Last Saturday my team and I go to the opportunity to participate in a really cool program called 4-14 that YWAM puts on monthly. In the morning kids from ages 4-14 come to the base and we play games, worship, have a Bible class, do a craft, have one-on-ones and small groups, and then all eat lunch together. Then in the afternoon the kids actually go out and DO THE THING. I was with the younger kids and we took them to a nursing home to minister to the people there.
To be honest, the nursing home was kind of creepy at first. Many of the old people were skinny, frail, and unable to function on their own, and some of them had sicknesses that had negative effects on their brains. When we all filed into a dimly lit room that did not smell good at all, some of the grandparents looked happy to see us, but many were unresponsive. Aside from helping the kids with singing, I tried to stay as far away from the elders and as close to the wall as possible. One of my teammates even got “kidnapped” several times by an old woman who forced her to walk all around the house and garden and wouldn’t let go of her hand.
As you can probably tell I was not having the best of times up to this point. I was just ready for the kids to finish the program they had planned so we could all go home.
Then came the time for the children to pray for the elders. I was holding 4 year old Raph on my lap, and I went to give him to another Guatemalan leader so they could help him pray, but they were all already busy with the other children. Suddenly I felt God saying to me, “Why don’t you lead him?” I was unsure at first, but I took his hand and led him over to a grandma, silently praying that he would know how to pray on his own. I asked the woman if Raph could pray for her in my limited Spanish (I probably didn’t even say it right…) and we knelt down to pray. Ralph was looking up at me with big eyes, waiting expectanty for me to lead him. So, remembering the various prayers that I had heard in the previous weeks, I began to lead him in prayer….in Spanish. It was so amazing how God kept bringing words and phrases to my mind that I could give to Raph when he got stuck. After the first few times he began to get really excited about praying, and he would keep pulling me over to new people. I felt so much peace in those moments of kneeling on the ground and holding the hand of a 4 year old who was now excitedly praying over each grandma and grandpa.
Another really cool thing happened when I approached one woman and asked her if Raph could pray for her. I kind of mumbled it because I wasn’t sure if I was saying the right thing, and she leaned forward in her seat and said “I beg your pardon, but I didn’t hear what you said” in perfect English! I was so shocked! I began talking with her and found out that she got a scholarship to Julliard school of music in New York and spent her younger years travelling around the world as a concert pianist. She’s currently 82 years old and is still fluent in 4 languages! I got to have a really cool conversation with her and she encouraged me and my team in the work we are doing here.
God is so good! He totally redeemed our trip to the nursing home by letting me experience the power of a 4 year old’s prayer and by allowing me to meet and hear the story of an amazing old woman. The Lord can bring so much good out of any situation, even if it seems creepy or awkward or hard at first. We just need to say “yes” to His leading and let Him do His thing.
In Christ,
Cindy
