This past weekend was probably the best weekend of my race. It started out with us running back and forth with different plans because things never went as expected. But, this left room for God to move and work in each situation that we were in. This weekend our team helped lead over 40 people to Christ… all praise goes to the Lord. Here’s the story:
We were invited to join a retreat for young girls on Saturday in Botha-bothe, where our ministry hosts’ family lives. After that, our host said that we would probably go to a radio station and speak on the radio. Then, on Sunday we would preach at the local prison, pray over the police at the police station, and then go to church and share some short words. So on Friday as we were packing and getting ready to leave early the next morning, we found out that we actually were in charge of leading the entire girls retreat… If I’ve learned one thing about Africa (or the world race in general), it’s that nothing ever goes as planned. So it’s honestly easier not to even plan at all. So, caught off guard and a little annoyed, we all frantically began planning what to do. We decided that each of us would share a short testimony, maybe we’d play some games, and then split in small groups. But we still needed something else to fill time. Then, we all remembered the “everything” skit. If you haven’t seen it, it’s on YouTube. But the main premise is a girl wandering around, Jesus steps in and shows her how beautiful life can be with Him, but then she’s attacked by 4 different demons/temptations: sexual temptation (or love from another man), insecurities about her appearance, alcohol and drugs, and then suicide. The girl has to decide to fight for her life and to fight back to God, but the demons are still fighting against her. At the end, the girl can’t fight any longer and God steps in to fight for her and wins her back. I highly recommend watching it!
We decided to do our own version of the skit and to show the girls at the retreat. If it went well, then we would show the prison and church as well.
So, we all stayed up late, planning and practicing the skit in our tiny living room (which is also our bedroom). We found music to put to it and did our best to make it as good as possible. We each had a role in it.
Leigh Anne – the girl being tempted
Miriam – Jesus
Mallory – a boy, tempting Leigh Anne
Kyndal – a pretty girl who makes Leigh Anne feel insecure about her looks
Madison – a party girl, pulling Leigh Anne into drugs and alcohol to numb her pain
And me – a demon of sorts, telling Leigh Anne that the answer was to kill herself
Our ministry host wanted to see it before she went to bed, so we showed her and tears we shed. Mission accomplished. The skit was good.
We got up early the next morning to leave for Botha-bothe. Our taxi was late (but not really because technically we’re on Africa time, which is always an hour later than what you’ve planned) and we drove about 2 1/2 hours through the villages. We got there at about noon and set our stuff down, and went straight to the girls retreat. When we got there, we were surprised to find that some of the girls were much younger than we expected (another typical world race situation). So, we all thought quickly of how to accommodate for each age group. Now that there were little ears in the room, some of us had to tweak our testimonies just a tad. But, we continued as planned. We played some games, we shared personal stories, we did our skit.. and again, tears were shed, and we closed with an alter call. 7 young girls walked to the front and confessed their need and desire for Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Absolutely incredible. We told the girls that because they have Jesus, they have an abundant amount of joy and have every reason to dance and sing. So, to celebrate, we had a dance party and just enjoyed being silly together.
Later that day we walked to the local radio station where they asked to just do a recording of us talking about Jesus and they would eventually play the recording to the public. We split in groups of 3 and went into the booth. My group was first.. we expected them to ask us specific questions about the Lord or to give us a topic. But instead, all they said was, “just tell the young people listening about Jesus… oh, and also, we’re recording live.” Laughing on the outside, but crying a little on the inside, we nervously tried to figure out what to talk about. We each ended up sharing a word out of Jeremiah 1 and talked about the importance of young people in the Kingdom of God. Surprisingly, it went really well. The Holy Spirit obviously had moved and spoke through us.
The next morning, we woke up early to start our 40 minute walk to the prison. If I’m being completely honest, I was nervous. I knew that security systems and protection would not be as advanced as it is in the states, so I was a little worried about what we’d be walking into. But, we got there and walked into a courtyard of about 80 prisoners, all men. They sat on benches that surrounded the whole courtyard. We stood in the middle of them. It was a little intimidating. They immediately commented on being excited because it had been a very long time since they had seen white people. Classic. First some people from a local Catholic Church shared some words, and then it was our turn. We each started sharing a piece of our story and some encouragement to follow. As I walked up to speak, I felt the spirit tell me, “go deeper.” I had somewhat censored my testimony to the group of girls the day before, but I knew God was telling me that’s not what they needed. They needed to hear raw, real life experiences. I knew this meant that I needed to share about my suicide attempt.. something I’ve never done to a group of complete strangers. Holding back tears, I told them what I went through. That life was hard, and I felt like I needed to escape from it. But, I also told them of the redemption that followed and how God showed me that my life had purpose. And that their life had purpose. Whether they were sitting in prison, or out in the world, that right now.. their life had meaning. All they had to do was say “yes” to God.
After we each shared, we did our skit for them. Some comments were thrown around when Mallory walked in as a boy trying to seduce Leigh Anne, but overall they listened and watched pretty respectfully. After that, Miriam got up and explained the purpose and meaning of the skit. She preached about the redemptive love of God and how His love can save all. Then, Mallory stood up and did an alter call. I knew God had moved and expected maybe 2 or 3 men to walk up, but God did more than what I ever could have imagined. About 35 men walked up and declared their need for Christ in their lives. Words cannot tell you how blown away I was. God certainly spoke through each of us that day and the Holy Spirit moved through the hearts of those men.
I left the prison on such a spiritual high, I’m still feeling it. What started as a weekend full of changed and unexpected plans, turned into a weekend full of the Lord. What’s so cool though is that it was exactly what God had planned the whole time. Nothing takes Him by surprise. Nothing throws Him off guard. He’s the creative master behind it all and everything that He cultivates is beyond perfection. So, like I said, this weekend was definitely my favorite so far. We grew closer to our ministry host and her sweet family. We saw over 40 people give their lives to the Lord. We clearly witnessed the spirit speak through each of us individually. It’s amazing what God can and will do when you give Him the room to be God.
Thanks for reading 🙂
