“Do you know what you’re saying?!” a church volunteer wondered, mouth almost agape. Her pastor had just invited me to speak at a service and ask for supporters. I’d introduced myself over the phone a couple minutes earlier, but he still didn’t even know my name, having trouble understanding me. The volunteer accepted the phone to interpret, still wondering what had possessed her pastor to invite someone he had met two minutes ago, without completing his normal process of meeting in person for a longer conversation.
I had no idea then that the people on the other end of the line were as shocked as I was at this invitation from a church I’d found in the yellow pages. I discovered our mutual surprise at a potluck after the service, when the pastor explained that he’d abandoned his normal carefulness because He felt God’s hand on the situation, something I didn’t really feel until I hung up and pinched myself.
By the time I made it to the potluck that day, I expected the pastor to change any feelings of positivity he’d experienced. I had unknowingly set up an earlier version of my power point to run during my presentation, something I realized when the wrong slide came up during the service, containing information I had no intention of talking about. Until that moment. When the power point I thought I’d discarded took over my speech. But as I reached the potluck, where I was enthusiastically received, I began to recognize that my connections with people and my speaking ability were far less important than God’s mysterious, sometimes worrisome ways of working.
I look forward to more of God’s surprises as I finish speaking to people and churches in Kansas and head to Indiana for some more work there.
Praise God For:
· The 8 churches I was able to speak at in September and October.
· The time I had in Kansas to raise support and to reconnect with people in my home town.
Please Pray That:
· I will have safe travel to Indiana.
· Churches and people in Indiana will be open to hearing about my ministry.
I had no idea then that the people on the other end of the line were as shocked as I was at this invitation from a church I’d found in the yellow pages. I discovered our mutual surprise at a potluck after the service, when the pastor explained that he’d abandoned his normal carefulness because He felt God’s hand on the situation, something I didn’t really feel until I hung up and pinched myself.
By the time I made it to the potluck that day, I expected the pastor to change any feelings of positivity he’d experienced. I had unknowingly set up an earlier version of my power point to run during my presentation, something I realized when the wrong slide came up during the service, containing information I had no intention of talking about. Until that moment. When the power point I thought I’d discarded took over my speech. But as I reached the potluck, where I was enthusiastically received, I began to recognize that my connections with people and my speaking ability were far less important than God’s mysterious, sometimes worrisome ways of working.
I look forward to more of God’s surprises as I finish speaking to people and churches in Kansas and head to Indiana for some more work there.
Praise God For:
· The 8 churches I was able to speak at in September and October.
· The time I had in Kansas to raise support and to reconnect with people in my home town.
Please Pray That:
· I will have safe travel to Indiana.
· Churches and people in Indiana will be open to hearing about my ministry.
