Funding Update: My final financial deadline is July 1st, by which time I will need $16,285 (%100) in order to continue the Race. I am currently at $13,240 (81%) – please consider donating, praying and spreading the word! Thank you!
“Can I have something? You know me and my heart… can there be something for me today?”
I prayed this after part of our team saw some Nepalese villagers accept Christ. That day, Doug & Harris had both individually been discouraged that while we were spending a lot of time in ministry, there was not visible progress happening. They didn’t voice that sentiment, but God saw it – and that night, He let them see some of the fruits of their labor.
I loved that – that He gave them something so directly and so personal. So the next morning, I asked Him for something direct and personal as well.
Let me pause here to tell you a quick story.
——
I was in a Ukrainian mountain village in the summer of 2012, helping at an English camp. One fine day, I decided to take a walk, to take in the view of the valley. At one point, I looked up and noticed a dog standing in my path.
He was an old yellow lab, and when I approached him he let me scratch his ears. As I moved to go on, he began to walk with me. There was no one else around – just the two of us, ambling up the road.
At some point he started to lead me – he’d be lumbering ahead of me and would turn off to a different road, and turn around after a moment to check if I was following. I had no fixed destination, so I’d go after him. He led me to a little dirt path, and then stopped. For no apparent reason. It wasn’t until I got to where he was standing that I saw it…
I stepped out of the tunnel of trees we’d been walking through to see luscious, springtime green all around me, a dark rain-cloudy sky, and spreading across it was the biggest, most brilliant rainbow I had ever seen.
I stood and stared for several minutes, taking in the startling beauty of the scene, unable to believe how for me that moment and that place felt. Finally, the lab turned to walk back the way we’d come. I followed him to where we’d first met, at which point he turned at trotted away.
Best day of the summer.
——
Alright. Back to the morning of my prayer in Nepal.
“God, can there be something personal for me today? You know me…”
Our ministry that day was twofold – we were hiking to a Hindu temple to pray over it and the valley, along the way stopping at the brick factories to evangelize.
The Hindu temple was built on top of a hill, and by the time we got to the bottom we had been walking a long way. Weary, we stopped at a little shop for fruit juice and Coconut Crunchies (the cheapest & most delicious coconut cookies around).
A beautiful stray dog saw us sitting there and trotted over be petted. We indulged, and she so insistently stuck her cute nose into my backpack that I gave her some Coconut Crunchie.
As we began the ascent up the hill, the dog – whom Abby had named Potato, in keeping with her tendency to name animals after foods – bounded up the steps with us. (We later modified her name to Sweet Potato.) Soon she was ahead of us. The stairs were steep, and our group spread out as we hiked up.
I was soon by myself – out of sight of those ahead of me and behind me – with Sweet Potato scampering ahead of me.
She would look back at me every so often, to make sure I was following her.
It wasn’t until I got to the top of the stairs, Sweet Potato patiently staring down at me, waiting, that I thought – WAIT. THIS IS FOR ME! I stopped short, midstep, struck with the memory of that lab in Ukraine.
At that, Sweet Potato dashed away into the temple courtyard.
I slowly wandered in, marveling. God knew how much I treasured that walk in Ukraine. He knew I’d remember. He knew what to do that would be just for me. So a friendly dog came out of seemingly nowhere to walk with me today…
I found Sweet Potato resting on the ramparts of the temple, overlooking the valley and brick factories we had just walked through. I fed her the rest of my Coconut Crunchies.
As our group walked down the other side of the hill, she continued to walk with us. When we sat in a little wooded area to sing and pray, she sat with us. As we continued on away from the temple, she continued as well.
Finally, at one point, the path split – one continued downwards, back towards the brick factories. The other wound off to the right, in the direction of the little store where Sweet Potato had first joined us. We took our path, and I looked over my shoulder to see Sweet Potato standing there, gazing after us. When most of our group was out of sight, she turned and trotted off to the right – back to wherever she came from. Her job for the day was done.
