During our time in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, we intentionally took a day to live out what Jesus instructed his disciples to do in Matthew 10.
Matthew 10: 5-14
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.”
We were going into the day fully trusting that the Lord would provide our provisions and the ministry He wanted us to do. We brought no food, money, phones, etc with us. Only ourselves, water and a Bible.
After starting out our morning in prayer as a team, seeing who was to be grouped off and what the Lord was sharing with each person about the day, we ventured off. My stellar team, consisting of Alyssa, Ariel, and I, started off towards our neighborhood pastors home to visit with his mother in law. We had the chance to connect with her earlier in our time in Jaffna and she is such a wise, passionate, loving woman of the Lord.
At her home, we were able to visit, pray for and encourage her, as well as she being able to instill wisdom to us. Not only did we have a wonderful time visiting, but the Lord provided a snack for us too as she offered us some bananas. Thank for Lord for thinking of the little things.
After our visit we were planning on walking to a Hindu temple we’ve visited before, as Ariel got that during our time in prayer. There we were going to pray and see what else the Lord wanted us to do. As we were walking, I felt that we should stop and pray again into where the Lord wanted us to go. As soon as we started to pray, a couple guys on a motorbike stopped and started chatting with us. Through some broken English they shared with us that they were going to pray at the local Catholic Church down the road. Seeing this as opportunity as confirmed redirection from the Lord, we decided to join these guys on their way to church.
As we were walking and chatting, one of the men asked if we had any lunch yet. We told him no and he shared with us that we are invited to his house, where we can meet his family and have something to eat. So after church, that’s exactly what we did. As we were walking through the nearby neighborhood to his home, I was praying to the Lord that his family was there and hopefully someone that could speak more English.
As soon as we arrived, those prayers were answered. His sister was able to understand us and speak better English, which was so good! While we were eating lunch, we were able to share with her more about us, what we were doing and how they were a part of God’s plan for us that day. As fellow believers we were able to encourage this family in their faith and have the chance to pray a blessing over them and their home.
To top it all, after visiting in their home for awhile, our friend asked if we wanted to go to the sea. The neighborhood we were in is a fishing community, located close to the water. So when she mentioned going to visit the sea we were just thinking we were going to walk down towards the boats to the shoreline.
But when we arrived there, she guided us to her brothers fishing boat and said that we were going to go for a ride. So our friend, her cousin, brother, his friend and us all jumped into the boat together. We were all so pumped about this!
I mean, when do you get the chance to join local fishermen, go for a boat ride, watch them fish, and go for a swim? Not often.
Ending our day with this family in their boat was absolutely surreal. I love how the Lord loves on us and gave us this adventure with Him. Not only did I absolutely enjoy being on the water, but I loved seeing the parallel between that community of fishermen and Jesus’s disciples. Jesus called many local fishermen to come follow him and be his disciples. So awesome how that day came full circle with what we were reading in the Word.
Watching the Lord plan and provide that whole day was so filling.
Putting Him in full control, He is able to exceed anything we can put in place. Trusting in Him created the best adventure that I will never forget and I can tell you this, this is only the beginning <3
