At the beginning of this month I posted a blog about not giving up because I knew this month would be a challenge. Month 11 on the World Race is prime time for the enemy to attack. He knows God wants us here this final month because there is still work to be done. He tries to make us think we are the weakest we’ve been on our whole journey because we’re tired and homesick and don’t have anything left to give. News flash satan, we are actually the strongest we’ve ever been, because we’ve learned to rely less upon ourselves and more on our Father and Creator. So start running.
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
The Lord made me aware very early on in this month of my need for Him as my protector from the enemy’s attacks, as my provider for endurance and energy, and as my source of joy and love when my flesh is tempted to be negative. It has been amazing to see His faithfulness in being my strength every step of the way this month. Every little time I’ve looked to Him He has responded with provision. I start every day praying for strength and a joyful attitude. By the time breakfast is done I’ve read a list of 17 short scriptures, which I call “Speak Life” verses, and have mostly committed to memory by now. These verses remind me of the power I have in Christ to defeat sin and struggle, the joy I have in the Lord, His desire to prosper me, the peace I have in Him, and other powerful truths. He has given me time and commitment to continue with my daily bible reading plan and my prayer plan so that I can continue to delight in His word and in spending time with Him.
I have been so filled up with Christ’s love and truth that it has clearly poured over into our ministry. This month we spend every day doing door to door evangelism from around 9-4. It’s hot. It’s sunny. It’s really really dusty to the point that we come home and the water we rinse our hands with before we eat turns brown as it drips from our fingertips. And we have to walk A LOT. And the truth is, sometimes it’s just plain awkward to invite yourself into someone’s home and have the spotlight put on you. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. I’m boasting about my God. There is no way my team would be joyful and energized for ministry every day without His strength. I decided to hang up one of my speak life verses with some paracord strung through the rafters in my room because this verse has been so powerful and true this month:
“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10
He leads us to exactly the right homes and neighborhoods. We learn details about people we talk to and just know He’s done it again, He’s dropped us right where the people who need ministered to are. This week my group stopped to talk to a woman washing laundry, and she ended up taking us to the back of her house, where we met around 10 other neighbors of hers gathered. We shared the gospel with them, and afterwards we learned that the lone man in the group was Muslim. He was captivated by our words. He had question after question and I could feel the Lord softening his heart and revealing truth to this man. By the end of our conversation, he had accepted Christ and prayed for forgiveness and wanted us to go to his house to pray for his brother-in-law who had epilepsy. With that invitation, we were able to share the gospel with the whole family of Muslims and encourage them in their time of need. We spent over 2 hours with that little group of neighbors telling them about Jesus and God’s love for them.
Ok, one more story. Last week, all of my team ended up walking in the same group with about 4 translators, so we were a big group (which normally doesn’t work out so hot). But that morning we had all refocused our eyes on Jesus together and prayed for strength, and at our very first stop we saw God respond. There were a bunch of neighbors outside their homes together, maybe 8 or 9 women and 20ish kids. Because there were so many kids, one of my teammates decided we should tell a bible story and act it out. Luckily, we could do that since we had such a big group. Charlyn told the story of David and Goliath while the rest of us pretended to be David, Goliath, and sheep. We scrambled to find a stick to use as a slingshot and some peanut shells to use as stones (that wouldn’t actually kill our Goliath). Both children and adults alike were riveted to our little impromptu drama and we had them all laughing at our silliness. The Lord brought to my mind a proverb to tie the story to an application for their lives:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.” Proverbs 3:5
After we had shared, one of the women asked to speak. She shared about how we had encouraged her so much just by our obedience to God in sharing the gospel. She said she was a believer but never made serving God a priority in her life. She was inspired to start taking her relationship with God seriously and sharing His love with her neighbors. And then, get this, she tells us, without knowing we having been traveling 11 months or that we were going home soon, “Don’t get tired of being obedient to God. Keep on doing His work.” More than one of us on my team got teary eyed with those words because we knew the Lord was using that woman to speak to us and give us encouragement. We left that community full of the joy and strength of the Lord.
I could go on and on. But I just want to say one more thing because I know long-winded blogs get tiresome. To everyone at home who has supported me with prayers for endurance and strength, to those who have sent me emails of encouragement, to my church family who wrote bible verses and notes on those little slips of paper I thought my mom was crazy to spend so much time figuring out for me to bring, THANK YOU. Through you, God has spoken encouragement to me and filled me with His strength in exactly the moments I have needed it most. Thank you for being a part of His carrying me through this journey. I’ll see you soon.
Teresa
