Latinos call Him Jesús (hey-soos) – Haitians call Him Jezi- most of us call Him Jesus. Regardless, on the World Race, He does the dandiest things. Things like this:
- Here in Philippines, the hills are a challenge for vehicles to climb. Why they aren’t made for the hills, I’m not sure. But they have a hard time getting up them. Last night, our cab died three times, overheated, and burnt rubber trying to get up. On our final attempt, I said, “Oh Jesus please push us up this hill.” We made it up. Around the corner was another big one. “Please Jesus get us up this hill.” We went up the hill without problem.
- Today I was the only one home and the power went out. That is never a good thing because it means our fans go off. And our fans are our only source of air movement. Therefore, electricity is vital. It was off for a couple of minutes when I prayed, “Jesus please turn the power back on!” Literally three seconds later the lights flickered back on.
- Last week, we were ministering in the riverbed community (slums). We met a lady who was having intense pain in her side. We started praying over her, “Jesus please take away her pain. Heal her of the pain in her side. Make her better, Jesus.” The pain was still there. So we prayed more. “Jesus you are our healer. Pain, leave in Jesus’ name.” Minutes later she began to feel relief.
- Today Amy expressed to Laine how tired of rice she was. We have been in Asia for two months, after all. We’ve had enough rice and noodles to last a lifetime. She said she really wanted spaghetti – that would treat her tummy right! As she walked in the door to what should have been a typical Filipino meal, she smelled…. you guessed it… spaghetti. A team from Australia had come over to cook for all of us. Surprise!!
- Last month in China, we’d been traveling for hours. Exhausted and still carrying 60+ pounds on our backs and fronts, we loaded a public bus. If you’ve been to China then you know that, because there are a million people everywhere you go, getting on public transportation is hard enough – let alone getting on a bus with hiking backpacks, day packs, pillows, side bags, and grocery bags. We were beat and the last thing we wanted to do was dig into someone’s bag to find our fare. Just as the bus took off, we realized that it cost 2 Hong Kong dollars each and all we had was a $100 dollar bill. The public busses do not make change so we would have to dig until we found it, and then lose $86. As Joseph began to ask around if anyone could break $100, a nice young gentlemen looked at Jo and said, “Don’t worry, I got it.”
- When people in Hong Kong get on a public bus, they just get on and go to their seat. Then, when it’s time they make their way to the door and get off when they need to. They keep to themselves and usually do not talk to anyone in the process. Three of our teammates were on the next bus behind us. Having no idea where to get off, they were counting on us being on the curb, jumping up and down to signal at them that it was their stop. The only thing they knew was to get off at “Gold Coast.” A white lady boarded the bus right behind them, looked at the driver and said, “I’m getting off at Gold Coast.”
- Two months ago in Swaziland my tent flooded a couple of times. It rained… often. Because my tent flooded, my sleeping pad got wet. I thought it would start stinking so I decided to wash it and lay it out to dry. Except that after I laid it out, the clouds came out and it seemed it would rain again soon. “Jesus, PLEASE let my sleeping pad dry. I really need it to sleep on tonight.” Minutes later the sun came out. I slept soundly that night.
- Two months ago in Swaziland, it rained… often. (Hence the above bullet point). One morning, however, I was the only one home and it was very hot outside. “Oh Jesus, if it’s this hot this early in the morning, it’s going to be a very hot day. Too hot for us to handle.” I went on with what I was doing and walked back to my tent. “Geez Jesus. Maybe you could make it rain? That would probably cool things off a bit. Please?” Literally, four minutes later it began to sprinkle. The sprinkle turned into rain. The rain cooled things off and 13 world racers carried on with life as usual.
These are only a few examples of things that may seem small to the average westerner. However to a world racer, a “small” prayer answered is a big deal.
Everyday we learn more and more the power in the name … Jesús – Jezi – …. Jesus.
