Divine Appointments…where my path meets someone else, at just the right time & place that God had arranged ahead of time. Some may think these “random” meetings are “coincidences”, i USED to think so also. But not anymore. As i begin to understand a little bit of how God works, i begin to realize how intricate & significant His plans truly are. They are far too complicated & amazing for us to ever FULLY grasp or wrap our tiny, simple human minds around. I decided to share some of the Divine Apointments that i have had living in Ireland this month.
First, i want to share these verses in Isaiah 58:6-11: “Is not this the kind of fasting i have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I.If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always, He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters will never fail.”
Divine Appointment #1: My first week in Ireland i met Kevin. He is 30yrs old & lives on the street. When i met him he had been clean from hard drugs for 2 days & going through withdrawals. He believes in Jesus & wants to get back on the right path, but was/is struggling with the peer pressures of life & standing up for what’s right. He has a young daughter & wants to be the best dad he can be. He showed me the scars on his wrists & arms where he had attempted suicide several times in the past. Seeing the scars broke my heart & i asked him to share his story with me. So he & my team mate William sat down on a bench at our campground for several hours. We fed him lunch & got to know him. We talked about accountability & what steps he needed to take to fight the peer pressure of using drugs. As he took his cell phone out of his pocket, i asked him if he had drug dealers’ numbers on his phone. He said yes, there were lots. So we both decided that in order for him to fight this battle, the next step for him was to delete EVERY number off of his phone that was a bad influence. I literally sat there with him, for support, for an hour or more, as he deleted the majority of his numbers off of his phone!!! I was so proud of him. This was a HUGE step. After hanging out, i prayed for him & his daughter & for him to continue to seek God for strength, wisdom & self control. Just the other day i got an update from Kevin. He has been clean from hard drugs for 2 weeks!! This is the longest he has been clean in years!! Thank you Jesus!! Please keep Kevin & his daughter in your prayers!
Divine Appointment #2: My team & i were walking around Dublin, touring the castle & parks, when all of the sudden we saw an 11yr old Romanian girl & her 2yr old brother being beaten badly by 10 teenage Irish girls at the park. The leader of the group was a large girl & she had slapped the 2yr old boy & punched the young girl, then grabbed her by her hair & threw her down on the grass. We rushed over to see what was going on & to see what we could do. We didnt know how long it would go on & thought it would end, but the girl continued to beat her up & rip the 11yr old’s hair out, while another girl hit her. William stepped in & got in between them. The bullies stopped hitting her, but continued to threaten her & curse at her, not leaving. William happened to catch some of the fight on camera also, which helped identify the bullies to the police guards later. There happened to be a guard driving by & we flagged them down & told what happened. We were able to hug the 11 yr old girl named Nicole & comfort her. Her whole body was shaking, she was so traumatized & scared. Of course when the police guards pulled up, the bullies ran away like cowards. We had a phone on us so we were able to have the girl call her mother & have her come get her. It turns out that the teen girls did not even know Nicole & her brother, but just decided to target her in the park, for whatever reason. We prayed with Nicole & her little brother, & she was very thankful & relieved that we were there at the right time & place to help rescue her in time of need. Thank You Jesus for that Divine Appointment! (Bullying is a major issue in Ireland.Please pray for the youth & for them to know God & His love. I know bullying is an issue all over the world, including America) Please pray for not only Nicole & her 2 yr old brother; but also for the group of teenage girls who bullied them. They need to know God’s love also.
Divine Appointment #3: Christine & Jason. An young Irish married couple in their late 20s/early 30s, living on the streets. I met them the first night we served dinner @ Lighthouse shelter few weeks ago. We instantly connected & they felt comfortable sharing their story with me. A friendship was formed & trust was built! They have an 18month old son named Jason Lee & a 10yr old daughter named Lauren. I fell in love with them. They desperately want to be the best parents they can be & LOVE their kids as much as any good parent does. They give their only food to them. They come first. Christine & Jason are struggling to find a shelter/home where all 4 of them can rest warmly & safely at night. Just recently their 18month old little precious boy got taken away from them, due to their unstable living conditions. Even though im new serving here at the Lighthouse, they came to me for prayer & encouragement. This meant alot to me. Steps are being taken for them to try to get little Jason Lee back. Please be in prayer that Jason & Christine can find an honest way to support their family so they wont have to freeze outside on the streets. Some nights Christine & baby sleep at the shelter while Jason sleeps on the cold wet streets, because there isnt enough room for everyone in the shelter. Christine has some severe eating problems also which cause her body to reject the food she eats, which is a very deadly situation right now & she needs prayer badly!! I prayed with her about this last thurs night. She used to be bolemic & throw up her food, & now even though she doesnt try to, her body continues to reject the food, even when she tries to keep it down.She is just skin & bones.(i was able to share with her my past struggles with anorexia & how i could relate to her in a way, & how God delivered me from it) Please be in prayer for her health & their family ..for them to continue to seek God & not give up hope. They do have a relationship with Jesus & pray to Him daily. They believe that He can help them & they are seeking Him for wisdom & guidance in this rough season in life. I am so blessed that God has placed them in my life. They have been a blessing to me & a joy to hang out with. I will continue to fight for them in pray & be an encouragement to them as long as im here in Ireland. Praise God for the Lighthouse which feeds 60-80 homeless people 3 times a week, & clothes them & ministers to not only their physical needs, but their emotional & spiritual needs as well.
Divine Appointment #4: Gavin & Joe. Two homeless guys in their 30s who sleep near each other on the steps of a government building. I met them last Monday night when we hit the streets at night with the Mustard Seed ministry team from The Exchange church group in Dublin. They faithfully feed the homeless out on the streets every week. Gavin is a very sharp, bright man who has been on the streets for about 10 years, by choice. He could probably get a job almost anywhere, but due to his past history & feeling hopeless, he chooses to spend rest of his life on those steps. He even went to medical school for 4years. He loves reading books & having conversations about politics, traveling & art. He refused to open up to me last week, but this Monday night he shared alot about his life. He doesnt have faith in Jesus & does not like to discuss God much. But we did have a good hour long chat about traveling & art & sharks haha. He did agree that the Bible is an accurate historical book, but yet refuses to have faith in miracles of Jesus & His resurrection from the dead..proving He was really God. So please pray for him in that area. That he will come to know Jesus Christ, as his own Savior. It was encouraging to see him open up & begin to trust me more. He enjoyed our company (William & i) & didnt want us to leave. He was born in South Africa, Capetown area, & has lived in the United States also. I mentioned the book The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, so im praying that he checks it out at his next library visit. It seemed like a great scientific book that he would love to read. It broke my heart when he told me that he has pretty much given up on life & wants to die there on the steps. Joe, who sleeps on the stairway next door to him, is also in his 30s & has 5 kids who he barely ever sees. Sad story. He is hooked on Heroine, like many here in Ireland, & is withering away physically. He looks like a 60yr old man. Joe also doesnt like discussing about God, but he did say that he has a lot of anger towards God, so please keep that in prayer for him. That he will realize that God can handle our anger/frustration towards Him & He is patient & long suffering in His love for us. God knows every tear that falls & knows our thoughts, even before we speak them. There is no emotion that God cant handle with us. haha. It’s not like we can fake our emotions with Him anyways, He knows everything!So we can be REAL with Him. Good to know, right?! Well, due to the length of this blog already….i am going to end it. i do have many more Divine Appointment stories from the last few weeks..so ill just have to type out Part 2 soon!! Thanks for reading & for praying. Prayer changes lives because there IS a God who cares & listens to us & LOVES us so much that He wants to see us live an abundant life in Him.
BY THE WAY, HUGE THANK YOU TO MY SUPPORTERS! YOU PLAY A BIG ROLE IN THESE PEOPLES’ LIVES ALSO! BECAUSE OF YOUR HELP I AM HERE IN IRELAND & ABLE TO HELP THEM. THANK YOU! MAY GOD CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FOR YOU & BLESS YOU! BECAUSE YOU WERE FAITHFUL TO ANSWER WHEN THE LORD PUT IT ON YOUR HEART TO HELP ME OUT….I AM LIVING OUT MY DREAM RIGHT NOW! TO TRAVEL THE WORLD & HELP THOSE IN NEED & SHARING HIS LOVE!
Love Michelle 🙂
(we leave Ireland October 2nd for Romania -tear drop-, & find out the 2nd or 3rd if we will be staying in Romania for ministry in October or traveling to another European country. I will keep you all updated as i find out the info!)
