This month we have been living outside of Kampala, the capitol of Uganda, near a village called Namulanda. We have been called to help a church of about 30 members as they begin their revival in their village. More about that is coming soon, but for know I want to share an encouraging story, especially for people praying back home for our ministry.
We have had two types of ministry this month. One of them has been Door to Door evangelism, and the other has been intercessory prayer. Usually as the group goes out we have had around two people stay back just to pray, and we have seen some great benefits.
(In Lugandan) “Hello, these are some missionaries from America preaching the Gospel, Are you born again?”
If the answer is yes then they would ask us to give a word of encouragement, and if the answer was no, they would ask the person if they would like to hear the to be born again. Either way, it’s not the way I normally choose to start my conversations. Usually after this introduction we would start out by asking the person’s name before we got to deep into their need for Christ. That’s usually a good start.
This time Ginger starting talking to a young man named Salim. He was born a Protestant, but became a Muslim because he sought reverence for God and liked the cleansing rituals and quiet character in God’s presence that the Mosque offered. I could really feel for him especially after entering so many African churches that seemed to be a little charismatic with dancing and yelling in tongues echoing through the streets. I could see where reverence might not seem like an important priority.
He started asking a lot of questions about repentance, the trinity, the church and such, and to be honest I really wanted to cut through a lot of misconceptions and go straight to the Gospel, but for some reason I felt like God just wanted me to pray. So I did. A lot of times when I feel like God is giving me a word to say I rush into saying it. This time the Spirit really pressed me to pray that what needed to be said would be said instead of coming into the conversation. This wasn’t easy because I love showing the Truth in Christ, especially to Muslims, and a couple of times Ginger looked over and mouthed for me to come in anytime, but I just prayed. I prayed that a lot of his 
questions that were keeping him from Christianity would be answered, and that they would get to the Gospel and his need for the true God. Well they did and it was without me saying a word. He accepted these things and turned to Christ and his truth. I love this man because he is a truth seeker, and even though I related to him and knew what he needed, after I could see that I wouldn’t have added anything beneficial, and what he needed was the truth not my just my words.
Too many times speaking is over rated, and people think that just because they can’t be there in the moment that they can’t help. God really showed me how his Holy Spirit works not because of intelligence or smooth words but by breaking hearts of stone, a work that is impossible with human efforts. I loved that God showed me that praying for the Holy Spirit to come and introduce someone to himself can be just as much effective as actually telling someone about it.
Later I got to share a little about the importance of a name with him and shared the story of Stephen because he said that his name before becoming a Muslim was Ronald. Pastor still wanted him to repeat the “sinner’s prayer” before we ended our time there. Now, I love teaching truths so that people can live them out not just speak them and be done, and I have seen many people confess things they don’t understand, so the
“sinner’s prayer” has become somewhat of a four letter word in my Christian Vocabulary. I asked pastor if I could teach him about prayer first, and he agreed. After I taught him how to pray, by confessing, repenting, supplication, thanks, etc I asked him if he could pray himself and tell God what was in his heart. He seemed a little overwhelmed and still wanted me to lead him in it. So I girded my loins and did something I thought I would never do. I asked him his name and he replied with a smile, “Ronald.” I was so happy that he dropped his Muslim name even though he didn’t change it to Stephen (which I told him he reminded me of and kinda thought he would). I prayed a prayer for him and his situation as if we had switched places and asked for the Spirit to guide me. That day God really killed two birds with one stone and changed my perspective on Door to Door, and leading someone in prayer.
I tell this story to remind those at home that there is power in prayer, and even though you may not be with me physically in ministry, asking God to work is just as powerful and can have soul shaking effects. When praying please seek deep into the heart of God and let his Spirit guide. Don’t settle for the general prayers of protection/God’s working/ or people to be saved, but ask God for specifics .If you wake up in the middle of the night and feel like I don’t need to eat a hotdog, pray it! God listens and I don’t believe in coincidences! Remember I am 8 hours ahead of you and your prayer might save me from food poisoning for a week. I know that’s kind of out there but I truly believe that God can speak to his intercessors specific things that are needed right as we need them.
