On Monday, our rest day started out with packing up our stuff and having breakfast. That same morning we saw a Romanian English woman who we have been connecting with over the course of a few days. Because she was moving on with the hike without us, we asked her if we could pray for her and bless her. She responded that she doesn’t believe prayer is for her. Just then another woman came and sat with us and thanked Andrew for praying for her the night before and that she had the best sleep she’s ever had! She said that when Andrew prayed for her she felt pressure in her chest and it felt like it needed to come out so after the prayer she coughed and gagged up something into the garbage and her chest felt free. I asked her what she thinks that was and she said that she thinks it was because she prays to chakra’s for her communication but she thinks Jesus opened up her communication so she could share about things that happened in her past. It was pretty awesome.
Anyway, after that we spoke with our Romanian friend some more that morning and shared more about her value and worth in Jesus’ eyes and how Jesus died and rose again for her to be with him. She sat in silence and drank it all in. Then she said she has a secret she is holding onto and she wants to let it go but she’s too ashamed to share it with us. We prayed with her to lay it at Jesus’ feet and release that burden. After we prayed, she said she felt lighter and more at peace. That was awesome!
A few days ago, we met a man along the Camino who is a missionary in Madrid. This man was such a blessing to my team. First of all, he loves Jesus so much. He has such a rich history with Jesus and told us all about his experience as a missionary in Colombia and Honduras before becoming a missionary in Spain. He said that there were hundreds of people coming to Jesus in South America and the hunger was so obvious there, but here, in Spain, he’s been a missionary for 11 years and hasn’t seen anyone come to Jesus. I’ve heard Spain referred to as the graveyard for missionaries. Almost every town has an old church, but people are being taught in these church’s that it’s their good works that get them into heaven. We know that Jesus makes us righteous. Not our good works. But we do good things simply because of who we are as God’s kids.
Our missionary friend bought us a fancy dinner and coffee twice. He is such an amazing man of faith and generosity.
We also picked his brain about his family life and what his life as a father and husband look like and what his ministry entails.
One of our days together, he asked me a question not many people ask me. “What do you see God calling you to do?” He encouraged me to explore my gifts and seek God for my future. I told him how I don’t know any specifics but what I do know is that I want to be serving Jesus in ministry for the rest of my life. He challenged me to think about what I think God is calling me to do, even possibly being a missionary.
For a good portion of my early twenties, I couldn’t look into my future without thinking about hopelessness or disappointment. But I can see how Jesus is weaving an amazing plan for my life. When I think about international missions, my heart flutters inside of my chest. My palms sweat. My mind wanders into day dreams. I want to do that stuff!!! But I don’t know any specifics, and that’s perfectly okay because God will reveal it all in due time. He’s full of adventure and I want to be a part of what He’s doing.
Anyway, we love our new missionary friend and he hold such a dear place in our hearts!
About a week ago, Andrew and I prayed for a woman’s knee as she was limping toward the bus station. Her foot straightened out and she wept as she proceeded to tell us that she’s been running from the Lord for 10 years and that she deserves to feel the pain in her knee because of all the pain she’s caused Jesus over that time. She still had pain in her knee and we still had to walk with her to the bus station despite our prayers but God was healing her heart. I told her that Jesus already died for her and took all that pain away when he was beaten for us. She doesn’t have to suffer and she can be a part of the family of Jesus again and that it’s so easy! She wept as we shared God’s heart for her. She’s from South Korea and her dream as a little girl was to be a missionary in Myanmar. I told her that the dream hasn’t died because of her rebellion but that the Lord wants to restore all the years that the locusts have eaten. Jesus is so beautiful and precious.
Every day on this Camino has been absolutely full of rich history and I’m finding more and more of how useful my past and my testimony of redemption are to the work that Jesus is doing here. Just like he’s called me home, he’s calling so many other people home too. I just love being a part of showing them “the way”.
