God Encounters

Aloha from Oahu!  We are really feeling a sense of "home" lately with getting to know the area more and getting a bit more connected with the people...it's been really nice.  More & more, we are feeling that we are to stay here, beyond the 6 month commitment of our lease.  But that will be up to God and His provision, especially financial, as we ourselves, don't know how we can afford it.  Continuing to pray for donations to come in to support our mission here...I will share more about that in a minute.  But first, here are some more pics I've been taking in my wanderin's here on the island...

Most common form of transportation on the island!

All images were taken at the Monoa Falls
The trail up to the falls was magnificent!
All tropical rain forest with huge tree and leaves and lots of vines!    

All the vines, reminds me of Tarzan's jungle!

Mikey in the jungle! 

Truly magnificent to see!

My Tarzan!

We've been blessed in work for Michael with our landlord Jim, so I've had quite a bit of time to myself to get out each day and explore and wander.  I pray each time I go out, and ask God to show me where to go and how I can be a blessing to someone this day.  Yesterday was a great day.  I woke up not feeling well, little more than usual and spent time hanging at the house, hoping it would lift a bit so I could get out.  God just told me to GO, even with feeling this way and I did.  I headed up to the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens here in Kaneohe and had my camera in tow, ready for inspiration.  I LOVE these times where I can get out in God's creation - I find it's my own time to worship Him and I get so filled with His presence while I'm out.  Makes everything in life that is difficult literally melt away.

I had to stop at one of the bathrooms and found a lady inside, sitting and working at her computer of all places! I felt led to talk with her and here is her story... her name is Shelly, she is 39, partially homeless, lost all of her 4 kids to family members and lived on the streets for about 5 years here in Oahu pretty recently.  She is DETERMINED to change her life, so she was in the bathroom doing her studies while camping with her boyfriend because it was the only place she could concentrate.  She is going to school to learn criminal justice and wants to help the teens.  I told her I loved how, with Jesus, our ashes can be turned into Beauty.  She lit us and said she LOVES Jesus!  We both just had tears with the emotion of this "Holy Spirit" moment.  God was IN THE DIRTY BATHROOM!!  I told her how much I appreciated her hard work and diligence to change her life and use it to make a difference in the lives of others struggling...just like the young gal I wrote about in a previous post that I met at the library, she told me that NO ONE has ever given her positive encouragement before!  And it just made her cry!  I asked her if I could pray for her and she stood up, with tears running down her face and said with such radiance, oh YES, no one has ever wanted to pray for me either!  Wow.  Was that just so GOD??!!  So I prayed and we cried, and also exchanged phone numbers and I told her I would love to hear more of her story and continue being an encouragement to her.  Was so very special.  That one moment felt MORE IMPORTANT to me than achieving the greatest that the world could offer me, be it wealth, fame, etc.  I knew I was smack in the middle of God's will and that's the most gratifying, beautiful place to be.

While I was there, I was sitting in the parking lot and saw this sweet little one standing by herself while her parents argued and yelled...she just stood there with her hand in this position and all I could think of was that I wanted to just go to her and love and comfort her - she looked so distressed.  I captured a photo of her to share with you all so you could lift her up in prayer...don't know her name, but God does...she is #1 in His book of life!

   

In addition, this day also held more promise of "Holy Spirit" encounters!  After I left the park, I still felt that I was not to go home yet and asked God to show me where to go.  So I sat in the car until I heard His voice tell me to go to Barnes & Noble in Honolulu and I went.  I was standing by some books and had picked one up and this lady next to me started sharing the story of this woman's autobiography of her sad story and that she had seen her in an interview the other day on TV.  I asked her is she mentioned in the interview if she was a christian and she didn't know.  That opened the door for us to talk about Jesus and we discovered we shared faith in Jesus and as always, it opened doors that wouldn't normally be opened to two strangers just meeting for the first time!  It's amazing to me how, once you find out that someone is a believer, all blocks of being "strangers" is removed!  She just shared with me how she is struggling, that she isn't going to church right now and knows that she needs the fellowship and wants to get closer to the Lord again.  I have recently joined a small women's bible study group and knew that I was supposed to invite her!  She got tears in her eyes (wow!) and said she would really like to come, so we exchanged phone numbers and hopefully I will see her at our next Thursday meeting! 

Isn't it amazing, that when we open ourselves to be LED by God's Holy Spirit, the many people we can meet and touch their lives for Him?  This doesn't happen when we start our day all wrapped up in ME, what I have to do accomplish today, my needs, etc.  This is why Jesus tells us we must spent time with our Father God, apart from everything else that distracts us and leads us away from Him and from hearing His voice.  I encourage each one of you to make a commitment to spend time with Him each morning, to worship Him, to share with Him your needs, and to pray to be a light to someone in that day.  There is truly nothing sweeter than that.

In His love,

Sue