Today Team Kaleo heard from God. We didn’t hear his voice
audibly or read his words in the Bible. We didn’t hear a booming clap of
thunder echo through the mountains or a quiet wind whisper through the trees.
He spoke to us in a dream, but it wasn’t our dream.
For the past three days we have been going door to door in
the village of Corral de los Indios in the Dominican Republic, meeting people,
forming relationships with them, praying for peace in their community, and
looking for places to plant churches in the future. Yesterday was our last day
so we came to revisit people we knew and say goodbye. We didn’t plan to meet
anyone new or visit any houses that we hadn’t visited, but God had other plans.
As we were walking through Berrinche, a small offshoot of Corral,
a woman named Edith came running down the road calling to us. She grabbed our
hands and insisted that we come to her house immediately. She didn’t politely
suggest it, she insisted and literally pulled us toward her house. When we got
there and sat down on her patio, she began to explain why it was so imperative
that we come.
“Three nights ago I had a dream. In my dream a group of
Americans came to my village and visited me at my house. They sat here, asked
me many questions, and then an American boy put his hand on my forehead and
began to pray for me. He prayed for me but I didn’t understand anything he
said. When he said amen I woke up and it was morning. I walked out of my house,
looked up to the road, and saw you entering the village. God told me in the
dream that you would come and now you are here.”
This clearly got our attention, and we began to ask her
questions about her beliefs. She told us that she used to be a Christian, but
then she stopped attending church. We explained to her that going to church is
not what makes you a Christian, and that in the absence of a church family you
can still have a thriving relationship with God alone in your house. Silvia
explained the gospel to her, we told her that as long as she accepts the truth
she is a Christian, and she agreed with everything we said. Brent was sitting
next to her so he put his hand on her forehead and prayed for her in English, a
language she didn’t understand, just like in her dream. Then she told us about
another dream she had some time ago.
“I dreamed that I went to church with my four children and
my friend. When we entered the building a fire grew up from the ground. We
started shouting at it to be gone in the name of Jesus. We shouted this over
and over, and the fire diminished until it was only smoke. I believe that this
dream means that God is more powerful than the evil that happens in this town.
If the believers here unite and speak out against the witchcraft, God will put
out its fire.”
We told her that we agree with her and that we believe that
these dreams she is having are from God. We read her the passage in Joel that
tells how the old will dream dreams and see visions, and we explained that she
was very brave in chasing us down to share her dream with us. We told her she
should continue sharing her dreams with people and speaking out boldly against
the evil that holds her village captive. Then, we asked her if she had any
other words for us.
She told us, “I want you to know that you are not here by
accident. God showed me a group of Americans in my dream who came to my house
and prayed for me. When I woke up you were here, and my dream came true. Our
town has had many problems, but upon your arrival something changed. I can feel
a difference here now that you have come. You are not on this journey by
accident, and you being here is not a coincidence. Remember that every place
you go it is because God has called you to that place, and he wants you there
to help people.”
Back in October at training camp we were asked to name our
team, and we chose the name Kaleo. It is a Greek word that means called. Edith’s dream and our encounter
with her today confirmed that Team Kaleo truly has been called to the World
Race, to the Dominican Republic, and to the ministry that we are doing here. To
be a week into the race and have a woman chase us down, tell us she saw us in a
dream, and reiterate God’s calling and purpose for our journey was more than we
could have expected, and no matter what happens after this, our day with Edith
will remain a highlight of the year.
The woman in the middle between Tiffany and me is Edith.
