God Speaking

God speaks to us everyday, if we're willing to listen to Him, and if we're willing to open our eyes to Him. I have been particularly moved recently by the words of a youth. One of my most wonderful friends on this earth, Mandy, has been on missions trips with her husband (an awesome youth pastor) and their amazing youth group. They have been blogging about their experiences and this post just couldn't get by me without bringing tears and weighing heavy on my heart:

From Wil Witters:

It's amazing how god can take what seems like a waste of $13 and turn it into an amazing story.

Our first day at Union Station, Michael W., Scott F., and I purchased our very own bff (best friends forever) necklaces. But they were not any old necklaces. These were heart shaped and each had its own word on it. Live, Laugh, and Love. We thought long and hard on who should get which necklace. Reina decided that for us. Michael got live, Scott got laugh, and I got love. I'll never forget the crazy look I got from the cashier, and how stupid we all felt. We wore them everyday of the conference.

On Tuesday night we went on a prayer walk. But this prayer walk was different than any I'd ever been on. We carried signs that asked serious questions such as: "Are you sure?" or "Ready?" or "Need Prayer?" Most felt slightly uncomfortable walking down the rough streets of Baltimore with a sign that asked "Need prayer?" So our small band of six put it at our side at first.

As we walked down the street we would greet people, but no more than a, "Hello, how are you?" But as we walked past a man sitting on his doorstep God moved. You see Donald has failing eyesight and that impairs his reading. But as we walked by, God allowed him to read our sign. We were about a block away when we heard Donald yelling for us to come back. When he reached us, he explained he saw the sign and needed some serious prayer.

Donald told us that he had been born Baptist but he did not know much about religion now. When he was seven, he was the only person in his 14 person family to survive a car accident. He lived alone under a bridge and by age 50 has never experienced a real Christmas. He also revealed that he had cancer in both lungs and the doctors gave him til Christmas, ironic huh?

The streets have been so hard on Donald. He has been stabbed 5 or 6 times and shot once. But all of the pale in comparison to what he said next. He told us that he has never been loved. He had no family, no friends, so he had no love. So, eventually after talking for a while we prayed with Donald. We prayed that God would open his eyes so he would know that God loves Donald. As we prayed I felt God speak to me in a way I have not seen in a while but it was something I'd been praying for. So when our prayer ended and everyone had hugged him, I unclasped my "love necklace" and gave it to him. As I handed him the necklace to Donald I explained to him why I was giving it to him. I want him to be reminded every time he look at it that God loves him and always will. He said thank you and we watched the tears well up in his eyes. He quickly walked away. I will never forget him. And I believe that those $13 were some of the best I've ever spent.

You can read more about God's amazing love at http://www.rbcmissions.blogspot.com/ .