When was the last time you heard the Holy Spirit ask you to do something that completely didn’t make sense in the moment? Or even speak to you at all?
Before I went on the race, I would have replied, ‘The Holy What???’
You know, the Holy SPIRIT, that thing lives inside each of us who have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. The thing that Christ promised would come after him that would be a counselor between us and God, making known to us God’s will and purpose for our lives. That thing that the resurrected Christ breathed onto His disciples, telling them to receive.
So I’ve received. I’ve received the fullness that God intends, desires, and longs to give me. I’ve received the spiritual gifts that he longs for me to embrace, encountering an intimacy with my Father that I have never imagined possible. I’ve received the ultimate gift of the Holy Spirit, Christ himself, living inside me… and let me tell you, watch out world, there’s some crazy powerful stuff inside this girl, ready to bring Kingdom like never before!
It was just a normal day on the race. Ty and I were chilling out, eating burritos at a ‘Mexican’ restaurant in Kigali, Rwanda. It was almost time to start heading back to our hotel we were staying at for a few days, and suddenly I had one of those moments, where that thing inside you starts to ask you to do something (that completely didn’t make sense in the moment… or did it??? ).
You judge for yourself.
If we were having a conversation, it would have looked something like this:
HS – You should walk back to the hotel this afternoon.
B – Oh should I? I guess my feet are feeling pretty good. But it hot…
HS – You should walk back to the hotel this afternoon.
B – Yep, I heard you the first time. It’s still hot out AND it’s a really far walk.
HS – You should talk back to the hotel this afternoon.
B (to Ty) – I think we should walk back to the hotel this afternoon.
Ty – Okay… why???
B – I don’t know, I just feel like that’s what we’re supposed to do.
Ty – Okay.
It was a long walk, and it was a hot day. In about 10 minutes, two teenage boys had caught up to us and were walking right in step. It’s not uncommon for kids in Africa or any part of the developing world to ask for money for school fees, so we weren’t surprised that shortly after the initial greetings, they went right in for the kill. Being a teacher myself, it’s a soft spot on my heart. There are millions of kids around the world that can’t even go to school because their parents can’t pay their school fees. As a missionary as well, however, the most I can usually offer is a sympathetic ear, an encouraging word, and promised prayers from myself and any other ‘rich friends’ (as they like to put it) that I have.
The conversations continued and the kids were still right beside. The tall one, named Nathan(18), walked in front next to Ty, as he shared about The Race, America and his job on the ambulance. The short one, named January(16), walked next to me as I probed as to where they were going and what their story was. He said that they were good friends, like brothers. I asked him if he knew who God was, or if he went to church, and he said yes, that he had gone when he was a child. I told him about what our purpose was in Rwanda and that I thought God had some really good gifts for him and a plan for his life. I told him that it was a gift to us from God to meet them that day.
January
I laughed when he asked me if I drank beer (of all things… I guess that’s what’s in the mind of a 16 year old?!). I told him yes, but not too much because God tells us not to get drunk and the problem with beer is that people have trouble controlling themselves. Plus, I like Fanta much better! We both laughed. It reminded me of back home, and the love that God has put in my heart to teach and love on my students in the classroom and in youth ministry.
After buying them each a Coke (I offered Fanta, but they went for the caffeine), we finished our walk to the hotel. It turned out that they needed to walk past the hotel anyways (how perfect?!). January then asked me if they could go to church with us on Sunday. At first, I wasn’t sure how it’d work out, but I told them if they could get themselves to the Supermarket, we’d pay the rest for the bus fares.
On Sunday, Nathan and January came to church with us. I asked January if his parents knew he was going to church, and he said that they were Christians and they were really happy for him. He also told me that he was going to start going to church every Sunday. Lauren spoke about commitment that day, and on the way back, Nathan asked me how to make a commitment to God in his heart.
Yep, this was why the Holy Spirit asked me to walk back from to the hotel that afternoon. It didn’t make sense, but I said yes.
We are going to continue to pray for Nathan and January, and hope to help fund them in June once we get off the Race, with the help of Pastor Robert from Apostle’s Church, Kigali, Rwanda.
