Today was just a fabulous day! We began our day with a devotion that
reminded us of the POWER of prayer. In
case any of my college-aged friends from NFUMC happen to be reading this – the first
passage of scripture we studied this morning was from 2 Chronicles!! I thought that was pretty cool, and
immediately thought of all of you. (We’ve
been studying 2 Chronicles together in the month of May.) Our focal passage today was 2 Chronicles
7:14-15 “ If my
people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
We spoke at length about the fact that we don’t pray because
we think WE have the power to change things ourselves. We are NOT humble people. We must learn to acknowledge that God is God
and we are not! Amen Dr. Hermann, and
thank you for the reminder to pray – about everything!
I’ve always classified myself as a “country girl,” but
today I traveled to a place that makes my hometown of Lumber City, Georgia look
like a booming metropolis. We traveled
WAY up into the mountains to today’s village.
The altitude was high, and the fields were literally carved into the
slopes of the mountains. There are no
John Deere’s here Dad. All planting and
harvesting is done by hand. The poverty
is unimaginable. But today we had the privilege
of partnering with God and infusing some hope into the community.
We saw very few unbelievers today, but we saw MANY
discouraged saints – beaten down by harsh living conditions and difficult
circumstances. It was an incredible joy
and privilege to simply extend a hand or a hug, and to bend the knee in prayer
on their behalf.
The day netted many stories, but one stood out above all
the rest to me personally. Allow me to
introduce you to Emelda. She is a wife and
a mother and a fellow sojourner. Today
she was feeling sick in her stomach, but even more sick in her spirit.
As we began to
talk about Jesus and His very personal love for each of one of us, her shoulders
noticeably sagged. She told me that she
was feeling far from God, although she had been faithful to keep up her church
attendance. When I asked her if she had
any idea why that distance had crept in, she began to talk about an incident
that had produced a debilitating spirit of FEAR in her. The incident itself was not particularly
dramatic, but the fear was very real and very pervasive. Emelda is a singer. She has been gifted by God for the building
up of His church, and she used to sing frequently in her church, much to the
delight of all its members. Her eyes
shone when she described it to us. But
the fear that had gripped her a couple of years ago had left her afraid and powerless
to stand before others to sing. She
admitted that she believed THIS had caused the distance she felt from her
Heavenly Father.
Not being a skilled therapist – or a skilled ANYTHING
really – I had absolutely nothing to offer Emelda, so I simply asked if I could
pray for her. We gathered around her:
me, a translator, and a couple of other team members. And we prayed, HARD. We prayed that God would free her from this
spirit of FEAR, the same way Jesus freed people from demons in the Gospel
accounts. We reminded ourselves through
prayer that God is bigger than our fears.
We reminded ourselves that EVERY good and perfect gift comes from above,
and that God had clearly gifted Emelda with the ability to sing. We reminded ourselves of the scriptures that
tell us that we are the LIGHT of the world, and light should never be
hidden. As we concluded the prayer, I
knelt down on the filthy concrete floor directly in front of Emelda. I grasped her hands in mine and put my face
close to hers. I locked eyes with her
and instructed her to SING. She stared
at me like I was absolutely crazy. I
said it again… “Sing just for ME, an audience of one – just a chorus of a song
you love.” She glanced nervously over at
the translator, her eyes begging for help.
The translator simply nodded and repeated the instructions. There was a
long silence, but I kept staring right at her refusing to let her eyes or her
hands go. She opened her mouth a tiny
bit; the words came out in a gentle whisper – but they came out. I squeezed her hands and kept smiling. She began to get some momentum. She sang for maybe 30 seconds – the last few with
a clear, strong voice. When she stopped,
she had the biggest smile on her face! I
immediately asked her if she knew any children’s songs. She shook her head no, but I stayed put. This time I began to sing “Jesus Loves Me This I Know, For
The Bible Tells Me So. Little Ones To
Him Belong, They Are Weak But He Is Strong.”
I had been watching her eyes for any signs of understanding, but they
seemed blank to me. So I let my voice
trail off before the chorus. I released
her hands and patted her knee as I began to raise myself up off the floor. As soon as she realized I wasn’t going to
finish the song, her voice began to sing the chorus in Spanish... in absolute
PERFECT pitch. “Yes Jesus Loves Me…” I felt a lump come into my throat and chills
covered my arms. I sank back down to the
floor in front of her and we finished the song TOGETHER…she in Spanish, and me
in English. "Yes Jesus Loves Me. Yes Jesus Loves Me, For The Bible Tells Me So." Honestly, it was one of the
coolest experiences of my life. As I
looked around our little circle – every eye was brimming with tears.
God Himself had visited our circle. You just KNOW it when it happens.
Enjoy these snapshots of our day. And please keep praying for us!
