Have you ever just felt that you were exactly where you needed to be? That God planned this exact date, time, and place for you? If you haven’t, I encourage you to ask God to give you one of these moments, because they are extraordinary. Ask God to surprise you. He loves to surprise us with his intimate love and plans.
This moment happened to me when we left Cacao for three days to venture out to a new village, called Mangulile, with Pastor Jugo. We had to take a 25 minute boat ride to get there because there we no roads to access the village. There was no electricity and no (what our part of the world would call) working bathrooms or showers. No missionaries had ever arrived there. It sounded very adventurous and I was all in!
Upon arrival, I was first surprised by the beauty of the village. It was breathtaking! The beach, the blue water, the jellyfish, the sand, the rocks, everything. Then you look up and all you can see is jungle covered mountains, right off the shore, the mountains tower over. (the only part was that everyday we had to climb a hundred-some stairs to get to church and then climb the mountains to get to the village’s homes! Talk about getting in shape!)
The second surprise was the house we stayed at. I was secretly hoping to live in a one rom stick house on the floor with spiders and pigs (that would make a great missionary story, am I right?), but the house we walked up to was lovely. It was cement and had multiple bedrooms. I had a slight sense of disappointment, although I am sure the rest of the team felt complete relief! Although the house was great, we still got to spend the night with the spiders and pigs. 😉 But I still couldn’t imagine who would have such a nice home in such a poor, remote area.
The next surprise was even more breathtaking and awe filling! I introduced myself to the lady of the house, Hermana Bachita. I greeted her with lots of enthusiasm as I told her how pleased and excited I was to stay in her lovely home. But she greeted me with even more enthusiasm as she said, “We have been waiting for you for six years! And look, you are finally here!” I was in shock, as I said, “Huh??” She went on to explain how six years ago with the sisters from the church, she saw a vision of missionaries coming to her village. Her exact words were, “There were so many Gringos that I didn’t know where they would all come from!” I was in awe of God. What? How? Why us? What now?
So we went to pray and ask God the specifics of these questions. We received three words from the Lord.
- We were there to bring joy to the church.
- We would see the church grow because of our ministry.
- We would come back to Mangulile again.
With that in the back of our minds, we continued for three days doing all of the ministries we had planned. On the last day we spent the morning in prayer with the some the our brothers and sisters from the church, and Hermana Bachita began to tell us that in her vision, three things were revealed to her. That we would bring joy to the church, and the church body would grow, and that we would come back! I was in awe. Oh how God loves to surprise us and use us for his glory!! Then she began to tell us that after seeing the vision, six whole years ago, she began to save all of her money. She lives alone, but she wanted to build the biggest house possible so that when the missionaries finally arrived, they could stay in her house. How amazing! What faith! I was in awe. I still am in awe. How did they not give up hope? How did they save every penny with no reassurance that God was going to send missionaries? And why us? Why were we able to fulfill the prophecy? I don’t know, but I am surprised and blessed to be God’s child, lover, and servant!
God has so many plans just like this for each one of us. Ask him to reveal them to you today! Ask him to surprise you with his love and his plan. It will make you step back and be in awe.
Toda la Gloria es para Dios!
-Kaitlyn Anjelica
