When the founders of YWAM stood in front of the 543 missionaries and told us amazing stories about God's faithfulness and provision, I was inspired and excited... but I certainly didn't expect to experience anything like what we heard, especially not in the near future.
David Hamilton, one of YWAM's head honchos, was one of the speakers at the "DNA Conference" in North Carolina last week. He told us about so many incredible miracles that he'd witnessed throughout his years at YWAM. His stories blew me away, and I want to share one with you here. David was the leader of a new YWAM base in Chile that didn't have much money. But he felt like God was asking his base to give to another struggling base in Brazil. David asked "How can we give money when we have next to nothing?" and God replied, "Are you sure that it's money I want you to give?" As David inquired of God, he realized that God wanted each member of his base to give their most valued item of clothing to the base in Brazil. Generous donations were made - a long fur coat, a full suit, a green dress. David took the clothing to the base in Brazil, and as he stood in front of the group, he asked them to raise their hands if they had needs. Everyone raised their hands. Next, David asked them if they needed clothing. Again, everyone responded enthusiastically. David told each member to think about one piece of clothing that they really wanted. Then he told them to get a partner and pray about each other's specific item, and then write down that item on a piece of paper. When David had collected the pieces of paper, he began to read each item, one by one. The first item read, "long fur coat." The group laughed at the unlikeliness of someone wanting a fur coat in South America as David pulled out the long fur coat. It fit the woman who had requested it perfectly. The next item David read out was "a black suit." Again, it was a perfect fit. You can probably guess the rest of the story -- every single person received what they had asked for.
Sometimes when I hear stories about God's provision, the skeptic in me says, "It's just coincidence." But as I listened to David telling this story, the skeptic in me didn't say a peep. It's stories like this one that make me wonder how anyone can deny God's existence, presence and faithfulness!
The second last night of the conference was called the "Giving Night." We took up an offering to cover the costs of the conference(we needed somewhere between $5-6000), and to raise money to distribute Bibles and Gospels of John in Asia. David told us to pray about the figure God wanted us to give, and then be obedient in giving that amount. As we gave and worshipped through song, the money was counted and announced every few minutes. I was blown away when we reached the $10,000 mark. But friends, by the end of the night we had raised $91,000. Don't ask me how 540 missionaries can afford that - but it happened! People gave material things as well. After I had given a certain amount of money, I went back to my seat to sing. David announced another total, which included an iPod. Immediately I felt God asking me to give up my camera. I resisted, but I knew that I had to "hear and obey" -- a prominent theme we'd been talking about that day. I asked God who I should give my camera to, and he gave me the name of a guy from the Orlando base in the other school. So, I gave it to him. He asked me if I was sure - "But I already have a camera!" he said. I told him that his name was the one I got and maybe God wanted him to give it to someone else. He thanked me, and I sat down. Immediately I felt such a sense of joy and peace - I didn't regret giving it at all. I half expected someone to come up to me and give ME something cool, since all day we'd been hearing stories of how you can't outgive God. But nothing "cool" like that happened - which was fine! That wasn't the reason I gave my camera away. The whole night was an amazing experience - who knew giving was so much FUN?
The next day I met one of the worship leaders, a guy named Steve from Alberta(yay Canada!). We sat together at lunch and had a pretty great conversation about music and guitars and Michael Buble. I told him about my cracked guitar and how it was the first time I was without a guitar in years. After lunch we went our separate ways - I went to the afternoon session and then hung out with some friends before supper. Our last session together as a conference was another powerful one. When it was over, Steve approached me and said that he had something to give me. So I waited around while his band packed up, wondering what it could be - thinking that it was probably his email, as we hadn't exchanged information at lunch. Finally he came up to me and said, "So, during the giving night I felt like God wanted me to give away my guitar, but I wasn't sure to who. Then when I talked to you today, and you told me about your situation, I thought maybe I should give it to you. I prayed about it during the afternoon and God confirmed it - so... I'm giving you my guitar." I was SUPER surprised... shocked... in awe... I spent the next few minutes thanking God and thanking Steve. I couldn't believe that one of those "you can't outgive God" miracles we'd been talking about happened to me - the next day! It's a beautiful guitar - it has the two things I really wanted in a guitar - a plug in and a cut out. GOD IS AWESOME!!!
So that was the highlight of my week, though tons of other fun and exciting things happened.
I have so much more to tell you, my friends... but I think I've written enough for now!! I'll write more later.
Please share with me what God is doing in your life!
Love to you all.
LC
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