After nearly a week of low budget, often strange international food in small portions, Team Kenosis was ready for some good, solid American cuisine. When we stumbled across a burger joint near the main square of Gainesville, there was no debate. We filed in cheerily and took our seats at a booth.
“And how are you ladies doing today?” our waitress asked.
“Great!” we exclaimed, and began gushing about how excited we were to feel clean, wear normal clothes, eat American food, and best of all, use real toilets that flushed and everything.
It was the toilet thing that confused her the most. “Where have you guys been for the past week?” she asked.
“In the woods, in tents,” we replied, explaining first Training Camp and then the World Race. “We’re missionaries.”
“Wow,” she said. “I’d have had no idea. You look clean, and like you’ve been friends for years!”
Bubbling with joy and excitement, we chatted and joked with our waitress as she introduced herself, as we placed our drink orders and as she returned with our drinks. Later, when our burgers arrived, we held hands to bless the food. “Want to join us?” we asked our new friend. “Is there anything we can pray for you about?”
“Yes,” she replied, and began to tell us more about herself and the struggles she was facing–challenges at work, difficult transitions at home, loneliness and hurt. We listened compassionately, honored by her willingness to share her story. Then we joined hands to pray for the concerns we’d just heard, thanking the Lord for our friend’s faith in Him and for His promises of His healing presence and love.
“Thank you,” she said softly as we broke hands. We looked up to see tears in her eyes. “This was just the encouragement I needed. Truly, the Lord sent you girls here to me today.”
Fast forward two days…
I left Training Camp beaming, positively overflowing with Christ. A few hours later, Katy, a dear friend from college, pulled into Gainesville to begin her own Training Camp with K Squad. During our brief overlap, we met up at a coffee shop, and she took the first earful about how amazing my experience that week had been.
Finally, she had to leave. “Before you go, can I pray for you?” I asked.
“Yes!” she replied. Holding her hands, I asked God for His blessing over the week that was about to begin. “Amen,” I finished… and we looked up to see an older man standing nearby, waiting to speak to us.
“God bless you girls,” he said. “I had to come over and tell you how much it blesses me to see you praying here in public.”
He shared with us his own story: four years before, he’d been in a terrible car accident caused by a drunk driver that left him with severe tremors. One day, he fell to talking with a lady in the coffee shop. She told him she was a missionary and offered to pray for him.
When I woke up the next day, he said, the tremors were gone.
We gasped, amazed, and thanked him for coming over to speak with us. Then, with a final hug, Katy and I parted ways.
As it turns out, this was merely the prologue of a much longer story. Read Katy’s account of how this encounter and others rocked her Training Camp here. Seriously, don’t miss this one.
Two unique stories, two days apart. Both are marked with a boldness I’m still learning to step into, a boldness to share Christ with others without worry or fear. And both pivot around prayer.
What I find amazing, though, isn’t the words of those prayers, though they’re important. I believe that God hears and answers prayers, and that He will respond to the petitions we lifted up, even if I can’t see immediate results.
But what struck me was this: in the smiles on His children’s faces, in the tears in their eyes, the presence of Christ in those encounters was clear. To our burger joint and coffee shop friends, the most meaningful part wasn’t what we prayed, but that we prayed. That in the middle of a crowded place, we were willing to reach out to strangers and to one another and invite Jesus into our midst. That we weren’t encumbered by fear or indifference, but were motivated by true passion for Jesus, a passion we couldn’t help but share.
It takes the pressure off, doesn’t it? Jesus makes His presence felt just through the simple act of prayer itself. It’s not about speaking the perfect words; it’s just a matter of being willing to be bold and pray. The encouragement He brings through that obedience is as valuable as any practical petition.
I’m so excited to be on Team Kenosis, surrounded by women who will push me to boldly follow Christ’s leading. I look forward to countless opportunities like these to marvel at Jesus working through us in unexpected ways. And I love that even before we leave the States, J Squad’s ministry together has already begun.
So today, I encourage you to be bold. Be willing. And pray. Who knows what encounters Jesus has in store?
