Have you ever had a moment when you pray to God and He answers you almost immediately? That happened for me and my team just last week and what a great feeling that was. In Mark 11:24 it says that, “for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.” We had faith that God had heard our prayers before we had even presented them to Him and that He already had the wheels in motion.
Our morning started out pretty normal. We woke up at 6:45 and prepared our meals for the day. We headed for the bus stop and talked about how we wanted to take Maria, this homeless lady who we bring food to every morning, out for breakfast at a restaurant. On our 30 minute bus ride we spent the time praying as individuals about Maria and the morning that we had planned out. When we got to our first stop, we got out to meet with Maria. As we walked around the corner to her usual spot, she was no where to be found. We looked around the area for her for a short time, but no luck. At this point we were a little bummed, but our faith in what God had planned for us this day had not faded.
The previous day at our second bus stop location, we were eating at a restaurant near by and a homeless man walked in. He was the dirtiest person I had ever seen in my life. His clothes were torn and ragged, his skin was completely covered in dirt, and his shoes were so small that his feet hung half way off the back. He preceded to ask the owner of the restaurant for water and she yelled at him and told him to leave immediately. As he walked out with his head down, I looked at my boy Rafi and said, “Lets go talk to him.” Even though neither of us speak much Spanish, their was no fear or timidness in our hearts. In 2 Timothy 1:7 it says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Our hearts were hurting for this man and only the spirit of love, not fear had come over us. We ran out after him and used every little bit of Spanish we knew. We asked him to meet us her the next day at 8:30 because we had a gift for him. He responded as if he understood, so we were leaving it in God’s hands at this point.
So now we are at the same bus stop, waiting for the man to show up so that we could present our gift to him. As we are waiting, still thinking about our missed opportunity with Maria, a bus pulls up to our stop. Not paying attention at all, I hear Rafi say, “Maria! Maria!” I look up and its Maria, getting off of the bus right in front of us. Our eyes lite up and we asked her if she remembered us. She looked confused at first, but then she recognized us and a smile came over her face. We asked her to join us for breakfast and she explained that she had to get to her spot. We looked at it as a blessing in itself that she was presented right to us and know that God has a plan for us ministering to Maria and sharing our faith with her. Their is still a week left and I know God is going to work in Maria’s life through us.
But the morning wasn’t over. There was still the homeless man we were waiting for. 8:30 had come and gone and he was no where to be found. I felt very strongly that God wanted us to pray about this man and not as individuals, but as a group. The verse in Matthew came to mind in chapter 18 verses 19 and 20 that says, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” So we began to pray right at the bus stop. I asked God to bring this man to us like he brought us Maria. For this man to be open to prayer, for him to accept our gift, and for our gift to fit him perfectly.
About 5 minutes goes by and then I see this man across the street sitting directly across from us. IT’S HIM!!! Kathryn, Rafi, and I run over there. We ask if he remembers us and he says yes. I tell him that I have a gift for him and hand him my pair of crocs to trade for his pair. He initially takes them, but then he hands them back as if he were embarrassed. He mumbles on for a little while about stuff that we cant understand and then Rafi begins to pray for him. After the prayer, I again try to give him our gift and for him to try them on to see if they fit. He pushed them back at me again and then I said no, God loves you so much. This is a gift for you because he loves you! He says Si and takes the shoes. At this point it was time to go to our day care ministry so we headed back to the bus stop. When we got across the street again, I looked where he was at, but he had left. I said to my crew, Man I hope he actually uses those shoes. Then Kathryn goes, “There he is! He just moved down the street a little bit. And he’s trying on the crocs! They look like they fit him perfectly and I think he’s smiling!!” We watched him for another minute and followed him as he walked over to a restaurant. Now he was wearing my crocs and had his old beat up crocs that didn’t fit in his hand. As we are watching him, we see him wind up and chuck the old crocs on the roof. Kathryn says, “He just chucked his crocs!!”
Let me tell you. This made our day. Even though the Maria plan didn’t work out as we had hoped, our faith never dwindled and we trusted that God was going to work this morning. The best feeling in the world was praying together on the street with my team and knowing that God heard us because of his immediate answer. God is faithful! God is faithful! Let me tell you, our God is always faithful!!!!
