Safe House Mom
The other day I felt God asked me to trust Him and jump of a ledge…Say goodbye to our temporary house mom without having another one in place. I should know well by now that God will never ask me to go anywhere that He doesn't go with me, before me and behind me--but I was hoping that He would work it out before I was ready to throw in the towel. Our intern Ashley would be leaving September 23rd and I thought to myself, “OK, here we go-- all we can do is pray and wait for the show.”
I went to the neighbor’s house, La Pastora, to ask her to join me in prayer on Monday. She asked me to wait until Thursday. I found it strange that the pastor asked me to wait until Thursday to pray so I asked why. She said she felt she needed to pray, fast, “ser silencio” and seek the Lord so that she could be full of Him before we sat together in prayer. Can you imagine ANY of your friends saying that to you? -- I’m going to fast and pray and sleep on the floor for the next four days so that I pray better for you. I left inspired. I want to be that friend. I want to get on the floor for my friends and truly seek the Lord’s face on their behalf.
Today is Thursday. A little lady that resembled La Pastora walked in to talk with us. She brought with her a supernatural peace and joy. She listened as I described the program and our need for a house mom and she said that was why she was here. As she began to talk she described what she felt we needed and it seemed as if God himself were saying to me—I am answering your every request right now.
She described her vision for the girls, the structure of the house including chores, the discipleship, the prayer, and the needs of the community. Then she shared how she came to know of our project and what drew her to it. She said she had gone to visit La Pastora, and noticed the new, beautiful building up above and was curious about it. La Pastora explained that it would be a Christian school and safe house for girls in the neighborhood. In that moment she knew that God himself had opened the gates of heaven and placed it there because no one in their right mind would choose that place for a school---only God. She wanted to know more and wondered if God wanted her to be a part of it.
She had a few requests of her own before accepting the position… She teaches bible to150 kids on Thursday mornings, would we allow her to continue? She wondered if we would be open to her doing a bible study with the community on our patio. We were so excited! When she told us of her desire to earn 10,000 pesos and we told her we could only offer 7,000 there was a brief moment of silence and then she handed me the bible asking me to read Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Then she asked what her day off would be.
When I told her we would like to give her Tuesdays off. She jumped up into the air and shouted, “You are real God! This is you! This is you!” She told us that God had told her in prayer that as a way of confirmation her new employer would offer her Tuesdays off so that she could attend a pastor’s conference each week! She prayed for us a powerful prayer and after she finished we just sat there soaking it all up and then followed her up the ladder to the dorm. I found her praying over every bed.
So we continue to sit in awe and wonder of our God...Thank you Lord, you are so good to us!