Don’t be fooled by the title of this blog. Don’t turn away thinking that this blog is going to be cheesy or dramatic because it’s not. Although, I can’t promise you that will never happen. So for now, please stay with me. I have a pretty cool story to tell you!
The squad and I had a day off last weekend so we enjoyed it in Leon, Nicaragua. With another extremely hot day, my teammate, Bayse, and I were on a hunt for this little ice cream shop in Leon called Kiss Me. After asking at least 5 people for directions, we found it. The chic shop was dressed with shades of white and pink along with a mixture of vintage and modern décor. After ordering our delicious flavors of ice cream, Bayse and I started talking to the guy who served us. Brad, a late 20 something year old from Virginia who now lived in Nicaragua, knew of the World Race and one crazy team from it. You see, when Kiss Me first started out, the shop ran into a problem that would cause all the ice cream to be ruined if the ice cream could not be stirred over night until the problem could be fixed the next day. Not good. So because of a WR team knowing of the situation during their visit to the shop, Kiss Me’s ice cream was saved. The team volunteered to stay overnight at the shop and help with the ice cream. This WR team was a hero to Kiss Me. Brad shared this story to Bayse and I with laughter and amazement. We were feeling the same as Brad [along with pride] that a WR team had gone before us and left such a positive tone in the shop. After the three of us got over the unbelief, Brad told Bayse and I he was also a believer and was beginning his own house church. But not long after Brad said that customers came in. So we said our goodbyes. However, it wasn’t 1 minute after leaving that I felt the Spirit telling us to turn around and pray with Brad for him and the house church. So we turned around!
Before praying, Brad was amazingly open and willing, without our asking, to share his story of why he was starting the house church. The church only includes about 4 different families but Brad knew Jesus was asking him to do this. He’s the youngest of all of them but that doesn’t matter to Jesus who called up 12 disciples in their teens. Brad expressed his worries and fears but also his frustration. At the moment, Brad was angry with God. He never expressed why but he was angry and frustrated. Yet he STILL knew he was being called by Jesus. After he shared what life and starting the church looked like at the moment, Bayse and I prayed with Brad. It wasn’t a long, outpour of a prayer, but it was a Spirit-led time with a friend who’s struggling just like we are every day. Bayse and I left with excitement and thankfulness that we found this ice cream shop where we encountered the heart of Jesus. Later that night Bayse and I found out one of our own Squad Leaders was on the same squad for their Race as the team that helped Brad and Kiss Me. Crazy!
I’m not writing to tell you this story for you to say what a sweet one it is or even give praise to all of us who are a part of this connection. I’m writing this story to express the reassurance and confirmation I received at that time. You see, one of the major truths the World Race focuses on is disciples making disciples. Of course we’ve all heard Matthew 28:19 and understand what Jesus is still asking. But after my time with Brad, I saw that all disciples look different. Jesus isn’t just asking for us to come aside people from another nation. Sometimes he’s asking us to encourage someone who’s trying to make disciples as well. Someone who’ll still be in the foreign country we’re visiting once we leave. The Peace Man. He may be angry at God and full of questions but he’s the one that will continue to stay with the locals way longer than a month like us. So sometimes we get the opportunity to call UP another disciple who is also making disciples by calling them OUT. A disciple like Brad from Kiss Me.
As I’ll always be learning this, I encourage you to invite someone to the table….
“True discipleship is about inviting someone to the table, providing a feast, and then teaching them to feed themselves so they can prepare a meal for someone else.” Hive Resources
