The evening started out as any other evening. We sat in the back row smiling at the zeal of the 50 kids dancing in front of us. 7pm worship has been my favorite part of this month and having it during camp this week has just intensified the fun, the passion, and the joy.
This was the last night of camp and we were heavily interceding on behalf of a handful of kids that did not have a relationship with Jesus.
All of a sudden a gust of wind blew through the pavilion and knocked a bunch of chairs over. However, this did not faze any of our Thai children or staff. They continued to sing and dance. A few minutes later Thunder cracked, lightning struck and the lights flickered off. You would think that would cause a pause. BUT THEY KEPT SINGING. I couldn’t help but smile and join in. With flashlights in the air, nothing was keeping them from celebrating the week and Jesus.
Then the rain came in sideways and the wind intensified. Dave, the founder of Sending Hope jumped in and suggested we take a pause and try to get under better shelter. We all huddled together to make a plan and realized the rain was coming down too hard to make it to any of the dorms.
All 60 of us kids and staff were bunched together in the dark, hugging one another to stay warm from the rain. What a mess! We were all ready for a beautiful night where the kids who needed to hear the gospel would hear it, and make their decision about Jesus.
So where are you Jesus????
A second later my teammate Ethan invited the staff and kids to pray that Jesus would stop the rain. He referenced some Bible stories we learned this week and encouraged the kids to pray boldly.
Instantly, over 60 voices were pleading with Jesus to stop the rain so we could continue on with our service. And you know what happened?
It kept raining.
In my prayer I asked Him to show up. I thought stopping the wind and rain would be an amazing way for Him to reveal his authority and power; yet, it kept on raining and I got slightly impatient.
Once we stopped praying, one of the girls started to play the guitar and all the kids began to sing a worship song. Eyes closed, hugging each other, it was one of the most beautiful moments on the race for me so far.
We were literally praising Jesus through the storm.
How often do we get discouraged when our prayers are not answered on the spot? How often do we expect God to just make everything better instantaneously?
Don’t get me wrong, if he stopped the rain instantly it would have been amazing. However, we would have missed the chance to praise him through the storm, and to experience community in such a sweet way.
In the middle of the song I looked around and took a life check. Here I am with 50 Thai hill tribe children, in the dark, being soaked by the rain, singing to Jesus. I couldn’t help but smile.
After a few songs I decided to shift my prayer. I said, “Okay Jesus, if you won’t stop the rain, could you at least turn the lights back on?”
A few minutes later he did just that! The rain also died down enough so we could go get dry clothes and come back to resume our service.
20 minutes later we were back where we started. No more rain, no more wind, and all the lights were on. Dave presented the gospel and several kids accepted Jesus!
Instead of being discouraged by the storm and calling it a night, we chose to push through and fight for the handful of souls who made the most important decision of their lives.
With all that said, in life we will run into several storms. What will you do when it hits?
