It is neat to stop and appreciate exactly how God times things.
Yesterday morning, after intern devos, we went to hand out 600 flyers at the schools as they let out of school. But we were stopped by a lady at the church who asked us to come over and prayer for her mother and law who was ill.
We went with the intent on staying a few minutes and leaving. We went... prayed...and went outside to leave. We knew that the family we knew was the only Christians in their family. But, when we were saying goodbye someone else ivited us back in to pray some more.
After several people praying... Sofia and Elisa (our two mexican interns) shared the gospel with her and her family. She wasn't able to verbally respond... and only God knows what went on in her heart at that moment... but she kept raising her hands.
The family also listened intently to what was being said!
We found out later that day that the lady we prayed for died within thirty minutes after we left.
How amazing it is that we were able to pray for a woman... share with a woman (and her family) just moments before death. Sounds awfully sad... but what a great opportunity.
Anyways, a couple of us decided we should go to the wake later that night. They do things a little differently here... the wake is the night a person dies.
They brought the body to the house around 11:30 I believe. Set up the house for the wake... and then they did the rosary (a lot of the family is catholic). Then we sang some hymns and worship songs and Ishmael (our pastor) gave a short devo. Finally making it back home around 2am. And we left early!
Anyways, a couple of things struck me about the overnight wake.
It doesn't matter when a person passes.... the entire family, and some close friends basically drop everything (nothing else matters) to be at the house THAT night. There is no... when can everyone make it? When does it best fit into everyones schedule?
To show a person you care... you are just there. Some people brought flowers to put around the casket. But, what matters most is your presence.
I appreciate the community feel.
That is really neat!
ReplyDelete