For as long as I can remember, God has spoken to me through my dreams. Since being on the Race, my dreams especially have become very significant signs that God has something exciting in store for me.
My team had been living at a boarding school/hostel in Middelburg, South Africa. My team of 7 slept on the second floor of the Hogwarts looking building while the high school girls lived in another wing.
It was our second Wednesday afternoon and we had somehow managed to have a free afternoon. My team headed back to the hostel and decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather with an Eno (hammock) party on the lawn and some worship music and naps. After setting up and snapping a selfie…
I put in my headphones and I was quickly sleeping soundly. I began dreaming that Jesus invited me on a walk and we went to get a Coke. On the way back, we stopped to find my teammate Anna and she joined us.
That was when I was startled awake by a swinging Eno and a small group of giggling faces peeking into my hammock. The girls from the hostel didn’t know I was in there and having never seen one before they had come to investigate. After catching my breath, and them apologizing for scaring me, I remembered my dream. I sat up and got Anna’s attention, and asked her if she wanted to grab a drink with me and go for a walk later. She agreed and we went back to our music and introvert time.
Five minutes later, a girl came up to my Eno and gave me a huge hug from behind. I turned around to see who it was and realized it was one of the girls from the hostel. I had only seen her twice and had never met or had a conversation with her before. But here we were, hugging.
As she let go she blurted out, “Hi. I’m an emo nerd.” I giggled and the conversation began. I introduced myself and learned her name (which I will not be posting for her own privacy). We talked for a few minutes and Anna came up to ask what time we wanted to go for the walk. I introduced her to my new friend and within five minutes the THREE of us are heading off to find Cokes.
We walked and learned more about our friend. She was fifteen, extremely intelligent, and wants to study aerospace engineering someday. She broke her arm once, enjoys riding her bike, is a tomboy, writes poetry, and plays the piano. We got to McDonald’s and treated her to ice cream while Anna and I enjoyed a Happy Meal and a Coke.
As we sat there, something in our friend changed. She took a deep breath and asked if she can tell us a secret. She started with telling us that as she was walking past my Eno, she could feel something special/different about us; something that told her we were safe. She began to unload parts of her story: her depression; her self hate; her addiction to cutting/self harming; her experimentation with drugs; her suicidal thoughts; and finally the two time she was raped. She shared with us her fears, tears, and scars.
Teary eyed, Anna and I began to process with her, speak life over her, comfort her, and pray for her. Our conversation ended, with her agreeing to meet with a counselor the following afternoon and meeting again with us following evening to pray and talk together.
We walked home together and said goodnight. She thanked us and we parted ways.
A lot of things, really intense but beautiful things happened during our date. A lot of things that wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t trust the Lord and give Him the space to work.
This is my life now; a constant string of conversations with surprising strangers.
Their stories are endless and ever-so-different. Each encounter touches a piece of my heart, burns a new memory, and teaches a new lesson.
I’m learning in moments like these, that this is what we as a church body are called to look like. The church should be like greeting a complete stranger as though they are a dearly loved friend. We should be able to talk about the really hard stuff without shame or fear and know that the people we’re telling are a safe place. The church should look like a Coke date with Jesus: a long discussion with a friend; a time of fun, peace, and fellowship; a time of adventure and excitement where anything can and will happen.
