I was sitting in the parking lot today waiting for Tony and Heidi when a young man named Campbell came up to the vehicle. We began to talk, and eventually I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said in fact he did and he was a choir director at a local church. This Sunday we will be going to his church and seeing what it is like. We have been in grass huts or small church buildings most of the time. Rarely do they have electricity and it is considered a luxury if they have chairs. Campbell’s choir has more people in it than some of the churches we have attended! It had 35 choir members, and over 1,000 church members. So it will be one extreme to another.
I had a unique experience after leaving a small grass hut church with maybe a dozen people. The pastor invited us to his house. On the way there, I saw a group of children, and one of them was wearing an OCC shirt. There was a show on TV called American Chopper and the name of their business was Orange County Choppers. I spent a ridiculous amount of money to buy a chopper and eventually ended up on a couple of episodes of their TV show. I was a prideful arrogant fool. Look carefully at the tallest child in the picture who is wearing the OCC shirt. God reminded me where I came from, and where I was headed. No longer was it what I could I buy to impress others, rather what I could do to love others. This was now the new reality God has brought to me. The truth of the matter is that I would never go back to the formal life with everything my heart had desired from this world. The sense of awe and wonder I experience with God daily far outweighs any material thing that this world has to offer.
We would be going back to the orphanage this week to try to get a couple of rooms painted before we leave. So far we have successfully gotten the electricity working in two of the rooms. We also picked up some paint on Saturday before the store closed. Linda, the young lady at the desk, was very helpful. She had a beautiful smile. We told her we were to be using the paint for an orphanage. She gave us a great discount that reduced our costs by nearly 25%. There are a great deal of things we need to do at the orphanage, but first we wanted to spend some prayer time with the people on Saturday afternoon. There is a young lady there named Happiness. She would love to have a vocal career as a gospel singer. She cannot walk and I believe it was because she had polio. I had a sense in my spirit that God wanted to move in a miraculous way for her.
Everything that happened during our time on Saturday would indicate something supernatural was going to take place. The two songs that were selected by different individuals both talked about walking and dancing with Jesus. In my heart I cried out to God for a miracle for this young lady. We all kneeled down around her, and wept and prayed. She straightened her legs out, which I had never seen her do before, and she was rubbing them. Then she laid back on the mat and was crying out to the Lord with us. Before we started praying for her, I asked her if she was ready for Jesus to heal her. She said that she was and I was full of anticipation as the rest of the team was. Who knows how much time had gone by. When we stopped praying, Happiness lie on her mat as if she was unconscious. Both of her legs straightened out in front of her. After several minutes had gone by, she sat up. Pastor Jeffrey began to ask her questions.
First, he asked what she had just experienced. She went on to explain how many people had prayed for her at a lot of different churches. None of those situations compared to what she had experienced today. She said as she laid there, that she had a vision. In the vision, she saw herself being lifted away from a bunch of thorns that had ensnared her. She had never experienced anything like that, and stated that it was the power of the Holy Spirit. There was no question that the presence of God was mighty, to a point that many of us were weeping. Then Tony told her that she had to do something and she agreed. He told her “It is time for you to stand up.” For the first time, I saw her torso up off of the ground to form a sitting position. Because of the clothing she was wearing, I could not tell if her legs were fully straight or not. I would say from the height she was standing, she was probably on her knees.
I must admit, I was a bit disappointed. I thought for sure she was going to walk normally. I do know this, however, God is faithful, and we will continue to pray for Happiness every time we go to the orphanage. There was no question in everyone’s mind that a miracle did take place. At this time, God made the determination not to physically reveal it to us. Praise Jesus and I am totally content knowing that His ways are fully beyond our ways. I have included a six second video of Happiness. She seemed embarrassed when she realized I was taking a video.The only reason I am sharing this is so you will pray for her.
The speed that things are progressing is phenomenal. Brother Jared has been looking at vans so that we can have means of transportation in Kenya. He has probably sent me information on half a dozen vans. None of them seemed like the right choice, however, I am sure the right one will come along. We have also been visiting the hospital to tend to the wounds that the old man has that has been staying with us. Come to find out a cousin of Tony’s was in the hospital also. He had fallen and hit his head, causing a brain aneurysm. He was drunk at the time, and drinking seemed to be a regular habit for him. Instead of being judgmental and unloving, some of the team members have been visiting him at the hospital. Tony thinks that the time may be right for him to refocus his life on something much better-Jesus. I am continually amazed at the servant heart that this man has, as a natural way of life. There has not been anyone in my life that has demonstrated such a servant heart, except for one person, my mother. She was just as natural as Tony. I know for sure it is extremely rare to find such people. Now I can say I have been blessed in nearly 60 years of life to know two of them.
