Go, Tell it on the Mountain

Today, I was "one of the guys". Over the weekend, Garrett and Colin hiked out to some of the more remote and rural villages a few miles away, and ever since they returned with stories of the people they met and things they experienced, I've had an inexplicable desire to go see for myself. I tried to get them to go back and take me with them on Monday. And on Tuesday. And again on Wednesday. And I was a little confused about what God was doing and discouraged when the days came and went and we still hadn't gone. And then I realized, for about the thousandth time since being here, that His plans are so much greater than mine.

First of all, had I hiked out to the middle of nowhere yesterday, I would have completely missed the opportunity to hang out with some of the sweetest girls who live nearby and now greet me with a chorus of "Hirrary!" as they run and jump into my arms, quizzing my Runyankole (the local language) every time I pass their house.

Secondly, in hindsight I can see clearly that God was going before us in giving people to encounter and opportunities to start conversations today. I know He still would have worked had we gone yesterday, or tomorrow, or next week. But we might never have met the people we did or have seen the things we saw.

So this morning after devotions, the guys were discussing plans to make the hike and agreed to let me come along. We left early in the afternoon with plans to be gone most of the day. Other than that, I had no idea what to expect.

We walked to the outskirts of Rukungiri and took a dirt road that led up into the mountains. As we walked, we prayed for the people we would meet and the villages we would see. We prayed for opportunities to spread the name of Jesus everywhere we went. We prayed that a light would shine into the darkness and that lives would be changed.

If I've ever doubted that God hears and answers prayers, today He showed up and shattered all of that. We got to the first village and stopped in a little shop to get some bananas. What started as a conversation about buying fruit turned into one about where we were going and what we were doing. As we told them we were just walking to pray for people and tell them about Yesu (Jesus) we found out that one of the men named Elias was a believer. We sat talking to him for awhile as he explained that much of the surrounding village practiced witchcraft and warned us of some of what we might encounter.

As we were getting up to leave, we were met by a man that everyone said was "bewitched". He was either crazy or drunk or both, but the guys wanted to pray over him. So as he danced around and shouted in Runyankole, we laid hands on him and prayed.

There have been a number of things here that have pushed me outside of my comfort zone, but this was by far the biggest. It was just so not something that would ever happen in America, or something I would initiate. I don't know if we'll ever see that man again. I don't know if he'll be healed or if he understood any of our prayers. But I know God is faithful to hear and answer according to His perfect will. And I know that He used this man to open my eyes to how dark this place is, how deep the root of witchcraft is here, and how clearly they need the light of the Gospel.

Most of my encounters with people here so far have taken place at church or ministry events, or with fellow Christians like our friends in the market and at the Internet cafes. Our ministry, which starts on Monday, is discipling the students at a Christian high school. In all of this, it has been so easy to lose sight of the fact that there are still people here in desperate need of the Gospel. Encountering this man reminded me not only of the privilege and responsibility we have the spread the Good News, but also that in Him, we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). If God is for us, who can be against us? Certainly not witchcraft, or unbelief, or anything in all creation.

This was the power we continued on in. Elias wanted us to follow him to his mother's house to pray for her, as she has spent the last few years battling an alcohol addiction. As we headed up a path to their village, I was rejoicing the whole way that my God is more powerful than anything on this earth, and praising Him for the way that He led us to these people. An hour before, we didn't even know Elias existed, let alone his mother. Now, we were on our way to their house down a path we never could have found on our own. Never before have I experienced such a clear understanding of how much God is in control and how much I am not.

So we finally made it to their house and met Elias's younger siblings and his mother, Sylvia. My heart was broken for this shell of a woman, for the children she couldn't care for because she was feeding her addiction instead, for their tattered clothes and small, dark house.

We prayed for the Lord to break the chains of her alcoholism and for her eyes to be opened to the knowledge that Jesus alone can satisfy where all of the things of this world will fail. When we finished praying, she told us she didn't want to drink anymore! Though I have no idea if her conviction was sincere, nor if I will ever see her again to know how she is doing, my heart will continue to cry out to Jesus that He would continue working in Sylvia's life so she could experience the freedom He has purchased for her.

We left Sylvia's house blown away by what God has already done and excited about what lay ahead. Garrett's plan was to hike up one of the nearby mountains to see the entire surrounding area before heading back home. As we started climbing, we realized there were a few kids following us. By time we got to the top a little while later, we were joined by several more.

We talked and played up there on top of the mountain, found out that an older girl named Precious was a Christian, prayed with her, and shouted Yesu at the top of our lungs with them.

I have never been more in awe of God's creation then in those moments. Literally everywhere I looked I was surrounded by the indescribable beauty of all that God spoke into existence and is sustaining by the word of His power. The pictures I took failed to do it justice, I just stood there and soaked it all in for awhile.

I could have stayed there all day, or camped out up there, but we knew we needed to head back. So we hiked back down the mountain, stopping a few times to play with the kids before getting back to the main road.

My assumption was that we were done with ministry and were just going to walk straight back home. But something else God has been teaching me here is that you're never actually done with ministry as long as there are still hurting people who need Jesus. As we were walking, we were approached by a man who just walked right up and asked for prayer. I don't know if word had spread through town about the crazy mzungus praying for people, or if he was just led by the Spirit.

But regardless, I was blown away by how God had worked to lead him to us. If ministry has ever not been about me and been completely about God, this was it. We literally could not take any credit for what happened. We weren't looking for this man. Here I was thinking we weren't even going to stop and talk to anyone else, and the opportunity falls right into our laps. If we had stayed any longer on the mountain, or come back any sooner, our paths might never have crossed. But they did, because God is sovereign and has plans bigger than mine.

So we prayed for this man named Dennis, who was also battling alcoholism but knew he needed to follow Jesus. Again, I have no idea what the lasting impact of our encounter will be. But I know that whether we plant or water the seeds, God will make them grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6)

"My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24

Love,
Hillary