heard a song about freedom. In the fall of 2006, Emily was finishing
her student teaching, planning her upcoming wedding and living far from
freedom.
Fast forward to the beginning of February, 2010. Emily and I have
known each other a total of 4 months and we are beginning our second
month of the World Race together. God put our team of 6 in hippie Byron
Bay and while I was a little lost and confused, Emily seemed to fit
right in.
On our third day, we were in a coffee shop together. Emily was
seeking after God, but still had yet to find true freedom. Everything
in her past was still very real. Hurt from people she knew and a recent
divorce seemed to overshadow what God wanted to do in her life. Lies
that she had believed about herself so long kept creeping into her
thoughts and seemed as if they would never be gone.
I told her she’d be the first one from Team Malachi to be free –
and she’d help lead the rest of our team there throughout the year. At
that moment, she gave me a funny look and didn’t really believe
anything I said. We continued on in Byron, doing ministry together and
I saw her continue to seek after God.
A couple nights after that we had a small worship session at the
campground we were staying at. I noticed her slip off and when I saw
Emily standing by herself I went over and hugged her, let her cry on my
shoulder and tell me that she wanted freedom. It was the first time she
admitted it, and I knew then that God was getting ready to do some
mighty things in her life.
Emily’s boldness in Australia was incredible to watch. Over the 24
hour prayer vigil and several of the Friday barbeques in the park,
Emily stepped way out of her comfort zone and talked with the people
most of us would avoid. If they had dreadlocks, Emily was game to talk
to them and hear their stories. She also had the opportunity to follow
up with some of these people and continue conversations.
Sunday, February 7 was a huge day for another girl we were living
with. Jenae was baptized that day in the ocean and we all got to
experience her becoming a new creation and finding freedom in Christ.
That morning at church, Pastor Neville at Eastgate Church had talked
about baptism and I got this picture of Emily being baptized by John
with the rest of our team standing in the water with her. I wasn’t sure
how to tell her, not really knowing if she had ever been baptized. But
I did ask her later in the day and she said she’d been baptized at age
13 but it was more out of convenience than her really making a
commitment to follow Christ, and she hadn’t lived a life for him most
of the years following that.
As we watched Jenae get baptized, I looked at Emily and smiled. She
knew what I was thinking and she knew that this freedom she’d witnessed
in Jenae was something she wanted.
Later that week, we were
having a communion service with the 5 World Race teams that were in
Byron together for the month. Tyler spoke and he and Jake served us
communion. They played some songs and allowed us all to have a time to
worship. Emily found me and asked if we could talk. Outside she said
she was sick of this voice in her head telling her she wasn’t worthy,
that she could never be anything. This negative voice had been there
for far too long and as I prayed over her, I cried. My heart broke for
my friend and teammate who wanted God so badly, who wanted freedom so
badly. And it was coming soon.
Several other girls found Emily sitting in the hall later that
night and prayed hard for her. She said it was in the middle of that
prayer that something in her mind switched. No more negative thoughts
resided there. She knew she was loved, she knew she was worthy, she
knew that God had called her to freedom.
She walked up to me after that prayer session and proclaimed who she was.
“My name is Emily and I am Free.”
On
her 26th birthday, Emily was baptized by our teammate John (significant
in that her ex-husband’s name was John) in a pool here in the
Philippines. Our team stood with her in the water, prayed for her, read
1 Peter 1:3-9 and told about the freedom we’d seen her come into in the
last two months. She also shared part of her story, now fully owning it
for the purpose of bringing kingdom here on earth. God used all things
for his glory.
It is amazing to watch Emily now and she plays with kids from a
squatter village, as she challenges us to keep striving for freedom and
as she recognizes who she really is in Christ. Our team has been
blessed to be a small part of her story and we are incredibly excited
for the next 9 months we get to spend with this amazing woman.
