It was raining last Friday night when Chris and I pulled up to our friend's house. Exhausted from a full day of activity followed by an evening prayer conference, we were looking forward to sliding into their guest bedroom and falling asleep. I grabbed our suitcase and ran to the door.
In the morning we woke to discover that someone had smashed our car's side window. Chris's purse with my wallet and phone were gone. Silly us. Not the things we should have left in the car, but we didn't want to get the purse wet.
There was still a full day of the prayer conference, so between sessions I called the police, cancelled the credit cards and had the phone switched off.
Monday we got a message on Facebook that someone named Dannielle had found some of our cards while she was walking her dog in the park. What a relief!
Last night I we met at Starbucks where she handed me my much valued Scuba Diving Certificate and 15 other cards.
I asked if I could buy her a coffee. She ordered a white chocolate and we talked and talked. She was curious as to why we had come to her neighbourhood and how the cards got stolen. She wanted to recount how she had found them and how she had found my Facebook account. Then she asked me about one of the cards. "Bob, I see that you are a teacher. What do you teach?"
"I teach Scripture in the public school . I have Year 5 and 6. This week we did the story of Zachheus".
Seeing interest in her eyes, I told her the story in my own words. I wrapped up with: "I like this story because it says that Jesus is interested in everyone. The children drew cartoons of this story. I have them on my phone. Can I show them to you?"
She was impressed with the cartoons. When she discovered I only teach one class, she asked, "What do you do with the rest of your time?"
I told her, "I write phone apps". I was going to show one of them to her, but my good phone had been stolen and there is not much on my backup machine. All I could do was try to explain that I made an app in 80 languages that tells people about God's love. I went briefly through the four main points of the Gospel presentation and then shared the story of how I came to faith in Jesus. She listened carefully the whole time.
A little later Dannielle told me had a big week coming up. She was going in for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) on Monday and she was concerned because the first two treatments had ended in miscarriages.
"Dannielle, I enjoy praying for people. Would it be OK if I prayed for you and asked Jesus to give you a healthy child?", I asked.
When she said yes I kept my eyes open. Looking straight into her eyes I said:
"Jesus, thank you for Dannielle. Thank you for her honesty and that she took the initiative to find me and return all my documents. You see her desire for a child. I pray that the IVF will be successful and that her child will live to be 50 or 60 years old. Amen".
She laughed. "I hope he or she live longer than that", she exclaimed.
I went on to explain that Jesus sometimes answers prayer "Yes" and other times "No". I went on to talk about my Dad who became paralyzed after visiting me in Korea and how God used even that for good.
Two things stand out to me from this conversation:
- It was such a treat to pray for Dannielle. To look in her eyes and affirm her to Jesus and then to bring her need to the One who meets needs. This is something I learned in the MyFriends Training and something I want to do more.
- The next step is up to Jesus. What is He going to do about Dannielle's request? From our conversation I know she believes in Karma.
Would you join me in praying for Dannielle and the new life that will soon be inside of her? I want Dannielle to see the power of prayer in Jesus name. I want to see both of them come to a saving faith.
I've asked Dannielle to let me know how the baby develops. We are friends on Facebook, thanks to the robbery.