Answer to Prayer

It has been a while since I’ve updated this old blawg! I guess, like everyone else, I’ve been busy with holidays and family. Now that things are slowing a bit I hope to update things more frequently!

God’s continued faithfulness, however, has never slowed down! He has been showing us His faithfulness on a daily basis with so many things. I’ve had several of you tell me that you are just in tears over hearing the stories of the Lord’s provision in the life of others through the Clothes Closet ministry. Let me tell you… you aren’t the only one in tears!!

Over the holidays I was so blessed to have one of our missionaries come serve in the Clothing ministry along side our team of workers! Katty is a precious young woman that serves in Ecuador and she was in the US for a few months. While she was here she was able to come and serve for a few hours on 2 different days. She speaks Spanish (of course!) and so having her there REALLY helped. She wrote out the gospel in Spanish for me so that I can have it to share with the people that come in to shop. WHAT a blessing!!

Two things  that I loved about Katty being with us was that she prayed for us while we were working and she easily engaged with people that spoke Spanish when I could not. 

One day the clothes closet was so crowded. We were very busy and Katty was standing near the door as people came and went. One lady had her hands full with two little girls and a huge bag of clothes that she’d found for her family. As she approached the door to leave Katty simply said, “Can I tell you about Jesus?”

The woman began to immediately weep! Katty and I exchanged looks and I began to pray. We took her girls to the front of the store and gave them seats while Katty took their mom to the dressing room to talk with her in private.

What happened next was nothing short of amazing.

The woman began to open up to Katty about her life. She lives with a man that loses his temper and sometimes hits her and the girls. She decided a few weeks ago to take the girls to church where she heard that God loves her and has a plan for her life. Just that day, she said, she prayed that God would send someone to tell her about how to ask Jesus into her heart. She didn’t really understand it all, but she wanted to  and she needed someone to explain it to her. She also needed a Bible.

She told Katty that when she said, “Can I tell you about Jesus?” she began to cry because for the very first time she knew that God had truly heard her prayer.

Katty was able to share the gospel with her, lead her in how to pray and ask Christ to forgive her and live in her heart and life, and we were able to find a Spanish Bible for her.

Because of the language barrier there would have been no way that I could have shared the gospel with this lady. The Lord allowed Katty to be in the United States AND in the clothes closet at the exact time so that this precious sister in Christ could meet Him face to face and her life could be changed forever.

There are a few things that I walked away with on a that day.

1. I hope I never get over the lengths that God will go to just to reach  one lost lamb. The way that He orchestrates every detail and pursues each and every life so that they might come to repentance should bring every believer to our knees in praise of His matchless name.

2. I pray that I am able to be more and more out of my comfort zone and eager to share the gospel with whomever God places in my path. People are hurting and dying in their pain because they don’t know that there IS hope. Katty’s obedience to share about Jesus was literally an answer to a woman’s prayer. We never know how God might have the exact plan for us!! All we have to do is be obedient to share His love!

3. It is imperative that I am in God’s Word EVERY day. The very things that He directed Katty to say that day came directly from His Word. If I am not willing to spend time with Him and pray then how will I  know the will of the  Father and His Word as I try to lead others to Him? I need Him every single hour of every day and I can’t have that relationship by just being in church on Sunday.

Please pray for us? We are so excited to see the Lord at work and we desperately need prayer in knowing how to reach people with the truth. Joblessness and homelessness can bring so much despair. Women that are being abused or domestic violence in the home between family members is very prevalent. People do not know where to turn when they are so hopeless.

Only Christ is the answer. He alone can meet our true needs, and today we are praising Him for the lives that He’s touching and the difference that so many are making through volunteering, donating and praying. Thank you so much for YOUR help! God is using every person’s touch in this ministry to make a difference in our community.