You must be wondering what I’ve been up to since I’ve been
back in Malaysia. Well, I’ve been doing what my friend calls the “theology of
eating dinner with someone” or I like to call it the “eating ministry”. Hehe.
Basically it’s listening/encouraging/talking to someone over a meal.
Since being back I’ve been having lunch/dinner with
different people, from ex-colleagues to old high school friends to new friends,
and lots of good conversations have come out of it, whether it be encouraging a
fellow believer, answering a new believer’s questions, sharing what God has
been doing in my life to a non-believer, or just hearing what they have been
going through. Not your “normal” ministry type, but I think important as well,
because truth be told, most people don’t even have time for you to listen to
you (or they are too engrossed in their iPhone and iPads). Sad but true.
Looks familiar?
On another note, since being back in Malaysia I’ve been
longing to do Treasure Hunts or in my previous posts it was called “Random
Acts of Kindness“. I’ve introduced it to a few friends but they weren’t
ready to jump on board yet. I patiently waited for the right timing.
One Sunday when my friends and I was in church, the pastor
preached on John 6 where “a huge crowd kept following (Jesus) wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick” (v.2) urging us to go out. I was so convicted that I told my
friends, “Either you jump in the boat with me (to do Treasure Hunt) or I’m
going out on my own!”
Four days later I was at a bookstore helping my friends buy
some books. One of the books was called “The Supernatural Power of Forgiveness”.
I couldn’t find it on the shelf so I asked the lady behind the counter. She
then asked another worker to help me find it.
I walked towards the worker and immediately felt the Holy
Spirit prompting me to talk to her. She had an ‘unsettledness’ about her. I
wasn’t sure if I had ‘felt’ correctly so I didn’t approach her but just
continued looking for the book. Eventually she left the aisle.
I walked around the bookstore and bumped into her again.
Again I felt her ‘frenzy’ and the Holy Spirit prompting me to talk to her.
Again I didn’t obey.
As I was paying for my book, I glanced over to her but she
was busy helping another customer. I walked out of the door praying for God’s
peace to invade her, yet I had no peace.
I backed out my car
and drove away.
Less than a minute away I finally turned around and drove
back. Before I got out of the car I told God, “If she says nothing is up with
her I’m gonna look really stupid! But alright, I’ll rather look stupid than be
disobedient.”
I walked into the bookstore, tapped her on the shoulder and
said, “Hi. How are you doing? I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to
come and talk to you.” (Note: This was a Christian bookstore thus I used the
word “Holy Spirit”).
She turned around and said, “Huh? What? What did the Holy
Spirit tell you?”
“I don’t know. I just know I’m supposed to come and talk to you.”
“Well I feel very breathless, like something is pressing
down on my chest. Could you pray for that?”
“Sure.”
I laid my hands on her and was only able to utter one
sentence before another customer came looking for her. Eventually we moved to a
backroom where there was more privacy. Before I could continue praying for her,
she started talking about all the unforgiveness that was in her heart towards
her mother until she cannot face her. Her colleagues didn’t understand what she
was going through, her cell group members didn’t know what to do. She felt like
something was choking her, making her feel very breathless. She cried out to
God for forgiveness and renounced the lies that she had been believing. I just
stood by her side and prayed along with her.
She told me that this morning she had felt something was going
to happen today. When she first heard me looking for the book “The Supernatural
Power of Forgiveness”, it reminded her that she needed to forgive her mother
which was something that God had been speaking to her about. And when I laid
hands on her the first time, she felt something lift off her chest and she
could breathe again. I wanted to challenge her there and then to call her mom
right away but it felt a little inappropriate since she was still working. I
told her that I would keep praying for her and to let me know how it goes when
she calls her mother.
2 weeks passed and I received a message on my phone
from her asking me to pray as she will be meeting her mom tomorrow for Chinese
New Year. She hasn’t told me yet how things went but I will be meeting her next
week to follow up with her. So please keep us in your prayers!
I find it funny that right after I told God that I wanted to go out and do Treasure Hunt, he sent me on a “hunt”. Moral of the story: Be careful what you pray for! 😀
