Days Like These

Here's something I wrote in my journal while at Asbury last semester:

"There's just some days (more often than not) that I just get this overwhelming, heart-wrenching pull at my heart to go. My heart burns with the desire to go. I would right now if I could. It's not an escape. It's freedom. My heart isn't here…it's there. It's in those countries that God has woven into my DNA. I don't know what those countries are, but I know that if He were to reveal it to me today…I would go without turning back. Sometimes the pain is too much. I desperately want to live in tents, sleeping bags, mud huts, metal shacks, and jungles. I want to be covered in the dirt and mud of those places. I feel that I am the person God has made me to be when I'm there. I feel a glow. I feel His presence thick like a blanket. 

There are days when I feel that Asbury is EXACTLY where God wants me right now, but there are days, like today, when I just want to go. I want to leave everything behind and live with those who have no idea how much they are loved. My heart perpetually aches for them."

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I came across this while reading through my journal before coming here to Kenya for the second time. God's timing is always perfect and He knew I would need to see - right in front of my face - that He was being faithful (as always) and giving me the desires of my heart. He also knew that I would need the reminder to be intentional with every single moment of the day because I will have to come back to the reality that I will be leaving here after 2 VERY SHORT weeks. 

Here's my answer to the cliche question, "What do you love about Kenya?"

      I love waking up to the sun streaming through the outdated and run-down curtains. I love waking up to the sounds of the village of Bomet wide awake, with children laughing and speaking in Swahili. I love the raw feeling of the Father's love coursing through me for these people. I love being able to love with no reservations.

I'm not a huge fan of really short missions trips only because in my experience I feel like I need to do and give things to the people. It seems like that is more important than simply getting to know them. HOWEVER, God showed me the most beautiful little girl at the hospital who would throw all those fears and expectations out the door. 

She was laying on her stomach, covered in blankets, on a hospital bed outside in the sun. She had an IV sort of contraption connected to her wrist. We looked at each other at the same time and her face absolutely lit up. I have never seen a face with that much genuine joy. If eyes are the gateway to the soul, that precious girl's soul is purest of them all. I painted her nails pink and gave her some crayons and a couple coloring pages that she was absolutely thrilled about. Here's the life lesson though...as I was walking back to the other Pedes Wards, I realized that the sweet girl's joy didn't come from her getting anything (even though it made her so incredibly happy). Her joy was there before I gave her those things. I realized that the pure look of ecstasy on her face came from her knowing that someone saw her, stopped where she was going, and went to her instead of where she was focused on going. This beautiful Kenyan girl was noticed and loved on by human touch, something she hadn't experienced from people other than doctors for a very long time.

I'm definitely not the hero of this story...it's the indescribably amazing love of the Father that He would send a 20 year old girl in love with Africa to a little girl on a stretcher longing to be noticed and have her nails painted like a princess, something that no one had ever done for her. If our Father can make connections across the world like that, we have no reason to doubt his head-over-heels love for every single person on this earth - past, present, and future.

This is just one of the countless things I have learned while here in Kenya! I have a million stories I want to share, but for the sake of those reading, I should end this already lengthy blog :) 

Much love from Kenya,

Hunter

Miracles, Divine Appointments, Adventures, and the Father's Heart!

*Sorry it's so long! I didn't want to do it in two different posts because I thought it might be a bit confusing. Also, I apologize in advance for skipping around with absolutely no transitions! Fellow writers, please don't get too hung up on this :)

As I was reading through the book of Acts, I came to Acts 3:1-10. Since I didn't want to skip any stories, no matter how familiar I felt they were, I decided to read it. This is the story of the crippled beggar at the gate called Beautiful. I have read this story, and honestly, skipped over it many times. If you've read it, you probably remember that the man was healed. Until a couple of days ago, I thought the miracle was the focal point of the story. 

Because Jesus is so good and loves to show me new things, every inch of that page is now covered in black ink and scribbles. What was once just an awesome story of the miraculous power of God has now become one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Jesus whispered to my heart new revelations and reminded me of ones I had heard before. These 10 verses are PACKED to the brim and overflowing with the Father's heart. I just had to read it again. 

Stop here. Please read all 10 verses. It's not long! :) Then come back the read the rest of this blog if you want!

I made it super easy for you…here's all 10 verses:

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1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

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I always read this story thinking to myself, "This is so great. Peter and John were open to having a divine appointment and God made sure there was one. They healed this crippled man who then became a walking testimony of the power of God when all the other people saw him!" True…but I don't believe that's the main point. 

As soon as I read the first verse, God showed me that Peter and John weren't doing anything out of the ordinary; they were simply participating in the routine of going to the temple at the time of prayer. However, since later on in the story the man was healed, God must have planned the whole exchange out, knowing from even before the crippled man was born that he would be healed by two men going about their daily life. 

What God put on my heart was that as I go through the seemingly boring routine of my day, He is in it! He longs for me (and you) to realize that it doesn't have to be boring…He wants it to be full of adventures that He takes me on as He says, "Come away with me." I want to be so aware of the presence of God that I can enter into the freedom of just being with God…so much so that the miraculous invades the mundane all because my affections and thoughts were turned towards Jesus. 

If we can say that we believe with every fiber of our being that the Holy Spirit is in us, then we don't need to be praying for divine appointments. Because the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in us - meaning He is always with us - then wherever we go, God is there. And everywhere God is, so is His divine nature. This means that divine appointments are everywhere we are, because God is already there! Bottom line for those of you who desperately want me to be concise: Divine appointments are everywhere because God is everywhere.

Our whole life is a divine appointment straight from the Father's heart that is bursting with love and passion. Jesus was THE divine appointment for the world. Now that we have the Holy Spirit, we are called to be extensions of the mission of Jesus. We need to recognize that we are to be living, walking divine appointments of freedom for all people because of the Holy Spirit in us that raised Jesus from the dead. So many people get stuck in legalistic Christianity because they don't realize the raw, glorious, beautiful, overwhelming, and tangible power of the Holy Spirit that is to be flowing into and out of us.

As I kept reading the story, I then focused on the end of verse 2. I started to imagine what it would be like to be a beggar sitting there, completely stripped of all dignity. But God seemed to whisper to me over and over again to focus on "those going into the temple courts." They passed by this man in order to get to their final destination…the temple courts. 

Here's the thing, God is in the journey, not just in the destination. 

The people that passed by the crippled beggar were going to the temple courts to worship God, but they missed out what (who, in this case) was literally sitting right in front of them. The crippled beggar was probably sitting outside the gate because of the large number of people that were going to the temple courts. However, that was most likely only part of the reason. I believe that the other reason why he chose (consciously or subconsciously) that spot and not a bustling marketplace, was because something in him drew him to the temple courts. Something in him…a spark of hope…ignited his heart and whispered to his soul that maybe if he was close to where the people of God worshipped, his situation would change.

The point: The people of God, going to worship God, were so intent on getting to where they were going that they refused to look around them and invite God into their awareness while on the journey there. 

After Peter and John were used to heal the man, the once crippled beggar ran INTO the temple courts and praised God in front of all the people that passed by him every week. Not only was he healed, but God gave Him the boldness to be a light to those who chose not to see him. Verse 10 says, "They recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement." The people's eyes were opened and I believe that their hearts changed. The atmosphere shifted because of the miraculous event that charged the air. The people that once passed by the crippled beggar every week actually SAW him. They noticed him. He was no longer invisible to them. He was no longer the beggar "in their way."

This story has HUGE implications for us if you choose to see it. This is Jesus' cry for us to SEE the people around us. He yearns for us to have even the teeniest spark of faith and be open to him changing our plans on the journey so He can change lives, like He always does. Jesus sees and knows every single person, even when people choose not to see him/her. 

This is the Father's heart - that we would intentionally live life looking for people to love on. We are no longer to be the people that pass by others in order to go to the next church service. We need to hear the cries of those losing their way, and those who are lost. As we tune our ears to the frequencies of heaven, our hearts burn with the Father's love so much so that it is impossible for us to turn away from people.