called her. They were as excited for me to meet up with Jasmine as I was, weird. I loved it, I knew that God was using Jasmine to change their hearts.
I met up with jasmine and my squad mate who had stayed with Jasmine for an hour waiting for me. Jasmine was so concerned about my safety and whether I was okay and not about how long she waited for me after getting off work 2 hours earlier. Wow, that just shows how Christ like she is. She told me Colombia could be dangerous and that she needed to head home soon because her family would worry about her but that she was not worried because she felt safe with us as we did with her.
Man, as I’m recapping this story even now, I recognize how much God was in it. We displayed the gospel in many ways. I would go in depth about it, but I ask you comment below what you saw in this story. (I want to make this interactive!)
We spent a few minutes with Jasmine, wishing we had more time. Jasmine did not want us to leave and neither did we, but we had dinner and a mandatory squad session in less then 20 minutes. It actually took some time to communicate this to Jasmine because a big thing in Colombia is how people are more willing to spend lots of time with you, than always being in a hurry. Eventually we got to pray for Jasmine, on a small bench in the mall, with people around. I prayed so many things for her in english and after we finished she grabbed her phone and google translated a statement.
She said, “ I don’t l know what you said, but I feel hot”. I literally shouted in the mall, “Gracias Jesus”!
I immediately recognized the Holy Spirit was moving while I prayed because I generally feel Him in the form of heat. I was able to take Jasmine’s number and she told us she wanted to host us in her home the next time we came to Medellin, Colombia. She was so glad we walked into her store that morning. I don’t know what God’s plans are for Jasmine but I’m glad I got to meet her, pray for her, and continue to pray for her. I can’t wait to run into her again, if it is God’s will.
Because I let God lead me that morning, I was able to meet Jasmine.
I encourage you to let Him lead you. You will be surprised by the way He will show up. It is encouraging, and uplifting. I am so thankful I let Him lead me, so I could meet Jasmine. I pray you will encounter a “Jasmine moment”, just like I did.
Thank you so much for sharing in my journey by reading my blog! You have know idea how much it means to me!
For more about my South American travels and my World Race, please stay tuned and please remain in prayer for me and this journey.
One way you can specifically pray for me is through funding. I have about $2,789 left to raise in order to reach my financial deadline of $13,000 at the end of this month.
I would ask that you prayerfully consider supporting me so I may remain on this mission trip. To support me, you can click the orange tab at the top of this page and donate any amount you choose. You can donate one-time or monthly until I am fully funded.
Thank you again so much and God Bless.
– Shakila
