Look at this sketch, do you know who she is?
Yesterday I didn’t, today I met her.
Yesterday I was at the dump and got to speak to the people who are the 3rd round of pick throughs to find recyclables they can sell to make money. It’s a tragic place. It stinks, it’s a huge landfill that has vultures, pigs, dirty diapers, starving dogs; it’s G R O S S. The people that work here make about $5 every week. They are impoverished but I am inspired by them. They wake up every morning and scavenge through a dump. They are hard workers. They don’t beg, rather they choose to spend their time in a living hell to support their families and claim nobility. I hold a lot of respect for them. I spoke to them about Psalm 46. A quick summary was that if you’ve ever felt abandoned by God, you have not been, & you need to dive into His word because it is living breathing truth to show you you are not alone. I encouraged them to cling to verse one when they feel alone which states, “ God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”
I had expectations for what the Lord was going to do through it. I spoke it out and the people humbly listened while in line for the meal we brought. It was quick and sweet and I was thankful I was able to provide the message for the day.
Then I went back to the farm called, “Campo de Cosecha”(I’m in Nicaragua by the way), had dinner, drew the sketch in the photo above on my new watercolor paper and called it a day.
Side note: while I’m writing this I’m squishing bugs on my phone screen because the only thing protecting me from the outside world is a dinky mosquito net.
Woke up this morning with prayer walks and farming on the agenda. My parents are here (which is a dream) so I get to do ministry with them. It’s the sweetest gift to welcome them into what life looks like here on the race. We had breakfast, then piled 20 people in a small pickup and headed to a neighborhood to go house to house and prayer walk.
We walked to a house and shared encouragement for a woman who has an abusive husband. She was hurting but the Lord used the moms in our group to attempt to lift her spirit, thanks God.
After we left there, we went to the neighbors. There was a young woman babysitting the kids. I talked with her for a while- this is where the Holy Spirit just rocked out. She was SO kind and hungry for what the Lord has for her. She told us about dark spirits that come into the home, she told us about the rough relationship with her mother, her mother’s boyfriend who practiced witchcraft, how she was in a same sex relationship, how she had left church; she was so vulnerable.
It was such a gift for her to be so vulnerable because when we are vulnerable the Holy Spirit has so much room to act. When we speak out what we are struggling with, light is shown on these things and the power they hold distinguishes immediately. The Lord placed it on my heart to talk about His spirit. How when we feel afraid or when we visibly see the enemy, if we simply say, “in Jesus name…” these spirits will flee, every time, 100%. That there is no fear in Christ. That no matter what baggage we come to Him with, we never have to be fearful or shameful because the gift of the cross wiped us completely clean. I got to share the goodness of reading His word.
This is when she stated she had felt abandoned by God. It instantly clicked that the message I shared at the dump yesterday was actually for her. So I shared it with her. That if we ever feel like the Lord has left us, we can always press into His word and read about His character, about His goodness. And we can pray for Him to reveal Himself to us and we can see we are absolutely never alone. It was so cool. God not only highlighted verse one to me to share with her but also verse 5 which states, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.”
I’m just in awe in how He always provides the words when we step aside and let Him speak through us.
I also got to share how the Lord is pursuing her. How He creates divine appointments. How it wasn’t an accident that I was standing in her living room, rather completely purposed. This is when she stated she had asked God for a sign that morning because she felt alone. UM HELLO THANKS GOD!!
so the whole time we were chatting, Byron (one of our translators) was praying. There was a pause in the conversation and he spoke up.
He said, “ as I walked into this house I saw the light you possess. I saw Jesus just light up the room and bring His Spirit in. He also showed me you walking on a path. He showed me you with flowers surrounding you. This path was flourishing with big beautiful flowers, and at the end of the path was the Lord. The life God has willed for you is fruitful, full of life, and bright. He is waiting for you, all you need to do is turn to Him; and you will walk this path.”
Right when He said this my jaw just about hit the floor. The Lord gave Bryon a vison, but He also led me to draw His vision.
I got to witness and see just how clearly Jesus was pursuing this young girl. Not only did He gift us the opportunity to come speak with her, He provided a tangible thing showing this girl how precious she is. While Byron was talking, I remembered my sketch and also remembered it was in my bag!!
The Lord had me draw her, knowing I would meet her today, knowing she needed such tangibility to know what news we brought is real. He had me draw a girl, with her hair in a bun, facing what is in front of her, surrounded by flowers. A concrete promise of pursuit. I didn’t even know it, through my amateur sketch He had a plan. Right when Byron finished speaking, I whipped the sketch out of my bag and gifted it to her. Saying just that. Telling her this is absolutely no accident, no coincidence but it’s the Father. Telling her the Father had me draw her, He sees her, He L O V E s her!! Tears were shed and the spirit in the room was light. You could already tell burdens were being lifted. Thanks God.
This is probably one of the craziest encounters with evangelism I have had and it was such a gift for my parents to be able to witness. I can sit here and honestly write how good it is to follow the Lord. Not only does He love you, but He loves every single person around you. He wants you to have fun, to laugh, and give you testimonies that leave you saying, “holy crap look how intentional He is- like of course God would purpose something this fun, this insane”. He had me draw this girl and I didn’t even know I’d ever place a name to the sketch. When we step outside ourselves, surrender the fear of earthly responses, fully, humbly, let Him guide us, he rocks out.
Thank you God for using me. Your plans are so good. I never want to be where you aren’t. I never want to go if you aren’t before me. May I continue to look to You, Lord, may I open a space to allow you to just come. I know you are always with me, may your overflow pour out of me. Amen.
This is Carla. If you feel led, please pray she receives a new revelation of the Father’s love and character. That she turns to Jesus and lays her suffering at His feet. Pray she experiences the fullness of the Father and knows she is 100% worth it because she is a daughter of the highest king. Amen.
