Day 2 of Belle Glades "missionary-ing"

Well, we are officially half-way through our trip to Belle Glades, Florida. I am here with an amazing group of high school kids. These kids are willing to step out of the boat and pray with total strangers. I, personally, think it is much easier to be out of the boat when we are not in our home town, so we have been spending some time talking about how we can take these actions home with us.

I am stepping way out of my little boat and praying ALL THE TIME. Ok, so that may sound like a little-deal (you know, no big deal = little deal)... But for me to pray and WAIT for God to reveal himself is big for me. Not just guess and check...

So yesterday, I had 5 kids with me and we were charged with the task of doing prayer walks. Only, I heard, pray and ask the Lord what we should do. So here we are, no major theologians with us, just me and my peeps. So we ended up at the hospital because three of us felt called to go there... We ended up praying with a couple and they were thrilled that we could pray for their doctor's appointment. Well, later we drove by them and saw that they were smiling and walking much "happier". We wanted to go back and talk to them, but God prevented that. (I would tell you why, but it's kinda embarrassing!) At another point in the excursion, I tried to reach out to someone and it failed miserably - and that was because I wasn't asking God about it, I was just going about my thing.

I learned a few things... I learned that listening for God takes practice. And lots of it. I learned that I don't have to be a preacher to do prayer walks and ask the Lord for direction. Yep, I can just be me! The neat thing about the experience was that I was totally transparent and willing to tell the kids that I was petrified. they were too. Not petrified because we were in danger, but shaking out of inexperience and uncertainity. But God showed up. Just like he always does...

Today... I painted and scraped paint. I saw my group respond to God's prompting and I saw lots of answered prayer. I also saw the joy that comes to others when you stop being so busy and just share a few words and prayers. It doesn't take long to let others know they are important. But the rewards last for a mighty long time!

My points are this: pray, wait for God's direction, then obey. Your socks will be blessed off. Also... stop being so busy and just spend a minute with those around you! It doesn't have to be long!

I miss my family, so if you know them and see them, give them a hug and a kiss!
love, Kristin