Well here is the story:
Just another day of prayer walking, 18 people jammed in the back of the pickup. A couple bumpy dirt roads later and I noticed my phone was no longer in my pocket! So we backtracked to see if we could find where it fell out on the road. No luck. We decide to prayer walk where we were at instead of the original planned neighborhood. We ask a group of teenagers who live on the corner, by a huge dip in the dirt road, if they saw a phone. They said yes! A guy named Augusto picked it up and they know where he lives!!! I was so happy! (That lasted about 10 seconds) They then told us he grabbed a ‘taxi’ and headed into town, to likely go sell it……
I was discouraged to say the least. Worried about what my parents reaction would be. They JUST bought me this new phone. I went 5 months without a phone after mine was stolen in Cambodia. And now after having a new phone for 2 weeks, it’s gone??! “They’re gunna kill me” I thought.
While prayer walking we went to a new house. We met Antonia! She was in her 90’s and looked like Moana’s grandma! So cute. She suffered from really painful gastritis. She told us she couldn’t eat any of the foods she liked anymore. She also told us she couldn’t read her bible, it’s so old the pages are faded, ripped and falling out. We prayed over her stomach issues, for her family and blessings to pour out on her.
Back to the phone story, since Augusto wasn’t home (he was busy in town selling my phone haha) we decided to find him later. Around dinner time we set out to find Augusto’s house. On about the 7th try, we finally found the right house! His dad told us he there but should be back around 8pm. So at 8pm we came back. Julio, my favorite translator, came with me, determined to get my phone back for me. When we showed up, Augusto’s dad said he should be home in 15mins and he has my phone for me! Wow! I never expected to see it again! Once again, excitement! But when Augusto, a 19yr old, arrived he exclaimed that he didn’t have my phone. He told us he already sold it……
Julio and Augusto and his dad all start yelling at eachother in Spanish. The Spanish I learned in 4th grade was no help in understanding what was going on. I find out later they were trying to figure out who he sold it to, telling him it was wrong to sell something that wasn’t his in the first place etc. It took about 20mins of arguing for him to finally tell us who he sold it to. Then Augusto grabbed some kid on a bike, told him something and the kid rushed down the street (to go get the guy who had my phone). The guy rolls up on a bike, we explain the story and he doesn’t seem too happy. He told Julio he didn’t even believe it was my phone, it had a black child on the front! (My best friend from Ethiopia is my wallpaper haha) Apparently Augusto owes this guy money and Augusto already spent the money he sold my phone for. It wasn’t fair that he would be put out. So we asked his price…… he told us if we gave him $20 I could have my phone back! He had to go on a bike ride to get it though. So Julio and I head home to grab money and meet this guy back in the dark alley for the exchange. I hand him $20, and he hands me my unharmed, perfect condition iPhone. We brought Augusto’s family some rice and beans since they’re out of work because of the crisis last year. We got to pray over them and offer Augusto’s dad a job at the farm!
Three days later, we went back to Antonia’s house. We wanted to bring her a new bible and check up on her health. When we showed up, she was ecstatic! She called us the angels God sent to heal her. She said ever since we prayed she felt NO MORE PAIN. She was healed of her gastritis!! She was drinking black coffee again, and couldn’t contain her excitement about it!!! We got to meet her husband of 57 years. He told us about gardening and gave us marriage advice. It was such a sweet time with this older couple, getting to hear their struggles, stories, advice and getting to encourage them.
When we left, my teammate Victoria said “Ya know, if you never would have lost your phone, we never would have met them, we were suppose to be in a different neighborhood!”
Oh my goodness! She is so right! Because of my lost phone, WE GOT TO WITNESS GOD HEAL ANTONIA’S GASTRITIS!!!
A lot of times it’s hard to understand Gods timing or reasoning for things. But I find peace in knowing He has everything under control. I fully believe that He truly does everything for a reason.
Thank you God for the way you orchestrated this situation. For leading us through all the hoops to get my phone back. And more importantly for making me loose it so that we got the opportunity to meet Antonia and her beautiful family!
