Part 1: A Dream
While in Australia, I had many, many beautiful encounters with people, but a few of them were particularly memorable. This is one of those encounters.
While my World Race squad will usually be broken into smaller teams, as we travel around the world, there will be times that we will all be together in one place. Our first month was one of those times, as we had an all-squad month in Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia.
The 32 of us were so fortunate to be housed by two local churches for the duration of our time in Australia. I was staying at the smaller of the two churches, but we traveled to the other, larger church each day, as it became our meeting point and the place where we ate most of our meals together (we broke into teams and took turns preparing meals for the whole squad).
It was at this church that I had the honor of meeting and getting to know G (I’m going to call him “G” because I think that the people I write about this year deserve a bit of privacy, even if they have given me permission to share their stories).
G lives at this church. He is an immigrant, working to support his family and save enough money for his family to join him in Australia. He’s not trying to move his family from his homeland for kicks and giggles; he’s trying to move them to Australia for their safety.
G was raised in Sikhism (not to be confused with Hinduism, Islamism, or Buddhism, though it may carry a few of the same characteristics as these religions). When he moved to Australia, he was being housed at a Sikh temple, but things were not going well, and he prayed to God for help and direction.
The night after he prayed, he had a dream.
As he shared his story with us, he described his dream to us.
In it, he saw a lot of children playing. They were running around, jumping on things, and riding skateboards. And next to the children playing, he saw a church (outside of the dream, he didn’t really know what a church was, as he’d never been to one, but he knew the building in his dream to be a church). He saw people walking into the church, so he followed the people inside, and when he got inside, someone said, “This is your home.”
The next day, he knew that he needed to go to church.
Someone he knew connected him with a local church in the hopes of finding him a new place to live. Consequently, things didn’t pan out this church, but he wasn’t too upset because he knew it wasn’t the church from his dream.
He was then connected with another church in Coffs Harbour.
This church is now his home.
And here’s the shocking thing (but not really that shocking because, wow, God is cool)–when he arrived at this church to meet the pastors, he immediately recognized the church; it was the church from his dream.
Every detail that he had seen in his dream matched this place–the specific church building, the kids playing and jumping and running (this church has a three-story play area and cafe that is open to the public every weekday as a community outreach resource), the kids skateboarding (surf culture–if a kid is not on a surfboard, they’re on a skateboard or scooter, and skate ramps/parks are common); it all matched.
He immediately knew that this was the place for him. After some conversations, thought, and prayer, the pastors agreed to let him live there. But they had to wonder how he would reconcile his beliefs as a Sikh and his life in a church of the Christian faith.
When asked about this, he said, “No worries. I will be baptized.”
That was it. After nearly fifty years of one belief system, he had a dream, and he converted to a different belief system and has been growing as a follower of Christ ever since.
He finishes telling us his story about becoming a believer of the Christian faith, and I’m thinking–there has to be more to this story; he must have left out the parts where he asked questions and wanted answers before He chose to convert. But when I asked him about it, He said he had a dream, and that was all he needed.
Coming from a culture where skepticism is alive and well, the simplicity of his story shocked me. Americans want all of the answers. People in Australia, where G now lives, usually do too. In fact, many would say that it was ignorant of him to not explore this religion more thoroughly before converting, but if you understood his cultural background, you would know that he’s not being ignorant; he’s just not being a skeptic.
I’ve recently learned so much about the cultural differences of people groups around the world and the way it impacts their spiritual views, conversions, and so much more. I could probably write an entire blog post on this topic, but I’ll save that for another day.
Right now, I’m just admiring the faith that G possesses. He’s living out Hebrews 11:1 : “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
That’s so beautiful.
Part 2: A Healing
I got to know G pretty well during our time in Australia, and I learned that he feels very lonely and deeply desires to have a friend in Coffs Harbour. Unfortunately, those who share his background will have nothing to do with him because he is no longer Sikh, and because He is still learning English (though he’s doing better than he realizes), he’s struggled a bit to meet new people.
During one particular conversation, I began to encourage him to join a Connect Group at the church where he lives, as a means to find community, but he shook his head, saying that he couldn’t join one.
Of course, I questioned this. Why couldn’t he join a group?
That’s when he said, “When I arrive home from work, I am very tired. Too tired. I don’t sleep,” and he then touched the front, right side of his head.
As soon as he said that and touched his head, I nearly burst with excitement, as the Lord brought something else back to my mind.
Before I left Missouri, my church and its pastoral team prayed over me, giving Words of Knowledge, prophecies, visions, and encouragement that the Lord place on their hearts and in their minds.
One of the Words of Knowledge was this: “I believe that there’s going to be at least one person that has got trauma *here* (my pastor then touched the exact same part of his head as the part that G touched), and you’re going to be able to lay hands on them and see that trauma be healed. I’m talking about in their brain. It very well could be a sleep issue…it’s manifesting as a sleep issue. You’ll be able to pray for them, and God will restore their ability to sleep and heal their brain. So be on the watchout for that person.”
(G is that person. He understands trauma and hardship; the man has been through a lot in his lifetime, and the stress of it all is affecting his sleep so severely that it has brought on a lot of health issues. He showed us a picture from a couple of years ago, and we barely recognized him as the same person.)
I explained all of this to G and said, “G, Jesus wants to heal your mind and help you sleep! Can I pray for you?”
He quickly agreed to let me pray for him. I asked if I could put my hand on his head, and he quickly agreed to that as well. I laid my hand on his head, and began to pray.
I saw him at dinnertime the next night and asked, “G, how was your day?”
He looked at me with the biggest grin on his face and said, “Very good. I slept.” And then he gave me a big hug.
My squad is now in Indonesia, but I recently sent him a message, wondering how he’s been sleeping, and he responded, “The Lord has heard your prayers.”
Praise Jesus! Praise Jesus! Praise Jesus!
Oh, and the other reason G was nervous about joining a Connect Group was because he is still learning English, but I encouraged him, and a squadmate of mine whose family immigrated to America and has walked the road of learning a new language walked in on our conversation at the perfect time and was able to offer her own encouragement in regards to the importance of being a part of a community, and before the conversation was over, I had him filling out a card to join a Connect Group!
Again, praise Jesus! Praise Jesus! Praise Jesus!
G could still use a lot of prayers, as there are many obstacles standing between him and his family joining him in Australia, but right now, we are thanking the Lord for his home, his rest, and his soon-to-be Connect Group community.
I’m so encouraged by every conversation and every miraculous moment with my pal, G.
I know that this blog post has touched on a lot of big things that you may or may not be familiar with–dreams, visions, prophecies, Words of Knowledge, the laying on of hands, instantaneous healing, and more. The Bible discusses these things, and if you have questions, I would be more than happy to point you toward scriptures that will help you dig into these things on your own.
But here’s what I know: I’ve seen God move time and time again, and I refuse to put Him in a box and limit His power. He’s a good Father who desires to take care of His children, and if I can be a vessel of His love, joy, peace, and power, then, Lord, let me be a vessel.
As always, thank you for being a part of this journey.
XO,
Jami
