How do I even begin to describe this month, this week or even these past three days? It has been incredible that’s for sure. People back home have gotten engaged and gotten in car wrecks but I am on the other side of the world just sitting in God’s lap knowing that He is taking care of everything. Cheesy? Maybe. But there’s no place I would rather be. We spent most of this month traveling between cities, towns, communities and villages which has meant a ton of time in the car. Since it is almost impossible to be by yourself this year the World Race has developed “Ipod Alone Time” where the general rule is that as soon as you put in your headphones and turn up the music it is like you are instantly all by yourself. Physically I was constantly surrounded by people but emotionally and mentally I spent hours of this month alone with God just praying and listening to worship music- it was incredible. However, as soon as the van stopped we were go go go until you couldn’t go anymore- eating gigantic meals 4 times a day, spontaneously leading youth programs for 20+ kids and praying for people. It was awesome.
So how about some brief stories of the past few weeks?
We met a 96 year old man who could barely sit up and when we finished praying for him his previously clouded eyes were a clear blue and he couldn’t speak, he could only cry with joy.
We prayed for a woman’s womb to be opened and that week she became pregnant.
We met a boy who was in a motorcycle accident and has basically had a frontal lobotomy. We prayed over him for a long time and though he wasn’t physically healed in any way that we could see his family was bawling as we left- we got to show them that people haven’t forgotten them and more importantly that God hasn’t forgotten them.
Though we visited new families almost every meal this month one family in particular stood out this past week. We met the family, spent some time with them and then we prayed over the mother and grandmother. But as we were praying we all felt like we really needed to pray for the little boys too, especially for their protection. So despite their kicking and screaming we all stopped to say a prayer specifically for the kids before we left. A few days later we got the call- there had been an electrical fire and explosion in their house, they were lucky to have all made it out alive and miraculously unharmed. Everything in the boys’ bedroom and the living room was destroyed, except their picture of Jesus.
The boys bedroom a few hours after the fire
This last story was shared by a woman at a prayer meeting a few nights ago. Her husband has been sick for a while and was constantly moaning in pain and his cries were usually the loudest during the really early hours of the morning. One morning however, he suddenly fell silent. His wife was really scared and when she checked on him he wasn’t moving and was barely breathing. She started freaking out and didn’t know what to do and then she heard God’s clear voice say one word- “SUGAR.” She didn’t know what else to do so she ran and got some sugar and started somehow feeding a little bit to her husband. Sugar? Really? I would have called 911 or something. But this woman was way smarter than me- her plan A was to listen to God, my plan A would have been to use the resources of the world. So what happened? He lived, because after he recovered and after she prayed and after she got him to the hospital they found out he was severely diabetic.
I am officially half way through with the World Race. That is crazy. Yes I am excited to come home and see everyone, I’ve caught myself daydreaming about it a lot this past week actually, but I know that this is where I am supposed to be and I don’t want this year to end.
Stephani, Jessica and I with some of the youth this last week.
"Crash <3" Crash of Love at a gorgeous waterfall in the middle of the Malaysian jungle.
