I left off last week’s post with a not-so-subtle hint. If you haven’t yet read “A Miracle: Provision Part 1”, I highly suggest it! I’m going to just jump straight in to this incredible story.

     Only a few days after the Digestive Multiplication, the team and I found ourselves in another situation that demanded the intervention of Jesus. After our two weeks in the capital city of Uganda, we traveled to a rural village a few hours east where we continued to work with the same church by serving a year old church plant. Over the two weeks we spent in the village, we saw countless salvations, healings, and deliverances. It was INTENSE. I’m going to try to recount one such Jesus moment to best of my ability. You ready?!

     It seems like a regular day at first. We meet for devotions and worship as a team, hop on the “boda-bodas”–rickety little motorcycles we  used to travel to our little church, and arrive for a day in the village. After breakfast, we split into five groups of two each and with interpreters we hit the dirt paths. There’s nothing like trekking through the heart of Africa with just a teammate, a translator, and a couple kids who are following you because they want a “sweetie”. The sky is a brilliant blue and the vegetation is a deep lively green. The first rains have come and everything is finally growing. Goats are baaing and cows are mooing. As we walk along, we pray simple prayers: dear Jesus, guide our steps; dear Jesus, prepare the hearts of everyone we talk to. Step by step we are bringing the kingdom of God farther and farther. It doesn’t take long for me and my teammate to find a small compound. This scene goes on repeat for our entire time here. We walk in and start to talk with whoever is there. Time after time, the host brings out a mat or a bench and bids us to sit down and share anything we have. We share who we are, what we are about, and then we ask them what they think. Sometimes they want to become a born again Christian. Sometimes they want prayer. Sometimes they ask more questions. Rarely, they do not respond at all. This is door to door evangelism in the heart of the enemy’s territory. Compound after compound is touched by the light of Jesus, and person after person is freed from the stronghold of fear. It’s beautiful.

     After a few hours of this, we turn back and meet up with the team at the church. We talk about our experiences and share what Jesus did. Today, two of my sisters on the team share something very sobering. They tell us how they had visited a large family and how the mother there, I believe it was, told them what was going on: they were starving. Her entire family had no food. All they could do was sit in the their small dusty compound and wait. One of my sisters then pointed to the crops surrounding them. “Aren’t these your fields?” she asked. No. Apparently this family owned only the compound. So my sisters did the only thing they could think of: they shared Jesus. They told the family about his love and goodness. And then they asked the family to stand in a circle and together they prayed that somehow Jesus would provide food for his children. Then they left.

     One of my sisters told us with tears in her eyes the struggle she was facing. This hopeless situation was more then she could bear. I listened. I could feel the pain. All we could do was pray. That afternoon we all had to choose to trust. Faced with the pain and darkness around us, we chose to believe true Love was right around the corner.

     Jesus didn’t let us down.

     I think it was the very next day the two ladies went back to the compound. They had to. There was too much heaviness, too much pain for them to concede the battle for this little family. The rest of us stayed back and began working on the next project. A few short hours later, the two evangelist came back. With smiles, they began to tell us an incredible story:

     When they made it to the compound, and incredible scene met them! There’s was the mother, sitting in her compound. And there each side of her were two PILES of fresh produce. The mother was sorting through them. They were astonished! “Where did this come from?” they asked. The mother told them what happened: “Last night, someone came and brought all this in to our compound!” The joy must have been surreal. Imagine being the mother for a second. You haven’t been able to give your children anything to satisfy the terrible hunger pains racking their bodies. All you can do is, well, nothing. And then some Mzungus come and tell you of a good Father who wants to love and provide for his children. It’s hard to believe them. Where was this Father right now? And then they do something odd: they start to talk to this Father. They ask him to give you food. You start to hope. But still there is nothing to prove this Father is even real. Until hours later when someone comes and gives you more food than you can eat!!

     This family would never be the same. They came to the church and they learned more about their good good Father. They chose him. Less then two weeks later, my team and I got to stand next to them as they made a public declaration of love for their Jesus. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

     This is the God I will follow. No matter what you’ve heard, no matter what you’ve believed, the evidence speaks for itself. He is not only real, but he is good. This is Jesus.