Your Kingdom Come...Your Will Be Done...

Expectations couldn’t even begin to come close to preparing me for what I have been experiencing on this trip so far. I know my last update began much like this as well, but God continues to exceed my expectations time and time again. Last Thursday, we left Capetown, South Africa and headed towards our adventure that waited in Mozambique. After a 12-hour layover in Johannesburg we flew to Maputo. When we arrived to the airport we grabbed our bags and headed to the bus ticket booth. Unfortunately, we found out that the next bus didn’t leave until a week later. Now you may be wondering, “Why didn’t you arrange that before hand?”, but things just don’t work like that in Africa. Normally, if you just head out on a missions trip everything is taken care of, however, we all know that the real world doesn’t always work that smoothly. God has really been teaching me about that. Sure, its great to have things arranged etc, but that isn’t always God’s plan. If we get so caught up in our “strategy” and the “plans” that we have made, we wont be free to be moved by the Spirit. I’m not saying that planning is wrong, I’m just saying that sometimes the Holy Spirit wants to blow you like the wind. I am so thankful that He is teaching me this, because this truly adds to the adventure of following Him. Getting back to the story, this whole bus deal threw us for a loop, so we really started to wonder what we were going to do next. We decided to get a place to stay for the night, and arranged for them to come get us. As we were walking to the bus stop, where our ride was going to pick us up, a young boy approached us. It was pretty obvious that he wasn’t in the best of shape, and that he probably was asking for money. He was speaking Portuguese, so we barely understood anything that he was saying. There was a horrible wound on his leg that flies were constantly landing on, and with desperation in his eyes he pled with us and we understood none of it. I’m not saying this stuff to gross you out, I just want you see and feel what I was feeling. To be completely honest, I didn’t know what to do. I have a 4-year ministry degree, have studied missions at the University of the Nations, and have been involved in inner-city ministries for the last 4 years, and none of those “credentials” had prepared me for this. The reality is, you can’t be prepared for a situation like this. In this moment, I was completely vulnerable, and had no clue what to do next. That is exactly the place where the Lord wants us to be everyday, desperate and completely dependant on Him. We are called to be like children, in dire need of a loving Father to show us the way. I was armed with only one weapon, and that weapon was simply that of love. As we thought of his possible needs, we grabbed a left over muffin and some un-opened bottles of water that we had. We lovingly handed them over, and he downed them like he hadn’t eaten in days. We prayed over his wound and hugged him several times to try to communicate that he was welcome among us. His spirit seemed like it had been lifted and he just stood around and smiled. I can’t tell you what happened within him, but I know that at that moment, he felt loved. Shortly after this, our ride showed up and took us to the backpacker’s lodge that we found for the night. Not knowing what to do next, we prayed and felt that the Lord confirmed for us to find another bus to Pemba. Pemba is at the opposite end of Mozambique, so it is quite a drive, and most buses don’t go that far. As we asked around, we heard about a bus depot nearby that would possibly have a bus going to Pemba. So with a word from the Lord, I left with Katherine and Haley to find a bus. We grabbed the first taxi we saw, and headed towards the depot. As we arrived at the depot, we were in awe of the scene before our eyes. Multiple buses were scattered between street vendors, in what looked to be a dump. Ill have to admit, at this point I’m thinking, “How are we going to find a reliable bus here?” Then I remembered that the Lord had told us to find a bus and this was where He had taken us. We pulled in and the first bus we pulled up to said: EXPRESS PEMBA on the sign. Still a little weary, we get out and jump on the bus to check it out. There was some guy speaking English, so I told him that we needed 10 tickets to Pemba. To make a long story short, we eventually booked our tickets and headed to Pemba Sunday morning at 5am. Arranging it couldn’t have gotten any easier. The bus ride was, without a doubt, one of the craziest things I have ever experienced in my life. We ended up being on the bus for over 40 hours with over 20 stops at least. The majority of the time we were smashed in a seat with our knees barely fitting, while the bus went over numerous potholes in Mozambique’s scorching heat. There was constant rap, 80’s love ballads, and various other music from their country blasting in our ears the entire time the bus was moving, also, about 35 hours in, 4 of us realized that our feet had swollen from being in the same position for so long. Mine were so swollen I could barely walk. Needless to say, I had plenty of time to think and meditate on the situation. To be honest, there were a couple times I thought I was going to literally “loose it” and start swinging at the seat in front of me. I don’t really know what that would have accomplished, but for some reason in our feeble minds we think temper tantrums are actually to our advantage. As I processed my thoughts, throughout this journey, the Lord constantly reminded me of the Israelites. They had EVERYTHING provided to them numerous times, and they still complained constantly. Even though I didn’t voice my complaints. I was annoyed, tired, and constantly reminded of the fact that I didn’t have to be doing this. While I’m having these thoughts, the glorious presence of our Lord rested upon me, and immediately I was reminded that He IS TOTALLY WORTH IT, so I repented and considered it pure joy to be faced with this trial. There is just something about His presence that washes all our cares away, right? I want to be a man that constantly lives in that place. I’m telling you that there is TRUE JOY that can be found in suffering. I know that Jesus, Paul, and other heroes of our faith have endured much more suffering than some swollen feet in an African bus ride, however, when I said that I would follow Jesus, I signed up knowing that I would endure suffering. In 1 Corinthians 13:4, Paul opens up his description of love by saying, “Love suffers long.” You can’t think that picking up your cross daily will be an easy task, so this definitely means that you will endure suffering. The problem is that we take so much into our own hands and protect ourselves from these things. We say, “Well Jesus hasn’t called me to that” or “He wouldn’t ask me to do something that intense!” Sadly, I am coming to realize that we miss out on a lot of what He wants to show us when we depersonalize the scriptures and pick and choose what we want to be obedient to. If you follow the teachings of Jesus, I promise you that you will suffer and you will eventually find joy in that place. Personally, I’ve started to look at my life and ask myself, “How am I suffering? If I’m going to bear the cross daily, what does that look like?” I want to walk in the fullness of what God has for me, and I am prepared to endure whatever I have to endure to receive it. Since this has become my desire, I have found that my prayers have changed. I have been asking the Lord to take me through the refiner’s fire, so that I will be conformed into His image. And as I have mentioned above, with the fire comes the suffering, so the Lord has highlighted some areas where He is allowing me to share in His sufferings. This brings me back to our journey in Mozambique. We stopped one last time in Nampula, before arriving to Pemba. A lot of people had gotten off in Nampula, so this leg of the journey was way easier for us to endure. There was a guy a couple of seats ahead of me that came back and sat with us. He said that his name was Jack, asked me my name and what we were doing there. So I told him that we were there as missionaries and that we were going to be working with Iris Ministries for the next 2 months. He said that he had heard of Iris and encouraged us in our adventures. Through listening to his story and sharing more of mine, I could tell the Lord was at work. During our conversation, I commented on the cuteness of the little toddler that was sitting near us. Then Jack said, “Wasn’t it awesome when life was that easy?” Immediately, the Lord reminded me about how we are called to live like children, and to be completely dependant on Him. I lovingly explained how we are called to be like children, and how life doesn’t really have to be as difficult as we make it. As I continued to talk about putting our lives completely in the Father’s hands, Jack commented on my faith. He said, “You have one of the strongest faiths that I have ever heard in my life.” So then I asked him what he put his faith in, and he said that he was a Muslim. I was totally surprised, but aware that God had totally set this guy up for a power encounter of love. I showed him a couple of scriptures and he was totally open to hear and learn more about Jesus. Since he spoke English, I felt that I was supposed to give him my Bible, so he could seek and find for himself. I had just bought a new Bible in Johannesburg, so I had a fresh new one to give him. He was very happy to receive it and he assured me that he would read it. About this time the bus stopped in Pemba and we had to get out and meet our ride. I got Jack’s number and assured him that we would touch base while we were in Pemba. We got off the bus, grabbed our bags, and headed to the Iris base. Upon arrival, we were shortly briefed, blessed with some beans and rice, and showed to our rooms. We got a good night’s sleep and prepared for our first day. After breakfast we met our contact Katie, and she took us on the tour of the base. It was amazing to see all of the areas of ministry that we would be working in, so our anticipation rose by the minute. After our tour, we headed to the prayer hut for some worship and prayer. We all positioned ourselves for worship and began singing and praying. The presence of God began to thicken by the minute, and I began to be overwhelmed with His love. I realized that we were finally here, and I knew that we would never be the same again. After an amazing time of prayer, worship, and an encounter with God’s love, Heidi came up and greeted us. She hugged each one of us and welcomed us to the base. We were all amazed at her love and dedication to make everyone of us feel welcomed. This wasn’t an act; she was truly excited to see us. Here is a lady that has more on her plate than any of us have even imagined, but she still makes time for the one. She truly practices what she preaches! We then hurried to our lunch of rice and beans, and headed to a birthday party for the kids that were born in January. After having a time of games and fellowship, we entered into the church so the kids could get their presents and their cake. When they handed out the presents, they encouraged us to pray over each kid that was receiving. When I started praying for the kids the Lord really started to move upon me. Heidi pointed to a little girl and told me to pray for her. She appeared to be an infant, but as she explained, I realized that it was a 3-year-old suffering from malnutrition. This little girl had a full mouth of teeth and probably weighed 30 lbs at most. When I laid my hand on her and started to pray, I started to weep. Immediately I felt the Lord’s heart for this little girl and I started to declare life over her. The Lord then revealed to me that He was answering my prayers and He was allowing me to feel His burden for His people. Even though I was burdened, this reminder gave me joy, as I continued to pray for the kids. As I laid my hand on the next little boy, it happened again. I felt the Lord’s heart for Him as well. He was an orphan and it was clear that he was under that spirit. The Lord longs to be in relationship with us, and when we don’t believe that we have a loving Father, He is saddened. When I touched this boy, I knew that He needed to know His Heavenly Father, so I declared that over him. By this time I was a total wreck. The fact that the Lord allowed me to feel just a little bit of His heart for the lost just broke me. Again, I was reminded of my total dependence on Him, and how desperate I was for Him to fill me with His love. If this was my first day at Iris, what else was I going to experience? I could continue to tell you every little thing that happened, but ill save it for my book. LOL. Most Thursdays at Iris, a team of people pack up and head out to the bush for the weekend. They journey out to villages to preach the Word of God, pray for the sick, cast out demons, etc. This is going to be one of the main activities that our team will be involved in nearly every week. So on Thursday we helped pack up the trucks and headed out to the bush for an unforgettable time in. Upon arrival, we started to set up our tents, the audio equipment for the Jesus movie, and greeted those that were there. As the dusk settled, we started the movie. Many people from the village were starting to show up to view the movie. The Jesus movie is the account of Jesus’ life translated into the tribe’s native language. The ministry teams will show the movie, have a time of preaching, and then minister to those that are there. After the movie, Heidi got up and started to preach the Gospel. As the Spirit stated to move, people responded with prayers of repentance etc. As she declared that the Lord was healing, some people came forward, were prayed for, and were healed. As the meeting drew to a close, Heidi called us all over. She directed us to a hut and explained that we were going to have dinner. Since Katherine and I were the leaders on this outreach, she said we were invited to eat with the leaders of the village. Our visit was a very big deal to them, and they wanted to celebrate. Despite their financial situation, they prepared us a meal of goat and maize to honor us. So just when we thought the night couldn’t get any better, we ate goat with Heidi and Rolland Baker, and our new friends from the bush. During dinner the leaders explained how blessed they were to have us come from America and how it was an answer to their prayers for Mozambique. They then expressed how they wanted to pray for us. So after dinner the leaders started to pray for us. As they laid hands on us and prayed, I could feel their tears falling on me. You could feel the power of the Holy Spirit being released. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but you could tell it was from the heart and with much authority. This turned into an all out prayer session where everybody ended up getting amazingly blessed and filled with joy. We were all laughing, crying, and releasing blessings! God is so good. Never would I have imagined that I would be in a hut in Mozambique getting prayed over by people I had never met. See, that is the crazy thing about the Kingdom. You can meet somebody for 5 minutes and feel like you have known them for your whole life. Being able to share a love like that is priceless. We have family from all over the world, and the Lord longs to unite you with them. The next morning we woke up to Heidi brewing Starbuck’s coffee, in a French press, and commenting on how she loves to sleep at her room at the billion star hotel. She was referring to her tent in the bush. She called us all to breakfast, we ate our bread, drank our coffee, and fellowshipped in love together. It was amazing to feel the love that the village people had for us, and they had never even met us. Again, it really revealed the way the Kingdom of God works. We shared the same love and Spirit of our beautiful Savior and that immediately connected us. We hung around the village, played with kids, and did some house visits in the village. After that we packed all the equipment up and got ready to have another service in a neighboring village. Heidi, Rolland, and some others left to go back to the base, so we were with some other leaders from Iris. Our team and some of the other visitors had planned some dramas and another guy, named Elder, was doing the preaching. As we set up all the equipment for the Jesus film and the service, we played some Mozambique worship music. All of us were dancing and laughing until we were covered with sweat. The night finally came and we started the movie. After the movie ended we prepared our skits, while Elder prepared to speak. Elder is a translator, so he explained the skits after they were performed. The movie and the skits were very powerful, so it stirred the people’s appetites for more. After Elder explained the skits, to my surprise he called me up front. When I got up there, he told me to start preaching the love of God and to declare what the Lord was doing. I was totally caught off guard by this, therefore, I returned to the place of total desperation for God to move. I asked the Holy Spirit to release His presence and I started to talk about the love of God. I told them that the Lord had sent us all the way from the United States to tell them about His love for them. I declared that the Lord was there to save, heal, and deliver and whoever was thirsty could come drink. Our teams prepared themselves to pray, as numerous people rushed to the front. This was probably the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. The Gospel was preached to the poor, they heard the good news, and they ran into the arms of freedom. The first kid that came up to me pointed to his ears and made a grunting noise. I placed my hands on his ears and commanded them to be opened in Jesus name, and started to smile. I whispered, “Jesus,” in his ears and he repeated it to me numerous times. I asked Elder to come over and translate for me, so I could know for sure. He said that the kid had been deaf in one of his ears and all the kids used to call him names for it, but now he could hear. Amazed, I praised Jesus and continued to pray for the crowd of people. Numerous people chose Jesus, were healed, and repented of witchcraft, lust, addiction, and many other things that night. It was a life changing experience. Again, I declare to everyone who is reading this, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He saves, He heals, and He delivers. This isn’t just for Africa; this is for the entire earth. He is going to fill the earth with the knowledge of His GLORY, as the waters cover the seas. Every Christian has the authority to do these things, Jesus declared it in Matthew 10:6-8 and we are called to freely give what we have freely received. That includes money, wisdom, healing, deliverance, etc. If the Lord has brought you through a trail, you have the authority to help others through the same thing. We are blessed to be a blessing to others, and its time we start living in the freedom that Jesus’ blood bought for us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within you, be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven coming to earth in Jesus’ name!