"Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth." I Chron.16:12
Serving with Dave Killough and our team in Nicaragua was definitely an extraordinary experience for me! Humbling, exciting, encouraging... thankful. Words sometimes are not enough; yet, when words are not enough, the Lord still understands. Prayers were definitely answered in such a way that I could only stand back and watch in awe at what God was and still is doing. This trip held a very memorable reminder that when you ask for the Holy Spirit's filling (after He empties you of your self) and you heed His promptings, the Lord is ready to show Himself in ways beyond your imagination!
Miracles: To some it may seem a minor thing, but it was amazing to see behind at least one miracle the Lord provided before we even arrived in Nicaragua. I was flying into Houston where I had an overnight layover before meeting up with a third of our team flying to Nicaragua the next morning. I had made a hotel reservation a couple weeks prior, yet when my flight landed that evening and I was calling the hotel for a shuttle, there was absolutely no response. There were multiple attempts over the course of the next 1.5 hours in which headquarters was also contacted, and they could not even get a hold of this hotel. Quite strange! With the time and options that I had, I decided that spending the night in the airport lobby was the best alternative and tried to keep a positive outlook. Starting this mission trip on no sleep was not what I anticipated, but I had plenty of time for prayer and slight rest. The next morning I was of course the first one to the gate 4 hrs before our flight was scheduled to leave. I decided to go get a cup of coffee since I still had quite a bit of time and the plane before ours was about to load. When I came back, I noticed the departure time for the already-boarded plane was delayed at least an hour. Another strange occurrence! A little while later, that plane's passengers disembarked and were re-routed to another gate before they announced that our departure gate was also changing to a terminal clear on the other side of the airport. Something happened to this first plane (never told us specifics), so the airline was unable to use this gate for the time being. Shortly after our team's group met up to board our flight, I learned that 2 of them were close to almost missing the connection, but we were thankful we all made it.
Fast-forward to the team meeting that evening, we were going around sharing any God-stories that had happened that day regarding our travels. That was when I learned that those 2 team members had asked their spouses/prayer warriors to pray that the Lord would provide the way as they could very possibly miss their connecting flight to Nicaragua. Not only was their first flight delayed due to fog, but they would have to hike clear across the Houston airport in less than 15 minutes to catch their connection. After they finally landed, their arrival gate "happened to be" the gate right next to our departure gate. Strange occurrence? Not anymore. From the first "strange occurrence" the night before, the Lord was allowing me to watch Him work, showing me that HE was truly the One directing this trip. There were other stories such as how the Lord orchestrated getting all of the donated wheelchairs through at no financial cost. Maybe it was because we were looking for them, but God-stories such as above became normal for this trip.
We could see our prayers and the prayers of so many pastors and prayer warriors being answered right in front of our eyes. I could talk about the number of souls saved, or even the friends made on this trip. It was like watching the most beautiful puzzle being placed together. So it wasn't a surprise either when my connecting plane on the way home was also delayed 3 minutes after my dad prayed which allowed me to catch it. Not only was it delayed, but something also happened to that plane and we were re-routed to a completely different gate... to the same terminal where our first miracle had occurred. I don't know if you've ever had your heart smile before, but mine did! All I could think was that this could indeed even be someone else's miracle as well as mine. After such an amazing trip, I love dwelling on the verse in Psalm 34:3, "Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together."
I don't know about the rest of my team, but I'm ready to do it again!
Serving with Dave Killough and our team in Nicaragua was definitely an extraordinary experience for me! Humbling, exciting, encouraging... thankful. Words sometimes are not enough; yet, when words are not enough, the Lord still understands. Prayers were definitely answered in such a way that I could only stand back and watch in awe at what God was and still is doing. This trip held a very memorable reminder that when you ask for the Holy Spirit's filling (after He empties you of your self) and you heed His promptings, the Lord is ready to show Himself in ways beyond your imagination!
Miracles: To some it may seem a minor thing, but it was amazing to see behind at least one miracle the Lord provided before we even arrived in Nicaragua. I was flying into Houston where I had an overnight layover before meeting up with a third of our team flying to Nicaragua the next morning. I had made a hotel reservation a couple weeks prior, yet when my flight landed that evening and I was calling the hotel for a shuttle, there was absolutely no response. There were multiple attempts over the course of the next 1.5 hours in which headquarters was also contacted, and they could not even get a hold of this hotel. Quite strange! With the time and options that I had, I decided that spending the night in the airport lobby was the best alternative and tried to keep a positive outlook. Starting this mission trip on no sleep was not what I anticipated, but I had plenty of time for prayer and slight rest. The next morning I was of course the first one to the gate 4 hrs before our flight was scheduled to leave. I decided to go get a cup of coffee since I still had quite a bit of time and the plane before ours was about to load. When I came back, I noticed the departure time for the already-boarded plane was delayed at least an hour. Another strange occurrence! A little while later, that plane's passengers disembarked and were re-routed to another gate before they announced that our departure gate was also changing to a terminal clear on the other side of the airport. Something happened to this first plane (never told us specifics), so the airline was unable to use this gate for the time being. Shortly after our team's group met up to board our flight, I learned that 2 of them were close to almost missing the connection, but we were thankful we all made it.
Fast-forward to the team meeting that evening, we were going around sharing any God-stories that had happened that day regarding our travels. That was when I learned that those 2 team members had asked their spouses/prayer warriors to pray that the Lord would provide the way as they could very possibly miss their connecting flight to Nicaragua. Not only was their first flight delayed due to fog, but they would have to hike clear across the Houston airport in less than 15 minutes to catch their connection. After they finally landed, their arrival gate "happened to be" the gate right next to our departure gate. Strange occurrence? Not anymore. From the first "strange occurrence" the night before, the Lord was allowing me to watch Him work, showing me that HE was truly the One directing this trip. There were other stories such as how the Lord orchestrated getting all of the donated wheelchairs through at no financial cost. Maybe it was because we were looking for them, but God-stories such as above became normal for this trip.
We could see our prayers and the prayers of so many pastors and prayer warriors being answered right in front of our eyes. I could talk about the number of souls saved, or even the friends made on this trip. It was like watching the most beautiful puzzle being placed together. So it wasn't a surprise either when my connecting plane on the way home was also delayed 3 minutes after my dad prayed which allowed me to catch it. Not only was it delayed, but something also happened to that plane and we were re-routed to a completely different gate... to the same terminal where our first miracle had occurred. I don't know if you've ever had your heart smile before, but mine did! All I could think was that this could indeed even be someone else's miracle as well as mine. After such an amazing trip, I love dwelling on the verse in Psalm 34:3, "Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together."
I don't know about the rest of my team, but I'm ready to do it again!