Lessons from Peru: A Spiritual Awakening
On May 31, I flew out with our church's mission team to visit Yurimaguas, Peru for a week. The 4 of us would have a children's class at local churches and then visit the homes in the different neighborhoods. The Holy Spirit was moving through the team, and the Evil One was trying to distract and destroy what we were doing. No matter what the Evil One tried to stop, the Holy Spirit would undo and overcome.
Below are several lessons I learned:
1. We were speaking with a lady today about why she stopped attending church. her husband goes, but she doesn’t, and he asked us to visit his home.
She stopped going because God hadn’t answered her prayers, and she doesn’t believe she’s perfect enough to attend.
God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want, but it is always what we need.
Don’t let your anger at God keep you from growing your relationship with Him. He’s strong enough for your questions and gentle enough to hold you in your despair. Ask Him what you are supposed to do when the prayer isn’t answered. He’ll tell you. He did me.
2. Evil exists….
We had an incredible day visiting homes and sharing the gospel. All are memorable.
One night, he saw 2 elves/dwarves come out of the sewage ditch and beckoned to him. He went. They picked him up, threw him in a neighbor’s house to destroy things, but it didn’t work that way.
When the child looked back out the window, the elves had disappeared. This scared him, and he ran home and hid under his bed. His grandmother found him and called the pastor.
We spoke with the family. The child received Christ after his encounter. We prayed a prayer of protection over him and his family. Afterwards, his grandmother accepted Christ.
What Satan meant for evil, God changed to good.
Evil exists, but God is stronger!!!
3. I am a firm believer that the Lord will allow things to happen to protect us from something worse. Traffic, flat tire, and lost keys are just a few. Maybe these things delayed your trip because God was protecting you.
We experienced sickness on this trip like never before, several days of it. Not everyone was sick, but several were. I believe God knew we would try to push through the illnesses to go to the jungle villages, where outbreaks of dengue fever were happening. So….He made the illnesses non-life-threatening, just painful. We all agreed that God was protecting us from a serious epidemic.
The next time you get delayed or have to cancel plans due to illness, thank God for His protection instead of cursing Him for your inconvenience.
Jeremiah 29:11
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There were so many different stories that could be told; however, there just isn't time or space. As for a Spiritual Awakening, it wasn't theirs; it was mine.
Before the trip, far too many individuals questioned me about going to another country being mostly blind. I know they were worried, but my response was the same every time: What better way to show what God can do with a blind person and through a blind person. I met so many individuals who were struggling with unanswered prayers, illness, bitterness, and anger. My struggles with my blindness and all of those emotions helped me minister to these individuals. I now understood the 'why' of my blindness. Empathy is a lot stronger emotion than simple sympathy.
Next lesson for me was getting sick one day. The pastor had to bring me back to the hotel because I could not keep going. As I laid down on the bed, I cried out to my Father. I felt that the Evil One was attacking me, and I knew I wasn't going to do well. All night my fever would go up and down, up and down. When I woke up the next morning, I was fine. I told the team that I felt a war was going on between the Evil One and the Holy Spirit over my body. I never got sick again during the trip. Never in my life have I ever cried out in despair to my Father. Oh, what a difference it made.
Last lesson was visiting another community. As we were talking with a gentleman, the young pastor was quoting scripture after scripture after scripture. The gentleman accepted Christ, and we prayed with him and for his health. What was amazing to me was the amount of scripture the young pastor quoted. He hasn't been a believer for many years or even a seminary trained pastor. I've been a Christian longer than the young pastor has been alive, and I don't know that many scriptures. Shame on me. It isn't about the length of time one has been a Christian, it's about the relationship one has with our Father. To build a relationship, we must spend time in the Word. That has been my failure.
Over the last few months, I noticed how busy I have been with my college courses I teach. I work 7 days a week until midnight most nights. I've wanted to have a prayer time, but I've been too busy. My dad had a saying, "If you're too busy for God, He'll find a way to 'un-busy' you." Because my vision has worsened, I made the decision to limit my college courses and call a halt to the courses over the next few months. At first, I was worried about the loss in salary, yet I'm at peace with the decision. Nothing is more important than spending time with God and reading His Word.
In my last eye appointment, the doctor stated that I don't have a lot of vision left. All of the specialists are working together for a plan to help slow the process. Am I worried? Yep. Am I scared? Absolutely terrified. I bet you weren't expecting me to say that. Just because I believe God has a plan for my life doesn't mean I'm not worried or terrified about the changes that will be happening soon. God has surrounded me with family and friends who are supportive and prayerful. Even my dogs are trying to be helpful around the house by keeping me from running into the walls in the dark.
God is good all the time. Even when the darkness is creeping in, He is the Light I see and the Warmth I feel.
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