We spent one final day in the villages. A precious old woman met us as we drove up. She grinned from ear to ear and was positively babbling to us in Hmong. I had no idea what she was saying but as she shook my hand, her warmth poured over me, and I felt ready to take on the day.
For some reason, sleeping with those bugs, surviving the night, and hearing everyone's testimonies from the previous medical clinic made me realize the power of prayer, and my attitude was completely different than it had been the day and night before. I wasn't content just sitting around and waiting for everything to be over. I wanted to get in on the spiritual action, so as soon as we arrived I started praying. I prayed for every person who came through our medical lines. I prayed God would meet their needs physically and reveal His love to them. Even though I couldn't administer health care to them like everyone else, I saw the need for prayer where I had neglected it before. As I was praying, I remembered my prayer from the night before. I had asked God to save just one soul, and even though I know God is faithful I still doubted that it would be done.
After lunch most of the team was ready to pack up and go so we could beat the rains that were coming. The last thing we needed was to get stuck on the mountain. The only problem was that three our our team members were missing. My roommate, Jen, from the night before, a lady named Carla, and one of our Thai interpreters had disappeared sometime during the morning and no one knew where they were.
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| The woman who got saved! |
Normally, I would have copped an attitude about them being gone when the whole group was ready to leave, but something in my spirit said this was a good thing. So we waited...and waited. After close to an hour of waiting and even some searching, the three women emerged from some distant part of the village, and all were smiling. Carla was practically running towards us yelling, "A lady prayed to receive Christ! She got saved!"
I was beside myself! I don't think I have ever been so excited for someone's salvation! God had answered my prayer, and he had honored all our prayers over the medical clinics. And on top of everything else, the woman who got saved was the one that met us at the beginning of the day and shook all our hands. It turned out that Christians had been visiting her and her husband once every month for a while, so when our team showed up it was just time. Her husband gave her permission to get saved, and he honored her decision. He wanted to get saved too, but he wanted his Christian friends who initially told him about Christ to be present, and he wanted his whole family to come. The woman even gave us the bracelet she wore that signified she was a worshiper of spirits, and she asked us to destroy it!
What a blessing from the Lord, and what beautiful circumstances he brought it out of. I was absolutely distraught about sleeping in an ant nest, but in the end it was worth it. Just like Jess had said at orientation. It's worth it for the kingdom. It's worth it for the souls. It's worth it for Christ.
God continued to be faithful with the medical teams. I didn't travel with them anymore, but a further 35 people chose Christ during the next few days of their ministry. He is good!
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| Her bracelet |
Pray for the discipleship of these new believers and that they will grow in Him daily!