“God takes highly unlikely people, takes them to highly unlikely places, gives them a highly unlikely strategy, and gives them a highly unlikely outcome.“
-Christine Caine.
“Oh Ye of Little Faith”
That’s what I felt the Lord press upon my heart last Saturday when we stepped into the awesome faithfulness of God.
This last month we spent a lot of our time trying to find new areas and communities for K.I.M (Kid’s International Ministry) to do feedings and community outreaches. These community outreaches consist of sending out teams to simply love on people, share the Gospel, and then feed them food that our squad members cooked. K.I.M wants to expand their territory and offer more feedings and outreaches, but they can’t do it all. So, they had this brilliant idea! “Let’s go out and find churches that want to reach their communities, and we can provide them with the materials and help enable them!”
Our squad was split into several different teams. We were given a map of the area, a translator, a sack lunch, and spent the day doing “ATL”. It was at this point that the term “ATL” meant more to me than just the city that I tell all the locals that I am from. What in the world is “ATL”? I thought that it was just that place that they talk about in that rap song where “the playas play”. Hahaha. Who knew it was so much more than that. “ATL” simply means to “Ask The Lord”. We had to ask the Lord where He wanted us to go, who to talk to, and what church and community He wanted to lead us to.
My team for the day was myself, Tess, Katie, Candace, Alyssa, Amber, and Jam (our translator). We gathered together, we prayed, and we asked the Lord to lead, guide, and direct us. We headed towards an area on the map where several churches were highlighted in hopes that maybe we could find one of those churches to partner with so that . We quickly realized that this task was going to be a lot more difficult that we had originally thought it was going to be. Each church that was on the map was closed on Saturdays… perhaps the Pastor’s knew that “Saturday’s were for the boys” #SAFTB. Lol. So it was time to regroup and ask the Lord what to do next. After praying, we ditched the map and decided to just start walking until we found a church or people that could point us in the direction of one.
Shortly after walking and crossing the street we realized that we were missing Amber and Alyssa, they were on the other side of the road praying for an elderly man. During this time, a group of children walked up to the rest of us. Surprisingly they knew pretty good English and we were able to tell them that we really wanted to find a church and talk to a Pastor. Their faces began to glow with excitement. They said they would take us to their church.
As we began to walk, the Lord showed me how He was ordaining our footsteps. Had He not led Amber and Alyssa to pray for that elderly man, we would have never stopped long enough for the children to stumble upon us, a lost and confused group of American’s. Lol
So all 7 of us followed about 6 children between the ages of 6-13. So neat!! We walked down a few roads, through a market, up a hill, through an alley, and then trekked up a hillside. And in the middle of no where, there it was… the church. I’ve seen a lot of churches in my life. Many all throughout the Bible Belt of the States, and even on the mission field, but none like this one. It was run down, not much to it at all, but we were super pumped about this gem. For we knew that God had something in mind… We knew He had this church in mind.
The kids went in, and after about 5 minutes the Pastor and his wife came out into the sanctuary, and pulled out chairs for each of us. I got to tell them who we were, and what we had set out to do. I explained that K.I.M wanted to partner with them, and enable them reach their community by providing them with food each week, and even cooking it for them if they wish, so that they can host community outreaches to feed the hungry and share God’s love and hope with their community.
It’s at this very moment that Pastor Mark begins to smile from ear to ear, almost in shock. His wife asked if “there was a catch” because it seemed too good to be true. Once we assured them that there was no catch, they rejoiced and his wife began to cry. Through their broken English they exclaimed to our team that we were the very answer to their prayers. For years they have been faithful to God, and to this community. They prayed for years to be able to start a feeding program and outreach for their community, but they just didn’t have the funds to make it happen. So they stayed steadfast in petitioning God to make a way where there seemed to be no way… and as always, He was more than faithful.
It literally blew our minds, and they ended up not being the only ones shocked at how faithful God is when you simply ask Him for something. We were super stoked! God used a bunch of highly unlikely people, at a highly unlikely place, during a highly unlikely time (when most churches are closed), and gave us a highly unlikely strategy… so of course, we should have known that a He had a highly unlikely outcome in mind.
About an hour or so went by as we just hung out with our new friends. They were on board, and we had found the church God wanted to pour His blessing on. So we reported back to K.I.M and told them all about what the Lord had done that day. They were so excited to hear the news and sent us back out to the church the following Saturday to set a date for the very first official community outreach. So we went back and set the date! Thursday!!! Pastor Mark was really nervous about doing it on Thursday at 4:00 because so many people were at work still, and some of the kids would still be at school, but it was the best day and time that we could make work. He knew that this was something he had been asking the Lord for, for a long time, so he was on board, and we all prayed for a great turn out.
Thursday quickly approached, and if I’m completely vulnerable, I wanted to be excited… but I was super nervous. I knew they were on board, but I didn’t know what to expect. The two days we had gone to visit them, there was maybe a total of 10 people there around the church, so we expected maybe 30-40 people to show up to the feeding and outreach. We loaded up, skits were planned, songs were ready to sing, and a huge tub of food was prepared to feed the community. We hopped out of the SUV and trekked back through the market, through the alley, and up the hill. As we approach the church, I began to hear a rumble, and I remember asking myself… “What is that noice?!”. Guys, the rumble was from all of the people in the church! There were over 100 people. It was absolutely amazing!! We were mind blown. After getting past our shock, we quickly set out to do what we came to do. We shared the gospel and fed over 80 kids and around 25 adults. Wow God, You’re so faithful!
It was that day that God really convicted me about how I was feeling that morning. He reminded me of Luke 10:2 where it says “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord (ATL) of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field”
Guys, God has so much in store! More than you could ask, think, or imagine. We just have to be willing to go, and leave the results up to Him. He will continue to blow our minds, and He has a harvest in mind. He just need our obedience. It was so cool to get this new Community Outreach started and now K.I.M will partner with this church every week to feed the souls and stomachs of the people in Cupang, Philippines.
One of the coolest things about this whole story is a conversation that Tess was able to have at the church that day with the woman that runs Sunday school for the kids there. She came up to Tess, and she just began to thank her over and over. She said that no one ever visits them, and that only the big churches and communities get attention from missionaries. She said that she was so thankful that we chose them, and for thinking that they were worth it. Through that, Tess was able to explain to her that we were just the vessels, that we were simply tools in the hand of a faithful God to show them that He hasn’t forgotten about them. Tess explained that the day we found their church, it was God that led us there. She explained that we didn’t choose them, but God chose them, and that God says they are worth it. The woman just began to cry, and gave Tess a big hug.
It’s these very moments that we signed up for. Seeing places around the world is cool. Adventure days are fun. But, ultimately all we wake up hoping for is that we can hold one of God’s daughters in our arms and remind them of the love that our God has for them.
Peace and blessings, Justin and Tessie
FUNDRAISING UPDATE:
We are currently 95.1% funded! Praise Him! But, we are still $1,705 away from being fully funded. God has provided $33,095 in just 7 months, so we are not doubting His ability to provide the rest by April. If you feel led to partner with us, and want to help us stay on the field to serve communities around the world, share the gospel, and impact lives, then you can head over to our home page where you can give. We couldn’t do what we are doing without you all, so thank you!
