a new friend can open new doors.
on saturday, Chelsea, Katie and i spent the afternoon
with our amiga from ministry, Victoria.
she is a Santa Cruz native and shares a love
of shopping for cheap clothes and serving our sweet Jesus.
navigating market stalls with this girl
was such a breeze since she knows the lay of the land.
too tired to explore for hours, I was more than grateful to go visit her church.
seriously, this was my favorite part of the day
because Victoria is in the process
of learning to facilitate for the OANSA childrens' ministry,
already established in her congregation.
well, in North America, it's called AWANA
and for me, it was a literal blast from the past.
when she mentioned it, my face lit up and i couldn't stop smiling.
if you don't know, AWANA/OANSA comes from scripture, 2 Timothy 2:15:
“Approved Worker and Not Ashamed”
look them up. i learned so much truth and had so much fun with them as a kid!
it comes in a close second to Bible Bowl, a Jack Gray ministry, out in Tulsa, OK
but i have a really strong bias!
great organizations… now back to the story.
i asked to meet the pastors and felt so blessed by them.
the pastors led by example, quizzing the young boys and girls,
but they made time to say hello and welcome us into their corner of Santa Cruz.
and since being a visitor means you get fed, the pastor’s wife invited us into
their home, which is inside the main church building. This spells dedication dot com.
as we walk in, we noticed a boy who appeared to be taking a nap
on a bench beneath a window.
didn’t really think anything of it while I happily accepted a giant slice of watermelon.
but as I ate, I just couldn’t take my eyes off this eight- or nine-year-old boy.
he lay there, trembling and wincing.
“what’s the matter with him?” someone said.
“oh, he is sick. we think his throat hurts.” “Tonsils, maybe?”, came another guess.
looking back at him, he was breathing very heavily, deep from the pit of his stomach. Eyes closed and while responsive, he looked words hardly explain the feeling.
i just remember my disturbance, my sudden intense spiritual burden.
and I imagined how broken the people appeared who came, or were carried, to Jesus.
enough was enough. i said the words, "this is ridiculous",
put down my watermelon snack, walked over to his trembling body,
knelt and told him, in Spanish, that we would pray for him.
and he nodded and blinked in agreement.
my eyes were closed. so i didn't see anything happen.
myself, Katie and Chelsea each prayed and then i closed our prayer,
in Spanish and in the name of Jesus.
i asked him if he felt fine now
and he kinda blinked, but just laid there.
I gave him a wink and a smile and went back to my watermelon.
but before i could turn around again, he was gone.
to which i thought, "great. forgot to ask his name, his mama’s name and to tell him to stay in school… "
i did not catch a glimpse of him at all until slowly strolling to leave.
from afar, we could see him on the soccer field, bending down to tie his shoe.
and then he took off running! like a gold blaze of glory!
by the looks of it, to score the next goal of the game. as if nothing was ever wrong.
that is all the Lord needs.
He is looking for our belief that, in Him, the supernatural is possible.
that boy walked out in healing, minutes after an impromptu prayer
and did not look back once.
i praise God that i got to participate firsthand in his miraculous recovery.
maybe the boy realizes what happened that day. maybe not.
but what excites me is that now i believe that signs, wonders and miracles follow me.
they are as fundamental to my being as the smile on my face.
