Some of my teammates and I hitchhiked together three times and we witnessed three different testimonies of the Lord’s faithfulness. This was one day I will never forget.
I stood on the side of the road and stuck out my thumb.
A few cars passed by and no one stopped to pick us up. We heard a voice coming from behind us, “Where are you ladies headed?” A woman began walking towards us with some bags in her hands. We told her we needed to go to the mall 2 miles down the road and she told us to hop in her car. So we did.
A few minutes of small talk later and we were on the topic of the World Race and how the Lord was taking us around the world to spread the gospel. She was VERY excited and encouraged us to keep on saying yes to experiences and helping people. She was ecstatic to know that we were only in South Africa to show the community love. We were encouraged and very thankful for the generous ride.
Later that afternoon, Gisele and I prayed for another ride since we had to go back down to the Surf Village. We walked a little bit in front of the mall we were at and asked the Lord for help. We asked for Him to provide a ride for us like He already had that day. We then saw an elderly woman struggling to carry her groceries. When we approached her, she quickly turned us down. Gisele asked what the Lord was speaking to me after our first rejection and all I heard were cars passing by on the main road. The main road was a significant distance away and I should not have been able to hear the cars that distinctly so I knew that was the leading of the Holy Spirit. Shockingly, Gisele had the same hunch.
So we headed to the main road.
A little ways down the parking lot, we saw a man standing on his iPad wearing a navy sweater vest. Gisele looked at me and we both nodded and knew this was our next ride. The man agreed to give us a ride back to the Surf Village and we got to talking. He shared that he is a retired minister and opened up about issues he had with missionaries coming to Africa. He has only seen missionaries come and help one people group, not the entire country as a whole, just one race or culture. He was shocked to hear that we were missionaries coming to share the gospel and love of Jesus to everyone.
We made it to our destination and he asked us for two more minutes of our time. He began to open up to us and shared that he was going through a very difficult time right now. He used a metaphor of the Red Sea. He can’t go around his problem, he can’t go back to where he came from, and it is going to take a miracle from the Lord to get through it. He didn’t give us any details on what this situation may be but he went on to challenge us to live a practical faith. He said that the bible is telling us to ‘do’ all of these things but no one is doing them. He began to tear up as he challenged us to start doing the things the bible says and help others in any way you can. He said, “be practical, the Lord will always provide.” We got out of the car and parted ways.
Gisele and I were in disbelief. This same topic was talked about at church the Sunday before, living a practical faith. The Lord showed us so much favor and the fruit of His faithfulness.
A few hours later, we were in need of a final ride back to our hostel. This time, there were 8 of us trying to get a taxi back. However, Gisele didn’t have any cash on her so I walked to the curb and stuck out my thumb.
We prayed for the Lord’s favor and goodness to be shown once more and asked Him to provide a ride for us a third time. Right when we said “Amen”, a car did a U-turn and stopped in front of us. The first thing I asked was if he was a taxi. He looked very confused and said no(whoops haha). I asked for a ride and he let us in his car. When we got in the car, Gisele noticed that the music he was blasting was by Bethel. A few minutes of chatting later and we found out that he is a Pastor from Petoria, South Africa named Joseph. Joseph has been church planting for the last few months here in Jeffery’s Bay with his ministry. We explained the World Race and how the organization looks for ministries to send teams to and he completely lit up. He has been looking for people to help him plant a church and get things running here in Jay-Bay! Joseph began explaining that he knew we were carrying the presence of the Holy Spirit and when you meet brothers and sisters in Christ, you just know. He said it is important to DO what the Lord asks and even more important to live in a constant state of obedience. He told us about the vision for his church and ministry and after our conversation, we got his contact information to submit it to Adventures in Missions as a potential ministry host.
We exchanged emails and parted ways. I was moved to tears.
The Lord heard us; He answered our prayers THREE times. He even used us to create a connection for future missionaries to potentially help Joseph with his church in Jeffrey’s Bay.
So much can happen when you take a risk out of faith that the Lord will provide and keep you safe along the way.
What I’ve been reading lately :
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Basic Discipleship by Floyd McClung
