Jericho or Bust Part 2

First let me highly suggest that if you have not read part one yet, please take a moment and do so. You can read it by clicking on the link below. Thank you for being so patient in waiting for part 2. I finally got my papers written and turned in and my sermon ready (yea!)

Jericho or Bust Part 1

Jericho or Bust Part 3

When Katherine told me that vision I have to admit that I did not take it very seriously. I never really saw myself going over to Israel to serve. I did believe that one day I would work in an orphanage overseas somewhere, but I my heart I thought it would be in Mexico.

I could not ignore this vision she had so I asked the Lord for a sign if it was true. I prayed and basically said to God that the only sign that I would believe is that my house would sell. My house had been on the market for over two years at this point and it was starting to get pretty desperate for me financially especially with the absolute dismal state of the housing market. So I prayed and asked for my house to sell as a sign and then forgot the whole thing. I was busy with school and again really did not take this that seriously (shame on me).

Well two days later I get a call from my realtor and someone made an offer on my house. Now the offer was ridiculously low, so I countered offered. Another couple of days go by and I get another call. This time the same people offered an amount I was willing to accept. Not only that, but it was an unconditional offer. I had three offers before this and everyone involved them selling their house which of course in this really bad market never happened. I was so convinced this was from the Lord I stopped my house payment. Well the buyer had to run out of town for a week which pushed the sell back and my house payment late. They offered to pay the late payment- who does that!

I am of course just floored by this. I thought that I would finish my 4^th year here at FSM though I was starting to feel that maybe something was changing (maybe) and I would not finish my 4 years here. Anyways, I asked for a sign and I got a sign one that I really could not deny.

Yet about a week later I was sitting in the Prayer Room and I was praying and asking God if this was really what He wanted me to do. My reply from the Holy Spirit was that this is exactly what I had asked for. I was undone by that response as I never recalled asking God to go over to minister in a refugee camp in Jericho. So I asked the Holy Spirit what He meant as I never ask to do something like this.

Well the Holy Spirit ever so gently reminds me of a movie I watched about a Catholic Priest by the name of father Damien who spent 16 years of his life tending to the people dying of leprosy on the island of Molokai.

In the 7 years before his arrival on this island the living conditions were severe with the dying living in caves and fending the best they could. Father Damien volunteered to minister on the island and poured out his life caring for these people. He built house and hospitals for the people. He is considered to be the hero of Molokai eventually dying from leprosy himself.

I was very young in the faith (5 or 6 months in the light) and when I watched this movie I was in tears at the end of it. I prayed and said if I could live my life doing something like that it would be a very great thing. The Holy Spirit showed me that I was being granted my prayer. He showed me how the Palestine people living in these refugee camps were like the lepers (outcasts from their land) that father Damien took care of. No they do not have leprosy, but in a camp stuck between the Israelis and their own people, they are a people set apart.

There are a couple of other things have happened, but I will cover those in the next segment as the hour is growing late and I have to teach at the CEC tonight.

Part 1of Jericho or Bust

JPart 3 of Jericho or Bust

Part 4 of Jericho or Bust

Part 5 of Jericho or Bust

~ by mjwakema on May 9, 2008.