My next memorable story comes from week one of Kenya. It was Parent Vision Week, where I had the privilege of welcoming my mom to Africa for a week of life on the World Race. It was the 4th day of ministry, and we were told to have an ATL (Ask The Lord) day, where essentially, we pray about where God wants us to go, and we go.
So our group prayed together Sunday morning about where God wanted us to be. A lot of times during an ATL, the members of the group get totally different words from God and yet somehow they all seem to work together. Some of the words and visions our group received were quite random:
kids
bubbles
Steven
a vision with me playing with kids in a field
Our group assembled with this montage of words and headed to the nearby church to start the day. The service was pretty typical for an African church- lots of singing in a language we didn’t know and uncomfortable wooden pews low to the ground.
And per usual, there were a lot of kids hanging in and around the church. But there was one little boy who was separated from the rest of the kids, and was standing shyly behind my pew, with which I shared with my mom and Dusty, an AIM staffer who came to assist with the Parent Vision Trip.
Dusty immediately scooped him up and sat him between us on the pew. The little boy was covered in dirt, smelled like pee and poop, and was obviously not accustomed to getting a lot of attention. The service continued on, and Dusty and I tried more than once to get the little boy to crack a smile, but he wouldn’t change his unamused demeanor.
We then figured out that we had come to church on a special Sunday. They were continuing onto a Dedication Service with many of the mothers and children of the church. One by one, women would bring their little ones to the front of the church where the pastor would pray over them and dedicate them to the Lord.
All I could think about during this time was the little boy sitting next to me, who obviously didn’t have a mother close by, if anywhere. Dusty turns and whispers to me, half jokingly asking if it’s acceptable to dedicate someone else’s kid. But surprising to both of us, I was wondering the same thing.
After a little investigating with some of the church members about this little boy, we found out that his parents don’t really take good care of him. Shocker.
So Dusty proceeds to scoop the child up, walk up to the front of the church, and hand him over to the pastor. This child was being dedicated to the Lord, with or without his parents present. The pastor whispers to his wife, who was helping with the dedication, and then turns to the congregation to pray for this child.
The pastor starts, “Today I have Steven here to….”
All the mouths of our group members drop to the floor in amazement at the little boy’s name. Some tears were even shed I believe. I sat there, just smiling and half laughing at what just happened right in front of us. And the best part was, Dusty had no idea we had received that name during our prayers that morning. He brought Steven right back to our pew, where I informed him of the craziness of what just happened.
But that was only the beginning.
After the service, we were informed that some members of the church were going to be baptized in the river behind the church and that we were more than welcomed to join the festivities. We followed the trail, and witnessed five people baptized in the river, complete with lots of bubbles.
On the way back to the church, Dusty and I discussed taking little Steven and making him clean and tidy before sending him back to wherever his home was. But somewhere in the crowd of people, a woman took him down the road, back to his house we were hoping.
The church fed us a delicious African specialty of rice and beans, and as we were sitting and chatting about the day’s amazing events, here comes little Steven back into the church.
I almost didn’t recognize him at first. He had somehow been completely washed and cleaned, with a fresh outfit and even new shoes. He marched right up to Dusty, where they proceeded to share lunch and even a little smile.
I then took Steven out to the front yard of the church where we played with the many children still hanging around. He had the biggest smile on his face and was running and jumping with the other kids.
He was like a completely new child. And I like to think our group had a little bit to do with that.
Sometimes we doubt we hear from God, or are too ashamed to tell anyone what we heard. But that’s exactly what the enemy wants us to think. If anyone from our group wouldn’t have shared what we heard from God that morning, we would have just gone to yet another church service and witnessed a couple baptisms, and that’s it.
But all of our faith grew that day. And a little boy was dedicated to the Lord. Two events I’m really glad I didn’t miss out on because of fear.
