Does God still hear our prayers? Does He know the hearts of those who love Him? Does He care?
YES!
This is the story of my trip to NC two weeks ago:
This is the story of my trip to NC two weeks ago:
It starts a year ago. A year ago I watched a documentary. While I was watching, I felt I heard God tell me to start something similar in NH. Time passed and it stayed in the back of my mind, but I had lost the paper where I wrote all the information about this lady and her ministry. Subsequently, I have been searching for this lady for nearly a year. I asked around to a lot of my contacts and no one knew what I was talking about. It was so weird; there was nothing at all. All I knew was that the lady was from NC. I had a possible contact, but that did not turn out to be the right lady either. Still I found myself empty handed after a year...
Fast forward to this past Christmas. Jason had given me a plane ticket to go visit anyone of my choosing. When pondering where I would go this year Jason recommended I ask my cousin in NC. I decided I would and when I called her she was excited about my possible trip down. We bounced around weekend after weekend, nailing a date down, then one of us would have to cancel. We did this several times. We finally settled on the weekend of May 2-6th.
In the weeks leading up to the trip, I had sought the Lord on this mysterious lady and asked that He would help me connect with this her. I asked that if it is HIS will for me to start this ministry that he would have to find her for me. I prayed and asked Him to do that for me. I had tried for a year with no success. It would have to be all Him!
I arrived late Friday night in NC so the first day we really had together was Saturday. We hung out during the day but that evening we attended a function at their church for the church volunteers. As part of the function, they had hired in a nationally known comedian (Michael Jr.) to do a comedy show. At the end, Michael asked my cousin if she was coming to Sunday night's shows. (Sunday night the church was holding two shows where they sold tickets to get in. One hundred percent of the profits were going to a non-profit organization.) My cousin tells him she didn't have tickets. The couple standing next to her told her they had 2 extra tickets and proceeded to hand them to her. We decided we would go back again, the very next night because he was so funny and it was still a night out for the two of us. But, this was not our plan, you see, this was God's plan.
The next day was Sunday and after church, her and I went to get our nails done. While there, I felt led by God to talk to the guy doing my nails. God wanted me to ask him about his life. Turns out, he's a survivor of human trafficking. He and 2000 other people from his village in South Vietnam were captured and sent to a forced-labor camp in Cambodia. There they were raped, starved, and beaten. I spoke to this man about his time there and how he got out. I told him I believed it was a miracle God had performed for him. Someone came and purchased ALL 2000 people OUT OF the slave camp and brought them here to America as refugees. Over time, he's been able to bring his wife and daughter. As we talked, I felt God leading me to talk to him about faith and God. In the end, I invited him and his wife to the comedy show at the church with my cousin and I that night. Roughly 120 people gave their lives to Christ that night! I don't know if he was there because their church is huge, but I trust God did what He was going to do in that.
They ran two shows that night. Between the two shows, they raised $9000 for this non-profit… a non-profit fighting human trafficking in NC. I met one of the volunteers for the charity and thanked her for her service to the Lord and to those being trafficked. That was the end. I did not intend to walk back to the table at the end of the show because I felt I had already spoken with someone from that charity. As my cousin and I were walking out of the church, she said to me, "Maybe you should talk to the founder of the non-profit and see if she knows who this mysterious lady is you've been trying to find." I agreed. As I approached, I studied her. She looked vaguely familiar. I began talking to her, all the while thinking, "I think I know this lady. How?"
I told her I was looking for a lady in NC who did a documentary. I began telling her all about the documentary and she listened politely, nodding and smiling. When I was done she said, "That's me." Stumbling for words I asked, "You… as in, her in the documentary?" Yes indeed, it was her!!!
We spoke at length and I plan to train under her and and begin that same kind of ministry up in NH.
You see, as my cousin and I left the church building we began discussing the events that led to that exact moment in time. A year ago, a volunteer from that non-profit came and spoke at their women's ministry. From that, my cousin knew a contact and knows what I do so she told me about it and introduced me to her that night. In November, Jason purposed in his heart to bless me with time away and a plane ticket to wherever I wanted to go. I ended up in NC spending a whole weekend away with a cousin I've never spent time with. God blocked all other previously planned weekends for me to go on and made this weekend the weekend I would travel to her house. God gave me an opportunity to meet a survivor of human trafficking and share the gospel with him and invite him to church. And God brought the VERY WOMAN I'd been searching for nearly a year to my "doorstep".
As my cousin and I talked, I was so overwhelmed with the love of God. I was overwhelmed with the care He has for me. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. They just streamed down my face like a fountain had been turned on. It was as if I had been seated in the lap of God and held in His warm loving embrace and He was saying, "Good and faithful servant, in you I am proud! I have called you and you have listened." You see, I know the plans God has for me. God purposed ministry in my heart and He continues to show me and move me to exactly where He needs me to be. Even when I feel unworthy. Even when I feel too young, or too old, or too fat. Even when I feel like I'm just not "Christian" and righteous enough - God reveals Himself to me ad reveals that He doesn't need that. He's just looking for someone who is willing to listen and obey. I will continue to not be worthy of such a loving God. I will continue to fail…. but I will also continue to serve Him.
Do you know the plan God has for your life? Listen to what God speaks to your heart. What fulfills you? What brings you joy? What area can you help others find who they are in Christ? God has birthed something in everyone. Just like the comedian, Michael Jr., learned. Find it, then trust the Lord to bring you to it. Pray into it and watch what He will do with it!
You see, as my cousin and I left the church building we began discussing the events that led to that exact moment in time. A year ago, a volunteer from that non-profit came and spoke at their women's ministry. From that, my cousin knew a contact and knows what I do so she told me about it and introduced me to her that night. In November, Jason purposed in his heart to bless me with time away and a plane ticket to wherever I wanted to go. I ended up in NC spending a whole weekend away with a cousin I've never spent time with. God blocked all other previously planned weekends for me to go on and made this weekend the weekend I would travel to her house. God gave me an opportunity to meet a survivor of human trafficking and share the gospel with him and invite him to church. And God brought the VERY WOMAN I'd been searching for nearly a year to my "doorstep".
As my cousin and I talked, I was so overwhelmed with the love of God. I was overwhelmed with the care He has for me. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. They just streamed down my face like a fountain had been turned on. It was as if I had been seated in the lap of God and held in His warm loving embrace and He was saying, "Good and faithful servant, in you I am proud! I have called you and you have listened." You see, I know the plans God has for me. God purposed ministry in my heart and He continues to show me and move me to exactly where He needs me to be. Even when I feel unworthy. Even when I feel too young, or too old, or too fat. Even when I feel like I'm just not "Christian" and righteous enough - God reveals Himself to me ad reveals that He doesn't need that. He's just looking for someone who is willing to listen and obey. I will continue to not be worthy of such a loving God. I will continue to fail…. but I will also continue to serve Him.
Do you know the plan God has for your life? Listen to what God speaks to your heart. What fulfills you? What brings you joy? What area can you help others find who they are in Christ? God has birthed something in everyone. Just like the comedian, Michael Jr., learned. Find it, then trust the Lord to bring you to it. Pray into it and watch what He will do with it!
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