I know it’s been awhile since I last posted a blog. My apologies, but the internet isn’t really
reliable (or even existent for that matter) everywhere in Africa. I will do my best to catch you up on the last
three and a half months.
After our last debrief in South Africa, we headed to Vilanculos,
Mozambique, where we spent the rest of November and the first part of
December. We lived and worked with a
missionary couple originally from South Africa named Jaco and Maria Rudolph,
and their two children, Maggie and Rudo.
opportunities. We were able to go on
home visits, go prayer walking, work with the church Jaco pastor’s, show The
Passion of the Christ movie on several different occasions, go to an orphanage, and go to the
prison and the hospital to do ministry there. The hospital and prison ministry are the ones that stuck out to me the
most.
Twice a week we were able to go to the local hospital for an
hour at a time, going around to the different patients to visit and pray with
them. This hospital was not like any
hospital I had ever been to before. Most
of the patients were in Unicef tents, and supplies and care were limited. The first day I went to the hospital, me and
a few other people stumbled across a man and his wife as we were leaving. The man had suffered severe burns when his
shirt caught fire from an oil lamp. His
entire back had been burned, both his arms, and his right ear. There were bandages on his arms, but his
entire back was exposed, so his wife had covered it with a light shawl to keep
the bugs off. It looked horrible and
extremely painful. I felt very drawn to
this man. Our group took a few minutes
to pray for him and offer what encouragement we could with our limited
communication skills. I started to cry
as we walked away because the situation seemed so horrible, and I felt
hopeless.
week and a half later. While there, I
got to see the same man. It was
incredible! His burns had healed
noticeably, and his skin was growing back very nicely, despite the nasty burns
he had gotten. God had definitely
touched him and was healing him, despite my feelings of hopelessness and doubt
after our first visit.
occasions, and God taught me a lot through those visits. The first day people from our group went, I
did not go, but I heard that all the people in the prison who listened to the
Gospel message our group shared gave their lives to the Lord. The next time we were able to visit, I went,
and I sat staring at 60 some in-mates while a couple of my team mates shared
with them. It was another situation
where I felt hopeless. I just didn’t see
any future for any of the men or two women who were there. I didn’t see any joy in them, but I did
notice that they really held onto the words that were being spoken.
The next time I went, I arrived with the same feelings, but
I left feeling completely different. We
started our time by singing some songs with the same men and two women. It was amazing to see the smiles and joy on
their faces. As we were singing, I felt
like God gave me something he wanted me to share with them. Being the chicken that I am, I did not want
to. Hannah had had a vision the last
time she was there that she wanted to share, so after the singing, she shared
her vision. After that it was open for
someone else to share. I looked around,
hoping someone else would volunteer, and Warren did, making me feel very
relieved. As I sat there listening to
Warren speak, I still felt like I was supposed to share. I battled with myself the whole time Warren
was talking, going back and forth over whether I had to share or not. As I listened to Warren, he said similar
things to what I felt I was supposed to share. I reasoned that because Warren was saying those things, I didn’t have
to. But the feeling that I needed to
speak would not go away.
All of a sudden a very clear thought came to me. God had given me something He wanted me to
share, and by choosing not to, I was being disobedient. I had a choice to make. I could either step out and be obedient to
God and trust that he would give me the courage and words I needed to share
with a bunch of people that I will never see again, or I could choose to keep
my mouth shut and sit there in disobedience. This was a humbling revelation. I thought of all the times I had done just that. I said, “Okay God, if you want me to share,
then make it happen. Give me the time I
need.” Warren did end up finishing with
a few minutes to spare. Our translator
was going to sing another song, but I told one of my team mates that I felt I
was supposed to say something. She immediately
announced that I had something to share.
I got up and started talking, and I know that God spoke
through me because I really had no idea what I was saying. It was really amazing. In all likelihood, I will never be back in
that place or see any of those people again, and that was my one chance to
share with those men and women words that God wanted them to hear. I chose to walk in obedience and share those
words, and it didn’t do any damage to me, but it did give those men and women
hope.
out in faith and bless people. We can choose
to listen to God and walk in it, or we can choose to ignore God’s prompting and
disobey.
