Hawaii dream team!
{That night I fell asleep knowing that God would keep His promises. He turned my worries about planning to excitement about the future events. I was so thrilled to tell the youth about my experience.}
Sometimes in life, God loves on us through nature, a Bible verse, and occasionally, He loves on us through a friend. I am grateful for the friends that I’ve made this year in Hawaii. They all have shown me different aspects of Christ’s heart. More specifically in this story, God encouraged me through my friend, Erica. Last month, I was feeling discouraged so I prayed to God that He would provide me with three or four divine conversations in a week. And wow, did He come through in more ways than one…
(1) Conversation with Erica
(2) Bible Study at church
(3) Youth Vespers on Friday night
Tuesday Night, 10:30 pm– Because I was going to sub the next morning, I decided to spend the night with Erica. Here’s an inside scoop on the conversation we had…
Me: “Do you ever wish you could do more with the youth? If only there was enough time to help them. There’s many of them that need encouragement.”
Erica: “Yeah, I’ve been feeling the same way about the dorm students.”
Me: “I have to remind myself that, ‘Jesus doesn’t want us to be exhausted. He doesn’t expect us to be all things to all people.’ I need to trust that He will put me where I need to be.”
Erica: “Yes, exactly! Can you send me that quote? That’s exactly what I was needing to hear… You know yesterday, the phrase, ‘Yes and amen’ randomly popped in my mind. So I decided to look it up and I was blown away by the meaning! It means ‘God will fulfill His promises, for they are sure and firm because He is faithful and true.'”
Throughout the whole conversation, God was using Erica to speak truth to me. It was evident that the Holy Spirit was working through her. At some point during the dialogue, I mentioned that I felt impressed to ask God to do the impossible.
Erica: “Hey do you want to pray about all of this?”
Me: “Yeah, let’s do it!”
Erica: “What would you like me to pray for? Remember, ask God to DO THE IMPOSSIBLE, something that is beyond your capability.”
Me: “Wow, no one has ever told me that before. I want to pray for this Friday’s youth vespers. The dorm students will be joining us and I want everyone to experience the Holy Spirit and to know that they are incredibly loved by God. Let’s ask God to do the impossible.”
After the prayer, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. What happened next I will remember the rest of my life…
We started sharing Bible verses with each other and we were so excited that we started jumping up and down. If someone had walked into the room, they would have thought we were crazy. One of the verses I shared with Erica was 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9 & 17-18.
“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed…”
“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now, rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
[Both of us were becoming teary-eyed at this point.]
Erica: “Wow that last part, ‘For the things we see now will soon be gone’ stood out to me. Soon, Jesus will come and take us home to heaven. I’m so happy right now!”
Me: “Yes, same! I honestly can’t stop smiling. Our faith will finally be made sight in heaven. Just imagine being in heaven and seeing the dorm students there. They will be there because you showed them Christ.”
Erica: “We don’t have to worry or be afraid because God keeps His promises. Our part is to be filled with love from our alone time with God. And to shower other people with His love.
Me: “This is so good. I need to share it.”
During that last part of the conversation, I had so much joy in my heart. I can’t quite describe it. It was as if God had shown me a small glimpse of heaven. That night I fell asleep knowing that God would keep His promises. He turned my worries about planning to excitement about the upcoming events. I was so thrilled to tell the youth about my experience and to love them more like Christ. He had exciting things in store for that weekend.
Wednesday evening, 5:30 pm– At Bible study, I mentioned to all of the aunties and the pastor about the divine conversation that I had with Erica the night before. It was crazy how much the conversation at Bible study corresponded with the conversation I had with Erica. There was a sense of unity in the room and that night we prayed for the IMPOSSIBLE to happen.
Friday evening, 7:00 pm– At youth vespers, the students played a game called, “Speed Friendship”. For every question, they had about 40 seconds to discuss it with their partner. Then after the time was up, the outer circle rotated around the inner circle. One of the silly questions was, “If your parents could change one thing about you, what would they change?” In the middle of the game, I looked over at the head dean. He was in shock because the dorm students were enjoying the game! The dean sat there with the biggest smile on his face. In the past, only about half the dorm students would participate. But tonight they were so engaged that even some of the ESL students asked their friends to translate the questions in Japanese. It was an answer to prayer!
In addition, everyone had a chance to discuss one last question about God. I told the group, “Imagine that you’re on a road trip with Jesus. What would the conversation with Him be like? Lighthearted or serious?” I loved watching their faces light up as they shared with their partners. Later, the teens had the opportunity to spend alone time with God writing in their prayer journals. Some were in the sanctuary, library, kitchen, and other rooms. Once again, God was intently working because many of the students eagerly wrote in their journals way past the 20-minute period.
As I was cleaning up that evening, one of the students opened up to me. She said, “Thank you for the vespers, Sonja! Each one is refreshing. I hadn’t written in a prayer journal for a long time. But ever since we started doing the journal activity for vespers, I’ve been writing consistently at home.” I could not stop smiling when she shared the news with me. There’s an indescribable joy knowing that one of your youth is connecting with Christ. God had done the IMPOSSIBLE for vespers and He assured me He would fulfill more of His promises in the months to come.
“Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
Youth playing “Speed Friendship” during vespers
Iridescent 