Testimonies from 2018

Stepping out is Contagious!–July 2018

I was hanging out in Ferris Coffee in Holland (formerly Jp’s) working on preparing Dunamis material for some upcoming teaching in North Carolina. This guy who was sitting near me looked “familiar.’ I’ve had that before…people just look “familiar.” I told him that he looked familiar and made a comment about how I saw he was reading his Bible. He sat down on the bench next to me and we started talking.

I shared I was a missionary and I found out he was a graduate of a high school in the West Michigan region.  He was now attending Indiana Wesleyan studying Global Missions. He was very positive when he saw the “Holy Spirit’ stuff I was preparing to teach. I shared about some of the ups and downs of missionary life. I ended up listening to the Lord and praying over him and getting a continuous flow of words for several minutes and calling out his ministry gifting. He later confirmed my words.

I also had a sense that “right leg” was an issue. When I asked about his health, he said something about one leg may be longer. We checked and eventually decided to go out into the street and pray there. His legs were close to the same length, but the right was slightly longer than the left.  I held his feet and commanded the left leg to grow.  About 30 seconds later, they were the same length. Still holding his feet, I prayed some additional bold prayers over his life, health, and future.  We went back inside then and he prayed over me as well.   The whole interaction was greatly encouraging to both of us and we agreed to stay in touch.

After our conversation, I put on my headphones and went back to my work as he sat nearby reading his Bible.  After a little while, he went and talked to a girl sitting a few feet away from us.  I found out later he had a word for her and they had a conversation. Seems that stepping out can be contagious!

I praise God for this story.  It was an encouragement to me as I had been in a bit of a desert lately spiritually and it was a nice Holy Spirit firework display. May this testimony be a prophetic word for some of you reading.  Please do it again, oh Lord!

Teamwork in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park–May 2018

I was back in Japan, this time with a team of short-term missionaries from the USA.  Among other things on our schedule, we were participating in the Shine Japan mission outreach week.

One of the days, the Lord directed my team to go to Yoyogi Park and off we went.  We were blessed to be joined by two Japanese speakers who could aid us in interpretation.

Luke, Daniel, and I began prayer walking in Yoyogi.  I had along some MySoularium cards, a resource from CRU.  The idea is to lay these cards out on the ground and then folks get curious and come talk to you.  There are scripted questions that can be used to bring people into deep conversations.  I find that it is often an excellent conversation starter and way to engage people through imagery.

To be honest, I was pretty focused on where to set up the cards that day.  Eventually, the Lord directed us to the dock near the small pond.  I wasn’t so sure about setting the cards up there, as there was a slight breeze and I didn’t want to lose the cards.  Yet the guidance was clear.  And I’ve learned it is best to obey, even if it doesn’t make much sense.  There weren’t too many people around that day, but there was a man who looked like he may be homeless laying on a bench facing away from us.

Initially, the plan to use the cards to start conversations did not appear to be very successful that day.  No one seemed to really care about them. Why were we sitting here?  There were plenty of other areas in the park. I felt like we were just wasting time.  At one point a breeze came up and blew a few cards into the water.  We had to take a long stick and fish them out!  However, in spite of all that, I believe God still led us to set the cards out where we did. Here is why:

As we sat next to the cards, I took notice of what was around me.  In quiet moments like this, there is also time to pray and dialogue with the Lord.  I kept noticing the “homeless man” even though he was not even looking in our direction.  It seemed the Lord was highlighting him to me.  I had been speaking to people mostly of “higher social classes” in the days prior.  Looking back, I realize that the Lord had to soften my heart for this man.  Finally, the interpreter and myself approached the man and we started talking.

Initially the man was a little negative and made some reference to wanting alcohol.  Yet as we conversed, he was clearly interested in learning more about my faith in God.  Soon into our conversation, he asked me a very interesting question.  I can’t remember it word for word, but it was something like “What has Jesus had done for you in your life?”  That is a pretty profound question!

I was able to share some of the ways Jesus had helped me through difficult situations, relationships, etc.  We talked a little more and I had a sudden sense to give this man 1,000 yen (or just over $9).  I wasn’t sure exactly when to do this, but around that same time my interpreter starting laughing at something the man had said.  When I asked for the interpretation, she shared that he had said, “That duck (swimming in the water) looks tasty.”  Here was my opportunity.  I gave the man the money and shared that God loved him.  I hoped he could eat something more tasty than duck!

The man was emotionally touched  by my act of kindness.  It seemed to be a turning point in our conversation.  I gave him a brochure that we had received from the Shine team that had testimonies and a gospel presentation  from The4Points (all in Japanese). At that point, he and the interpreter had a lengthy conversation and I went back to the Soularium cards, praying from a distance.

Eventually, I rejoined my interpreter as she was finishing with the man we had talked to.  He was very grateful for our conversation.  As he left, he shared how he would “Pray to Jesus everyday.”  Thinking back, he was really “different” than when we approached him.  Something in his face.  At the time, I didn’t recognize that the man may have been born again.  But later on as I reflected on the trip, God brought him to mind.  I also recalled how the Lord had been showing me that he didn’t come for the healthy but for the sick (see Mark 2:17).  I really believe that Jesus touched this man’s life through our interaction, acts of kindness, the brochure, and ultimately through the Holy Spirit.  Praise God!

Shortly after that experience, God called me into intercession again.  Luke, who had been prayer walking, stepped out and talked to a middle-aged man.  They used translation applications on their phones to have a conversation. My interpreter joined Daniel, who boldly stepped out and had a conversation with a Japanese business man who looked a little intimidating to me.  Evan, another member of our team, along with John who was interpreting for him, were conversing with a young college-aged man as well in that area.  Our prayers were being answered!  I spent time praying for these three encounters as I walked around the area.

When I heard the stories later, each was different.  Some appeared more “successful” than others.  But I believe God was at work, tilling the “soil” in each situation.