Yesterday – December 13, 2013 – God had big, BIG plans for the day. Plans that we couldn’t possibly have predicted.
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed to be honest, I was not in a good mood whatsoever but I prayed a one sentence prayer that my joy would be renewed.
Every morning my team gets together for Jesus Time, which can look like anything depending on the person who is leading it. Before I had even woken up, God had told my teammate Christa to have us all pray over one another, one at a time. When I was in the “hot seat,” there was so much prophecy and truthful encouragement from the Lord through my sisters. The Lord answered my prayer right away and my joy was renewed in Him, as He used my sisters to affirm me in the walk and relationship I have with Him.
This afternoon Rhayan, our Filipino host, had asked us to go pray for a woman who wasn’t feeling well. So some of us decided to do an ATL day, Ask the Lord. At first I didn’t know if I wanted to go, but then for some reason I knew it wasn’t a question and realized I knew I had to go.
We embarked out on a short walk and ended up spending at least an hour with this woman, Virginia. Rhayan had told us he didn’t think she was really a Christian, but she told us she had accepted Christ two months ago. We prayed over her, for renewed strength and no more pain (she is a 67 year old woman so age had caused weakness throughout her body).
Afterwards we continued to sit and talk with her and asked her what her favorite bible story was. She couldn’t answer. We asked if she had a bible. She didn’t. We continued asking questions and soon realized that although she had some type of faith, she definitely did not fully understand who Jesus was and what He had done for her. So we stayed, just pouring into her.
As we continued to talk to her, “water,” was suddenly pressed on me, hard. My first thought was a baptism because she was SO close to accepting Christ in full understanding. Then washing of feet came to mind, and I suddenly knew what I had to do.
Flashback to Swaziland, when as a team, BBH washed each other’s feet. I was definitely not comfortable with it and ended up holding the rag to dry my teammates feet instead of using my hands to wash them clean. My hands + their dirty feet = no thanks…
Flash forward to today (December 13, 2013), when I literally sprinted back to our house so I could fill a bucket with water and grab some soap. Flash forward to the moment we told Virginia that we wanted to SHOW her Christ’s love by washing the dirtiest part of her body, her feet, just like Jesus washed His disciples feet. Jesus lowered Himself to a position of servitude to give a beautiful gift of love to His disciples. And today, I became Jesus in that moment.
Today God did something radical in me; He gave me a passion to wash this beautiful woman’s feet who was a stranger to me, and I obeyed without a second thought.
Virginia didn’t say “Yes” to Christ today, but she is definitely 100x’s closer to Him than she was before God divinely appointed us to share the good news with her. It was incredible.
I walked away from that house feeling elated at what had happened, even though we weren’t able to baptize her.
Little did I know that twenty minutes later, God would show me why baptism had been pressed on me just as strongly as washing feet.
As we all stood by a little shop waiting for Rhayan to finish up some business, my teammate Aimee turns to me and says she wants to find a body of water. When I asked her why, she said, “I want to be baptized.” Excited, because God had told me my own rebaptism would be next month in Malaysia, I asked her when she wanted that to happen. “Today. Like right now, if possible. And Jesus told me this morning you’re going to do it.”
*** Screeching halt. ***
Say what?
Aimee went on to explain that our squad-mate David had said baptism should be led by the spirit and spur of the moment. It didn’t matter where or when, who performs it, or who is around, it’s just about Jesus. So this morning, God told Aimee she could be rebaptized as soon as she decided. When she asked who would do it, He said me.
Fast forward half an hour after scrambling to find biblical examples of baptism, Aimee and I sneak off with the same bucket we had used to wash Virginia’s feet, to baptize Aimee. We simply walked around the back of the house, around the corner of the forest, walked up a few stairs, and then just posted up on the stairs.
I have never in my life thought I would be the one doing a baptism, but that’s the beautiful thing about Christ – He doesn’t do things by the rules. When He asks, I obey.
The Spirit led and before I knew it I was cupping water and letting it fall over Aimee’s head saying the words, “Aimee I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It wasn’t a spectacular production like how baptisms at home can be. There was no one besides the two of us, the woods, and Jesus watching. But I’ll tell you what, it was absolutely beautiful. And I felt so incredibly blessed to have been asked, by Jesus, to perform such an act that does nothing but honor Him.
It’s amazing how God uses us. It was barely four days ago that I had the biggest realization of my life – that Jesus is enough. Then He chooses me, ME, of all people, to become a representation of Jesus and John the Baptist in one day.
Aimee and I were the only two BBH members to go to ATL today. This morning during Jesus Time someone prophesized about ATL for Aimee. So she knew she needed to go, but both of us separately felt it that I really needed to go today as well. Then water was pressed heavily on me, both a baptism and a washing of the feet. I thought it was one or the other, but God was apparently telling me I would be doing both today.
God chose me… what an unbelievable honor. I can barely wrap my brain around it. Going from so much distance with the Lord, to being chosen, as His child, as a daughter He delights in, to perform some of His most precious good works for others.
Jesus – thank you.
