“Are you ready to share?”
About a hundred eyes stared back at me in the waiting room that Patrick has just walked me into, all expecting something profound to come out of my mouth.
“Are you ready?” Patrick asks again as I watch the children sit with their parents, waiting for their names to be called so they can receive their treatment.
This is a question I’ve been spontaneously asked multiple times while hear in Africa. We come with no prepared message to the clinic where we were told just to show up and then the bomb is dropped. You will be preaching now. Right now.
There’s no room to say I’m not ready. Even though I’m not. There’s no room to say that I’m afraid. Even though I am. I’m just a random kid from America. What could I possibly say to these people to encourage them? But all I can do is ask Him, ‘God, what do you want me to tell these people?’ and hope he responds. But He always does.
So on this particular day at the clinic, God had me flip to John 10 about God being our Good Shepherd. I told them how God knows each of their names, that they are not forgotten. That just as a shepherd calls each of his sheep by their names, so the Lord beckons them personally. I remind them that while they might think that of all the people in the world, why would God see them, let alone know their name, He knows all their thoughts and He loves them dearly.
After I shared, Patrick took me through a door in the back. It was dim and musty inside, but after my eyes adjusted, I saw rows and rows of files lining every wall, floor to ceiling. Every section was numbered, stretching far into the thousands.
“These are the files of every HIV and AIDS patient we treat here,” said Patrick. “You just spoke to some of the children. All of them have HIV.” He waved his hand over a fat stack of files, all numbered. He explained that they call a child’s number when they are ready for them and that is how they receive their treatment.
I knew in that moment, why the Lord had led me to John 10. These children needed to know that they are not just a file number. They needed to know that God knows their name. That He sees them in their need and their sickness and He loves them. That even though they have a disease, the Lord is their comforter and their provider and their healer. They needed to know that just as a shepherd takes care of his sheep, so will the Lord take care of them.
That was why I was there. To share that with them.
That and because God wanted to remind me of something too. That He will never leave me stranded when I ask Him what He wants to tell His children. That He has indeed prepared and equipped me for this trip.
I’d love to continue the work that the Lord is doing here in Africa as we move on to Zimbabwe and then on to Europe as my World Race journey continues. However, I’m still about $1200 away from meeting my final financial deadline on July 1st to be fully funded. If you feel led to partner with what the Lord is doing in Africa and around the world, please click on the Support Me tab to donate. Thank you so much!
