Sir Lowry’s Feeding
Can people around you see
Jesus in you? Does His light shine
through you? Does your smile of joy
radiate and pour out onto others? Is
your love for people seen genuinely?
Well, Auntie Joyce
does. People can see Jesus in her. God’s light shines through her. Her smile of joy radiates and pours into
others. Her genuine love is seen in how
she lives her life.
The past two Wednesday
mornings, we have had the chance to go down to Sir Lowry’s Pass where a very
poor community resides. Most live in
aluminum huts with a few living in small concrete structures. Auntie Joyce started a soup kitchen years ago
where the people in that area can come everyday to receive free food. But she doesn’t just hand out food, she
shares the word of God, sings with them, builds relationship, allows them to
share what God is doing, and prays over them.
People are being healed,
miracles are happening, the poor are being sought, faith is being built, and
God’s love is covering them. When Auntie
Joyce is told they will not be able to get food for the people that day, they
pray with such faith, and God provides.
Just the day before we arrived, she was told that the soup and bread
they were supposed to collect for Wednesday’s feeding would not arrive. So, they gathered together and prayed for the
soup. The soup arrived the next
morning. When they went to where the
bread is usually delivered, they prayed with great faith, and God provided!
Being able to see their
smile as I shared what God has been teaching me was a huge blessing to me. Seeing the many young kids around that place
broke my heart. They just wanted food to
feed their families, some small and some large.
As they sang some songs in Afrikaans, it so encouraged me to see them
singing and praising God even in their tough circumstances. They sang ‘Amazing Grace’ and a song called
‘Thank You Jesus.’ What amazingly
powerful words in those songs. As we
passed out soup bags and bread, it was a privilege to be apart of what God is
doing in that place each day.
Afterwards, a skinny African
lady sat down next to me and asked for prayer.
Her name is Martha and she is so sweet.
She said, “I have a problem, I have a big problem. Last year when I got pregnant, my life
started to fall apart. I was a child of
God and close to God but now I don’t read my Bible and I forget about God. The doctor said I have something wrong with
my stomach as well. Can you pray for
healing? I want to know Him and come
back to him again. I want to KNOW Him
like I did before.” I was excited that
she longed to be close to the Lord again.
I told her that God was waiting patiently for her to run back into His
arms that are wide open. I expressed
that He had never left her and wanted her to come back to Him as well. I advised that she was forgiven and God
wanted to give her grace. I encouraged
her that God has plans for her life and welcomed her back to Him. She had a huge smile and said, “Thank you,
thank you, thank you!”
I began to pray over her and
speak truth into her life. I asked God
for healing and for God to overwhelm her with His love. I prayed many things for her life and against
satan that He would not have any hold in her life. And then as I closed, I left her in His hands
knowing that He is the protector and healer.
All glory to God for what He is doing in her life! The Holy Spirit has been prompting her and
calling her back to Himself. We praise
Him because He does not give up on any of us.
He always goes after that one lost sheep.
When we were done talking
and praying, I realized it was her day to sweep the floors of the small room we
had done the feeding in. I watched as
she served in that way for awhile and then asked if I could do it for her. She was surprised that I would be willing,
but she gladly accepted my offer. I am
thankful God appointed a time for me to meet Martha and pray for her.
Feeding the poor is more
than meeting their physical needs. It’s
about building a relationship, caring about people, feeding them spiritual
food, and loving people no matter what.
“If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wonders off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”
~Matthew 18:12-14
(This little girl and I had a blast playing together! I would tickle her, get the biggest smile out of her, and then she would tickle back…it brought pure joy to my heart to watch this child flourish and laugh!)
*Check out Caitlin’s blog – iPod
*View Caitlin’s video from our retreat
**At this point…our team is planning to head to JayBay (Jeffrey’s Bay) on Saturday and Sunday taking a little road trip. So please be praying for safety and for God’s continued leading, that we would have open ears to hear, and for team unity!
***We originally were scheduled to go to central America after Africa, then it got switched to South America, and at this point, it has been re-scheduled to Central America. (Welcome to the World Race and flexibility–I love it!! God is in control and leading us…He will work it all out!)
