8 down homies.
Weird to see that in writing, like freaky weird wow. The Steadfast Terra Nova Phillies had an incredible month. By incredible I mean it was solely God who gave us everything we needed just when we needed it. It made an explosion of a comfort zone I thought I had gotten rid of, this month showed me my true character (stretched it, tugged it, built it up, revealed weakness in it, and a Webster full of other things) this month was full of emotions I never felt or even knew existed. This month changed my life. Nigeria was nothing like the world said it would be. The world said “be on guard all the time” and “it’s dangerous and you will be in danger everyday” all these things and stories of murder and persecution etcetera … but Lord how peaceful it was around our community. I even took walks and jogs throughout our village. Lovely huh?! Never once did we feel threatened or in danger. God promises protection from the angels and we sure had it.
To be honest I have NO clue where this blog will go, I have what seems like a brain full of experiences and encounters but none are sticking out to me to write about. I guess I will make some bullet points or something. Bear down with me while I scramble through my mushy brain thoughts…
Last night May 28, I was jolted twice by the Spirit of God, while praying as the Body of Christ with my team we all felt the presence of God. My entire body jolted two hard jolts. I don’t know another word for what happened, ha jolt is all I got. I love that I can hardly describe Heavenly experiences. Praise the Lord it’s nothing like earthly emotions or experiences.
This morning I was playing the guitar and singing my own version of Psalm 8 and I was set on fire by God. I felt Him, I sang to His ear, He was so near I felt the heat of His presence. Then I got the giggles with Nicole who was worshipping in her own zone. It was absolutely FABULOUS. Once again words simply cannot describe the experience!!!
We went to a crusade the last three days we were in Okpo, one day my teamies met a young man about 23 years old who had been tormented by demons for several years, much so to the point of he no longer walked but crab-walked all day long everywhere, he no longer spoke and also could not hear. They met him at a church and for a short time tried to interact with Cornelius. He would hardly make eye-contact with anyone, if you got to near to him he would literally crawl away in a hurry. Cornelius was consumed with fear. Cornelius had been taken by his parents to doctor after doctor after church after church, and nothing helped. As my teamies left the church their hearts were pierced with compassion for Cornelius. As they arrived back to Mike and I at our base they began to tell of their experience with Cornelius… what a treat because moments earlier Mike had been taken to Cornelius’s house to pray over him. (on the teams way home they stopped and prayed over other homes and families which gave Cornelius time to arrive back at home and Mike time to visit him). Anyhow, as they were telling us of Cornelius, Mike asked about what clothing he was wearing and they made the connection. Which was awesome because we got to then go back to his home very near to us and hang out with him. Sooo we went back, though Cornelius did not talk, and did not hear we spoke with him, as a friend I introduced myself and told him a little bit about myself… as he laid on his mat on the dirt he made little eye-contact with me… I believe he could hear me… God has mysterious ways of touching hearts. While we were there for about 30mins, Cornelius started to briefly give me a smirk (one so gentle if I wasn’t expecting it, I would have missed it) I knew he was feeling something different. Love. I knew he was hearing something different from us. Love. We were not preaching, we were not praying. We were simply there to BE with him. God spoke to me and Mike and I went to buy some soda’s and crackers to share with him. Much like we would do for a friend we bought Cornelius a coke and shared our snack with him. God very clearly spoke “friendship”. As Mike and I were walking back from buying the cokes God was speaking volumes to both of us about Cornelius, about his family and we both decided to talk with his parents. Could you imagine one of your children at age 19 or so suddenly not speaking, not hearing, and instead of walking…crawling everywhere? Mike and I spoke to the parents and it went something like this…”God absolutely loves this family, and he is going to pour out healing love over each of you. The Lord will heal Cornelius through love from you (the ma and pa). The church will not heal him, the doctors will not heal him. Jesus will. Jesus’ love heals. We are not here to “fix” Cornelius, we are here to be his friends, we are here to prove that love is wonderful and peaceful. He will be healed.” And we prayed over them and anointed them with the love of Jesus. As we left that house we left with peace in our hearts and praise on our tongues. God was about to shake up that family and encounter them with heavenly blessings. I think about Cornelius often, I pray for that family, I wonder how God has changed them already, I wonder who Cornelius will become…maybe a pastor, maybe a doctor. I believe God has plans for Cornelius… huge plans filled with experiences and encounters that will change his town. He will go from being persecuted and laughed at to being honored and respected… and I believe people will NEED him. God is love.
We arrived a few days ago in the capital of Nigeria. We were taken to a small small small… maybe 25 person village called Lele that was just outside the city. It was pastor Israel’s 43 ministry site around Abuja, Nigeria. Israel has a beautiful vision from God about ministry… he travels to small villages which have never heard the Gospel… he establishes friendships and relationships then through time a church. Last Sunday was Lele’s first church service as a village, which took place under a tree. Lele… how in the world can I describe this village. Imagine peace … placed in every foot of soil, poured out on every living thing within yer eyesight…. Imagine God’s presence blown up in a bubble placed over a secluded village of thatch homes. Just imagine, if you can, wind/peace/love/rest all gathered together and blowing against yer skin. Imagine breathing in promises of God…. Riches and blessings. That’s a tiny portion of what I felt within our time in Lele. We prophesied these things over the land and people… these new brothers and sisters of the Kingdom felt it. They heard God say blessings were on the way. Oh that place is going to be permeating with heavenly encounters! It was awesome. And by the way when the floods come in rainy season… the crocodiles are a favorite meal for the villagers.
I’m attempting to learn real songs on the guitar. That alone needs prayer.
I have to ask for my loves to pray about further supporting me. Thanks!
Oh we had some of our Nigerian mamma’s bless us with African outfits… I will try to post a picture!
Well I think that is it all I can rope together in my mind for the moment. I love you all! Thank you for yer love. Feel free to visit my teamies pages as well!!! Matthew Rock, Michael Sanders, Nicole Ricketts, MaryAnn Yeary, Allison Schwartz!!!
Peace and love
