After a few days, I left with my team and several men, who were a part of the ministry, to go the bush. This took about a five-hour drive down a very bumpy rode in the back of a truck. We immediately put our tents up in the soft dirt that had the texture of sand. Then soon all of the children came out to greet us and stayed with us for a few hours in a building made of mud and straw at our camp site. That building is usually used as a small school for the village, but we used it as a place where we could cool off, have shelter for our food, and as a place where we could minister to the children and adults of this bush. Our bathroom, for the days we were there, was just a hole in the middle of another round, mud-and-straw building with a dirt floor.
If you’re wondering what we ate in the middle of the dust and shrubs or how we received water, I can assure you that my team ate well! If you consider that we were several hours away from a grocery store, you would agree with me. We had lots of oatmeal and hot tea for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly or tuna sandwiches for lunch, and spaghetti or some kind of meat with rice for dinner. In the morning, if we were just about of water, someone would take a five to ten minute walk to the well to retrieve a couple of big jugs filled with water. This really wasn’t a far walk as we would soon learn.
When it came time for ministry, my team and I would visit peoples’ homes. Every time we came to a new home, we would call out “Odie?,” which meant we were asking if anyone was there and if it was okay for us to visit the home. If the people were home, they would give us the best chairs that they had, which were small tree stumps that had been made into a small round seat. They would sit on the dirt or on a log. We would begin to ask about their family, and then we would proceed to tell them about Jesus and how much God loves them.
On the first day of walking with my team, I remember feeling a little nervous but excited to see what God would do. At the first place, I listened to what the family was saying to my team mates, but I didn’t say much. This is because I have learned that it is best for me to wait on the Holy Spirit to give a nudge before speaking and ministering to others. Then we made our way to visit another group of huts, and as we began to talk to the group we learned that the main guy had been told that there wasn’t a God. He also said that he has prayed to God, but has never heard Him respond to him. Everyone was sharing the love of God in some form and then the interrupter asked if I had something to say. Well, I wasn’t sure yet but my interrupter suggested talking about the creation. I still wasn’t sure how to start that subject, and so he began to speak to the group about it. While I listened the Holy Spirit highlighted a subject to me, and then I had something to say. I spoke on Habakkuk 2:1-2, and explain how easy it can be to hear God speak to you. Then others shared encouragement that God is real.
I asked my interrupter to ask if anyone there had pain or sickness. A lady behind us said that her back was hurting. One my teammates, our interrupter, and I prayed for her. I felt a strong presence of the Holy Spirit on my hand as it was on her back. I asked her if she had any more pain, and she said, “No more pain!” I turned to the man and told him that this is evidence that Jesus is real. Then another lady asked us to pray for her head and stomach. All the pain left! Thank you Jesus!
After that, we made our way back to the camp ground where we were staying with a few friends to have dinner.
To be continued…
