Saturday, September 17, 2011

Getting Outside Comfort Zones

I'm overwhelmed right now. Have stepped way outside my comfort zone in new ways already on this trip. I think we all have. We may have a small team but it is truly mighty. We just had a very powerful day that the Lord's presence was all over. We got up and went to the Good Samaritan School for a Saturday morning prayer meeting with the administrative staff of the school and Ananthi who started it. She asked each one of us to share during this time and I think we were all a bit nervous but the Lord spoke through us. Abner gave a great message about Gideon and how God used an ordinary man armed only with horns and clay pots to defeat an army. He talked about how God can use all of us if we are only obedient to what He's called us to do. Frances shared her own personal testimony and I felt like it really spoke to many in the room and Ananthi in particular seemed especially blessed by it. I shared James 5:13-20. Amanda, Sarin and I thanked them for letting us be there with them and thanked them for their work at the school and just emphasized how important their work is for God's kingdom and in the lives of the children. They prayed for us and I got to pray for them at the end. It was a sweet time.
Afterwards, we had tea with Ananthi and then headed up to the worship service. It was their first one and they hope to have many. They invited all the high school students to come. There weren't a ton but there were some. We worshipped together with worship led by staff at the school and a young man who is here for a few months on guitar. Then he led a few songs by himself and then Abner and Amanda - johnnyswim - sang a beautiful song they wrote. The kids sang the chorus with them. It was so sweet. It's an awesome song. I can't wait for y'all to hear it. They are going to record it when they get home and use the proceeds from any downloads to help Visiting Orphans. So cool.
After worship, we got to eat yummy Indian food for lunch and then we rested for a few hours before being picked up to go do home visits in the slums. We just got back an hour ago. Whew. My emotions are heightened. We were welcomed into 3 different homes and had the privilege to pray with each family. The first home we went into was a young girl taking care of her grandmother who has blood cancer. We laid hands on her and prayed for healing in her body. Abner shared a word from the Lord to her and I could see in her eyes that it spoke to her heart. The second home was a mom and dad and 3 kids - mom and dad had both been having problems with their knees and legs. And one of the kids, the oldest, was having white spots on her skin that they were concerned about. We got to gather around them and lay hands on the whole family and pray healing, protection, provision and a blessing over them as a family. The third home we were waiting for the residences to arrive so we prayed over one of the lady who was with us - for provision for her and her husband to get jobs to provide for their babies. The family that came in - a mom and a child - she asked for a job for her husband and to pay off some debt they had incurred. We prayed for provision and for her children - that they would be mighty warriors for God's kingdom. We also prayed for another lady who had been chatting to us as we walked - we couldn't understand her but our interpreter told us she wanted prayer too. So of course, we were happy to pray with her. She asked for pray for her son for work and debt. We prayed for wisdom for the son and her for him. We prayed for provision and also for the Lord to continue to dwell within her - she had such a light in her eyes and a joy you could see. We were able to get a few photos at the second two homes of the family in front of their homes. Such a sweet, sweet time. When I got to the car, I felt very emotional and just so thankful for such an amazing team of prayer warriors. We had such a powerful time. I truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. We had a sweet prayer time when we got back to the flat too. I LOVE this team. I LOVE how God knows exactly who is supposed to go and when! He is such an awesome God. May He continue to work in us and through us on this trip. We are being stretched and are definitely operating out of comfort zone - but that is exactly where God wants us. Because in that, we are being transformed more into His likeness. And in that, all Glory must go to Him because we can't do any of it without him.

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