Where Do I Even Begin?

So, I thought I came to Cusco to get my resident visa renewed. Apparently, God has other plans. Where do I even begin? I guess the beginning would help.


 I got in to Cusco on Sunday and had a great time hanging out with Carrie and at the Meeting Place church. I also realized that Carrie's apartment is next door to another friend, D's apartment. I had lost my contacts and their numbers along with my cell phone in my purse when it got robbed. And I had no other way of contacting D except through her cell phone, so I thought that this time around and probably for ever, I will never see D again. And whaddaya know? God plunks me right next door to her. I wasn't even sure if she lived there still, if she had moved to another location or out of Peru all together. But heck, if I don't try, I will never know, so on Monday night, I walked to her apartment and stood outside calling out her name. There is no doorbell for her apartment. I saw a dog inside and I was like, she has cats, what is a dog doing there? Does she still live here? Then I saw her fridge and it was in the same position as before. I kept calling her name. As I was about to give up and walk back to Carrie's, D opened her window. All I will say is that night, D shared stuff with me that was way out of this world. I have known her for 3 or more years when we both taught English at Excel here in Cusco. And that night, she was different, and scared. What she shared with me blew me away and scared me for her sake. I shared God with her. I had tried so many times before but she would never want to listen. This time, she did. She even let me pray for her before I left her house. And she said she felt a lot calmer after we prayed. I left her apartment truly fearful for her and prayed for her that night. We set an appointment to meet up on Wednesday for lunch.


This morning, I felt to send her a text message to see how she was doing even though I knew I would meet her tomorrow. She called me to say she felt a lot better after we prayed and to thank me for thinking of her. I asked if I could drop by her house on my way back to Carrie's this evening. She said I could come by and walk the dog with her. I did and we walked to the park. She shared her heart like she never did before and God gave me wisdom to share Him with her. The Lord then asked me to ask her if she wanted to accept Him into her life and when I did, she said yes. This evening, March 22, 2011, D received the Lord into her heart and because I know her, you have no idea what a miracle this is. I am so amazed at how God works. Because you see, that was not the only miracle today.


I went out for lunch with another long time Cusco friend. He too, had never wanted to receive the Lord as he was never ready to give up things in his life. And for the past 3 years he has been seeing this girl and throughout the time I've been in Lima, he's been asking advice about his relationship with her amidst other conversation topics. So at lunch, it was normal to just ask how things were going for them. He shared and then I shared what God's design for marriage and relationships are. And then I told him about John and Stasi Eldredge's books on understanding the hearts of men and women and that maybe they both should read them to understand each other a little more. He was ready to run to the Christian bookstore to get the books right then and there. So we did and he bought 3 books including a Joyce Meyer book on how to control what words we release from our mouths and then asked me to recommend more books for later. In all of those books, the perspective is biblical and there are biblical references and verses and we all know that the Word of God never returns void. So all I could do was just watch how my God worked through the love this guy has for his girl to reach his heart and share His love for both of them. My friend said this to me later, "My mom told me that God had another purpose for you to meet me other than to just have lunch. She was right,". His mom is a Christian. 


I have known these two friends for at least 4 years. It seemed that they would never yield to God. They were so into their own lives and were convinced they did not need God in their lives. It took this long for them to come to a point of readiness to receive Him and His word. I never thought I would see this day. I hoped it would happen but never thought I would see the fruit with my eyes. God can change a nation in one day, He can also work miracles in the hearts of people in a day. Never give up on the people who seem hardened against Him. Keep loving them, keep sharing the Word in love and in actions because you never know if today is the day you will see the miracle you have been praying for.