Which one of those stories comes to mind as the one that surprised you the most and why?…
The question above came from my previous blog linked here: https://melissajordan.theworldrace.org/post/psalm-963
I think one of the most surprising ones for me was number 87 on the list. “Lynn found out we were sleeping in the church and offered to host us in here home.”
I think it was surprising because we already had housing. We were sleeping in the church and it was perfectly fine. So, when I found out later that day that we were moving, it definitely came as a shock. Little did I know what the Lord had in store for us and why we were supposed to end up at Lynn’s house all along. Here’s the story and why it made the list in the first place!
We arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana and met our host Ian. Ian had done the international World Race with two of my teammates so it was like a little reunion from the get go. We found out we would be partnering with Ian and his church for the week. We would be sleeping in the church in the youth room and one of the other rooms that had nice comfy couches. We arrived on a Friday night. And settled in for the week.
On Sunday we went to church and got the chance to stand up and speak to the congregation. As the pastor introduced us, he also told the church that we would be sleeping in the church that week. This is where Lynn comes in.
Lynn is one of the members of the church and leads an early morning worship session every Sunday called First Fruits. She had, days before, dropped off her youngest son at college. She told us that she had been cleaning her house but didn’t understand why until the pastor said that we were sleeping in the church. She knew in that moment that she was cleaning in preparation for us even though she hadn’t known it.
That day we packed up all our stuff and moved out to Lynn’s and when we arrived we immediately knew we were entering a house of peace.
Another surprise was that as the week went on we got to hear snippets of Lynn’s incredible testimony. You see, Lynn had been to Israel three times. The first time she went the Lord gave her a vision of an instrument she had never seen before. She had no clue what it even was, but she knew she was supposed to figure it out.
She returned from Israel and went on about life. One day, while worshiping in the prayer room at the church, she notices something in the very back of the room. There, sitting on a table with a bunch of other items, was the instrument she saw in her vision. She began searching for who it belonged to, but for months no one knew where it had came from. Eventually she did find the owner, but they didn’t have much information on it. What they did know is that it was a lyre.
Lynn knew wanted to buy one so she searched and finally found one man that made them. She asked him to make her one that was small enough that she could travel with it and to make it where she could hook it up to a speaker. Once she gets her lyre, she knew it was time to go back to Israel. So she packs up her lyre and goes back to Israel with a mission.
She arrives and knows exactly where she is supposed to go. It takes a while but she eventually makes it. She pulls out her lyre and begins to play and unknowingly draws a crowd. Her worship created a space for others to join in and worship the Lord through music in the city. Someone comes up to her and points toward a very large statue she hadn’t notice before. In front of Lynn was a giant statue of a lyre, which makes sense since she was standing in the city of David.
It hit her that the Lord had given her that vision and taken her through all that she had gone through so that she could play a lyre (the instrument David played) in the city of David for the Lord for the first time in who knows how long. How freaking cool is that????
Another surprising moment was that Lynn had mentioned during our stay that she didn’t know what she and her husband were going to do with their house now that all their children were out on their own. I prayed about it and as we left felt the Lord nudge me to tell them about becoming a landing zone.
Landing zones are something Adventures in Missions is starting to help racers transition home from the field. Landing zones are hosted by trusted friends of the World Race including: former coaches, alumni Racers and other elders in our community. These communities are intended to be a safe and healthy space for Racers to process their year and prepare for their next season. Transitioning from a year like the World Race has a unique set of challenges that can be unlike any other transition you’ve experienced previously. Landing zones will allow you the opportunity to walk through this season with people who have a deep understanding of your experience.
I felt the Lord saying that Lynn and her husband would be perfect for this. So I told Lynn about it as we were getting ready to leave for our next destination. I felt like this moment was why the Lord brought us to their house in the first place. As I shared with her, she tells me that her parents did something very similar when she was a child. They hosted missionaries returning from the field too. She and her husband said that it might be something they would be interested in pursuing. I gave her the information on who to talk to and we left for our next destination.
I’m not sure if they have or will decide to become a landing zone but I hope they do because I know how blessed we were by our time there. I can only hope other people get to experience that too!
Anyway… that is why this one was unexpected. It was a surprise to be provided housing even though we already had housing. It was surprising because we got to know Lynn and hear her incredible testimony of faithfulness and adventure with the Lord. It was surprising that the Lord wanted to use me to be able to share with them about landing zones… it was just all very surprising in a great way!
So there is the answer to Beck’s first question… If you guys have any more questions for me leave a comment and I’ll answer you. Until next time…
Also in case you were curious… here is what her lyre looks like!
