Today was another amazing day here in Kona! Had a great morning shower, yummy breakfast, and wonderful worship... but the best part of my day was how God blew me away and opened up my heart in a new way... because of a stranger.
Our lessons this morning were filled with great stories and words of wisdom. As we wrapped the morning session up, our leader asked us to pull out a piece of paper and write down what we were thankful for... "you have 7 minutes... GO!" he shouted. I wrote and wrote... amazingly coming up with a number of things I hadn't thought of in awhile, including my dad's miraculous recovery from cancer over 20 years ago! Then our leader had us break them into categories and build mini testimony stories of God's great provision! As soon as we thought we were done, it was time to get out of our chairs and share! That's right, on the spot "practice for outreach" he said... share with someone you don't know! And we were going to do this 3 times. Gazing at my list, I was in awe of how God really had provided in some amazing ways. It made me feel a lot better with things I'm asking for now. :) The first 2 times of sharing were good, but I want to tell you about the third one... a young man came up to me, dark skinned and with a big smile. He said "Hi, want to share?" and I said "Sure, go ahead"... I wish I could remember his name, but what he shared I will never forget...
I'm thankful to be here he said and for God's taking care of me. A couple weeks ago I had to go and get my visa to come to the US. I'm from the Ivory Coast, my family and I moved away because of the radical war going on, but I had to go back in for the visa. God was so great! I arrived safely, found an empty home to stay in during the process and stayed there for 10 days. God provided some food to eat and safety. I was alone all day and night. God showed me what resting in Him looks like and I was not found by the fighters, and no stray bullets hit the house. I was able to get the visa and make it out safely, and I didn't spend one dollar the time. Now I'm here! God is good! Time up...
WOW. This guy risked EVERYTHING more than I could imagine to follow a calling to come to YWAM, and here I am sharing a story about a laptop. God have mercy on me and thank you for this man you brought here from the Ivory Coast. I want my heart to be as open as his.
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