Hello beautiful friends!
Last night at my small group in church, I asked for prayer about this upcoming week and Training Camp, just that God would really smooth the path and make it abundantly clear to me that the Human Trafficking World Race is definitely where He wants me to be come January. During this prayer, one of the leaders said that she saw a miracle happening within the next few days, something very tangible that would be total affirmation from God.
As a little bit of background, I grew up in a non-denominational church for 18 years. Spiritual gifts were discussed on a Biblical basis, but not particularly It wasn’t until June of this year that I even witnessed the gift of speaking in tongues. Previously, I had no doubt that it existed in modern day practice, but I just felt that it was something that I wouldn’t experience or even see.
When I was taking an Introduction to the New Testament class this summer, I got to learn about glossolalia, which is the academic term for speaking in tongues. From a secular and academic perspective, I was blessed enough to be educated in this phenomenon and with God’s perfect timing, I was even more blessed to witness it for the first time with my parents at my church in New York. The church that I now attend here in NYC is called CityLight, and has truly taught me to focus so much more on the Holy Spirit, whereas before I placed much more of an emphasis on Jesus and God. It just blows my mind how perfect His timing is because I really feel like CityLight prepared me for what God would do in India. During our month of ministry there, I had the incredible experience of praying for a woman who was possessed by demons and my team and I prayed to the Lord to cast them out of her. I must say that it was one of the most intense hour and a halves of my life, but praise the Lord she was eventually delivered. It was on this trip in India that I truly saw the Holy Spirit’s miraculous power in so many ways.
Back to today, it’s been a pretty normal day. Things have been busy and through a random chain of events, I didn’t end up going to my 3:30-6:10 class (SORRY MOM!). I’ve been just sitting in the student center getting things done, and I got a call from a number I’d never seen before, and it turned out to be Pastor Vee, the pastor our team worked with in India this summer. Suffice to say, this is the affirmation from God that my small group leader was referring to. Even though it might seem so small, I feel like God literally CALLED me to return to India, and I feel so certain that this is where He wants me. Every single thing that happened today, from running late at a dress rehearsal, to missing class, to having my phone next to me for that call is just proof to me of His divine timing.
This year, I feel like God is really expanding my faith and allowing me to explore so many different aspects of living for Him. Because I went on so many missions trips when I was younger and prayed to see miracles, but didn’t get to witness them, I figured that God just hadn’t blessed me with those kinds of spiritual gifts. I knew that other people had them, and so in preparation for India, I accepted that; my prayers changed from “Lord, let me see a miracle if it’s in Your will,” to “Lord, use me however you see fit in Your perfect will.” Coincidentally, it was in India that I saw miracle upon miracle – sometimes multiple ones in one evening of ministry – and through prayer God achieved so much.
Spiritually, I’m still not sure what kind of spiritual gifts He has given me or that He will give me in the future; I firmly believe that He bestows these on us when we are ready, and clearly on my previous trips, I was not. I still haven’t spoken in tongues or had any prophecies, but I pray that God would continue to sharpen me and use me however He wants so that I can live for His glory.
Expectantly,
Vivian
