Yesterday I experienced an incredible reminder of how big God really is! Before I share that story, I have an urgent prayer request. A family in my church here (Evangelical Bible Church) had a house fire over the weekend. This is one of the most heart breaking stories I have ever heard! The family lives in two separate huts – one for the parents and one for the kids. The hut with the children caught fire and they were unable to escape. The father woke up and saw the fire. He ran to hut and began to try breaking down the door. He was able to pull four of the children out of the flames, but the fifth child was hiding in the corner because she was afraid. The house collapsed and the little girl was killed. The other four children were rushed to the hospital with severe burns and placed in intensive care. Another one of the children passed away on Tuesday. I was able to visit the family yesterday at the hospital and pray with them. Seeing those children was by far the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen. I imagine that every inch of their bodies is in severe pain. Please pray that God would heal them! Please pray that God you bring them comfort, ease their pain and allow them to sleep as much as possible. Also pray for their dear family members – that they would experience God’s love and mercy in intimate and tangible ways.
Before I went to the hospital, I was waiting for my friend Anita in front of a store in town. As I waited, I decided to take a seat on a bench and read my Bible. While I was sitting there, a teenage boy came up behind me and asked, “what church do you go to?” I was a little startled because I did not know he was there. I told him where I attended and asked where he goes to church. He told me that he does not go to church and then he asked me, “how does someone get saved?” I was pretty surprised by the question and excited to have the opportunity to share with him. I invited him to sit down and asked him if he had ever been to church. He told me that he had not. I introduced myself and he told me that is name was Isaac. I began to share with him how someone can have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He stopped me and said, “can you talk slower, I am not knowing much English”. I said, “no problem” and slowly walked him through the gospel. He leaned in and listened so carefully the entire time. I started by telling him there was good news and bad news. He said he wanted to know the bad news, so I told him that because of the bad things that we have done – we can never reach God. I explained that God is perfect and He cannot have anything bad around Him. I asked Isaac if he had ever done anything wrong, he hung his head and answered yes. I told him that I had done many wrong things – all of us have. I explained that each of us will have to pay for the bad things we have done and I gave him the example of stealing something from a store. If the person is caught, they will have to pay for what they have done. Each of us will have a consequence for the bad choices we have made.
Then I asked if he wanted to hear the good news. He smiled and nodded his head. I told him that God created him and loves him very much! He looked surprised. I told him that God wants to know him and be his friend. I shared that God loved him so much that He sent his son to die for him. I explained that Jesus paid for our sins, so that we would not have to and that by trusting Jesus and choosing to follow God we can be forgiven. I told him that if we are truly sorry, God will forgive us of our sins and we can know Him. Isaac looked very sad and responded, “but I have done many bad things”. I told him, “me too!” but God is big enough and strong enough to forgive all of our sins. Isaac shared, “some people told me that there is no god and I believed them. Now I am confused.” I told him that God wanted him to know the truth and that he could talk to God any time. He immediately responded, “how!?!” He had no idea that we could talk to God or that God could hear us. I shared my story with him about when I decided to follow Jesus and the ways God had healed and rescued me. He asked, “you came all the way to Africa to tell people about Jesus?” I told him yes and that I think it is the most important thing that we can share with people. I said, “Isaac, I think God planned that we would meet today and that He wanted you to hear these things.” He looked up and responded, “I think so too”. I asked if we could meet again to talk some more and he agreed enthusiastically. We are meeting again tomorrow. Please pray that God would soften Isaac’s heart and give him eyes to see the truth. This interaction just reminded me how incredibly big God is and how He loves us in such personal ways. I think it is amazing how He crossed our paths and allowed us to meet. I am so excited to see what God will do!
