Sovereign Potter 

: who God is revealing himself to be in this season.

I’ll dig into all that means at a later date.

But for now : how we’ve gotten to see His Sovereign hand spreading the Gospel and bringing Kingdom on the streets.

The Holy Spirit is at work in ways without natural explanation, and I’m only going to share a portion of it in this blog…

Jesus did many other things. If they were all written in books, I don’t suppose there would be room enough in the whole world for all the books (John 21:25).

 

Oh how He’s teaching us the artistic hand that takes the broken things and makes them beautiful, like my friend Daisey emphasized today (Potter and Friend song). 

We’ve found it’s not a matter of if we have the ability to impact people’s lives by the Spirit; it’s a matter of are we willing to impact people’s lives by the Spirit.

Because every time we let the Spirit go before us in what we call “Ask the Lord Evangelism” days, God’s Sovereign hand follows us in every interaction.

It’s like the atmosphere around us is Him, and hungry souls can’t help but be drawn to surround it. 

Like Drew emphasized, the harvest is so plentiful but where are the workers…would we always be workers? Like Abby emphasized, if we are to give our lives over to God, He has the entire thing planned in front of us in glory and adventure. 

Here’s some of the wonderful people it’s been my honor to partner with in seeing the Potter at work.

 

 

---

Healer

Daisey and I go on a walk that turned into evangelism. During the first couple people we pray for, I can‘t help but imagine this man in a wheel chair every time I close my eyes. 

Daisey feels led to go down this street, and we encounter him sitting meekly in front of a bank.

We leave him moved, seen in his demeanor and eyes, touched.

Daisey feels the Lord with Him, and we share how Jesus had changed our lives. We pray healing for his paralyzed body. We don‘t see him walk, but we see his hands move.

 

Days before Drew, Sam, and I prayed for a different paralyzed man to walk.

It sounds risky. It is. But nothing has ever been more beautiful than risking hope. No matter the outcome, it can leave you so close to the heart of the Father. 

 

Daisey and I run into other racers and keep walking back home. A woman calls out to us from her house. She radiates the joy of Christ. And for some reason in our short conversation and limited Spanish she keeps bringing up this constant pain she suffers from.

We ask if we could pray healing over the pain in her back. We all pray, Sarah closes.

A touch of shock, amazement, and joy written all over her face. Because of Jesus, the pain her back went from a 5 to a 0, she says!

 

 

---

 

 

Ask God.

He communicates in feeling (Spirit to spirit), love (Heart to heart), the Bible, visions (Creator to creator), words, thoughts (Mind to mind), silence, nature, his image bearers, and so much more…

 

One morning we spent time with the Lord before going out into Turrialba, Costa Rica to share the love of Jesus. We asked God what he had for us for the day. 

What God told us beforehand and how it was fulfilled…

the image: dark skinned man with a hat and sad spirit

On our way to the center of the city a dark skinned man walks by, and I know it’s him. We learn his name and quickly ask if we can pray for him.

This man is so eager for prayer. He‘s without job and worried about providing for his family. He explains how hard it has been.

We all pray, tears well up in his eyes – a release of pain and amazement that God cares enough to send these rando gringos in his time of need.

 

the word: Holy (I felt I needed to translate it in Spanish – “santo”)

We could barely walk a step without having a divine encounter on this one corner of downtown Turrialba. 

The man walks the streets selling kites.

In the middle of talking to folks in the middle of alcoholism or drugs, is Martina. Martina is full of the Holy Ghost. He tells us he met Jesus when he was 15. He fell away for awhile. But now, he doesn’t look to the left or to the right, only to Jesus. 

He emphasizes that he has been made clean and “santo” inside by the Holy Spirit. I get so excited telling him the Lord highlighted this word to me this morning as we were praying. 

We pray together. And in that moment that street corner becomes Holy Ground. The Spirit powerful among us and around us. 

 

Debriefing the day back at our place, we see Martina again

flying a kite down the very street I can’t get out of my head

 We can’t help but think his kite symbolized something

Maybe it us on that narrow, hard path with the Lord

Riding the waves of His Grace and His Spirit,

Flying in freedom if we are to just coast through Him

 

 

the feeling: we need to remind ourselves of what is true and cast out any doubts, fear, or anxiety

God loves us no matter who we are or what we do. He has offered us freedom. We don’t have to be a specific type of person to share the Gospel. He has given us everything we need – the Holy Spirit and our testimony.

He’s not finished with these people yet. No matter the sadness and tiredness carried in their eyes; there is so much ahead. Not our job to fix people, but simply ask that the Lord would love people through us. 

So let’s go out boldly

 

the feeling: we need to push ourselves to be uncomfortable today and go to hard areas within the city

the image: red roses

the heart: Brooke and Daisey remembered a woman on the streets. They had heard she had been involved in prostitution and had 4 kids.

We discussed the vulnerable, let God break our hearts, and got to share some incredible stories from the last year. (crazy enough – before even knowing what we were going to do for ministry that day, the Lord placed sex trafficking on my heart that morning. And Jesus ain’t ok with it either – Mark 9:42).

We decided priority would be to go to this woman. 

 Let’s set the scene.

We walk to where she usually is. She’s not there. Lord please bring her to us if were meant to talk to her.

Disappointed. Drew notices two red roses underneath this tent market. We decide to go to those tables. I get to tell two women that they are loved by Jesus. One of them is a young woman hoping to go to university. I buy a beautiful ring from her. I want to keep it. 

Meanwhile Drew is talking to men from the Czech Republic (he randomly had a dream about the Czech Republic nights ago…).

All six of us meet back up, and the woman we came for is now at the street corner!

We pray and decide some should go talk to her. Some should stay back to intercede. 

 

Skinny as bones, only teeth on the corners of her mouth, a tank top and this thin pair of white underwear. Oh Lord, why doesn’t she have pants on.

As we walk over, a little dialogue in my head. I love this ring I just bought. Give the ring to her. I slide it on her tiny, dirty finger and for a moment she has joy. 

But then, distracted, paranoid, she barely makes eye contact. I try and get to know her, tell her she’s important and that Jesus loves her. I can barely understand the quiet words of Spanish she gets out. Brooke’s interceding that she could focus.

 

Meanwhile, all around us are her street friends listening in, Drew prays for some men sitting near. He also walks over to the young women I talked to earlier and asks if he could take the fake rose from her table.

The others go to get her food. I ask her what her name meant. She said her name is from the Bible – Rebekah. 

She says she has to go to the bank and walks away. Drew comes back with the rose. He goes up to her alone and hands her it. Later, the girls bring her food.

 

This was when we met Martina and Lucille. Lucille has a nose ring, 5 kids, 2 grandchildren, and a history with alcohol. She tells us Jesus is in her heart always. She doesn’t have a church right now. We ask to pray for her and pray freedom from her dependence on alcohol. She accepted the prayer with so much joy.

Daisey, with the most compassionate Holy-Spirit filled tears I’ve ever seen, tells Lucille right in the eyes “Jesus te ama.” A moment of empathy that could touch any heart. 

The Lord puts it on my heart to ask her if she wanted to come to church with us on Wednesday. She says her mother lives by the church that we are staying at, and that she’ll come!! 

Rebekah walks up and shows us her Schreck blanket. All the sudden, she’s joyful, focused for a moment, and says hi to us again. Rebekah and Lucille have been friends for a long time. We ask Lucille if she’d bring Rebekah to church too, but Lucille thinks not. 

Lucille tells us that Rebekah has been involved with drugs since she was young. We attempt to tell her in Spanish that she can come exactly as she is to Jesus. 

 

We also saw three people that day we’d met earlier in the month. I’ll share the last one. A man by the last name of Angel. 

Hannah, Drew, and I meet a man on the streets who struggles with addiction and bring him to meet the pastor. His heart seems open. He says he wants to listen more about Jesus. As he was talking to the pastor, Angel walks up and says he works for a rehab facility. The conversation with Angel seems to anger the man, and it ended at that. 

 So literally yesterday the boys were discussing how it be good to see Angel again to gain perspective. 

Walking back from Rebekah, we happen to run into Angel and hear his story. His kids live in the US. He has a lot of pain in those relationships and walked through very hard seasons in life. He’s been sober for 2 years. His heart has been hardened by all he’s seen, but he still loves Jesus. We get to pray with him, learn from him, and share why we still hope for people who seem hopeless. 

 

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)

 

 C  H  R  I  S  T     I   N     U   S    

 T  H  E    H  O  P  E    O  F    G   L  O  R  Y

Colossians 1:27

 

Rewind to another day…

During a physical labor ministry day, a group of us were unoccupied. Okay, let’s make ministry and evangelize.

 Praying before we go out, the Lord shows us in our minds a mountain bike, purple flowers, old ladies, a man with tattoos, and a small white dog.

Within minutes we find a house with two men, purple flowers, and a mountain bike. After talking to these men not open to prayer, we meet two widows. Then, a tattooed man working inside calls out to us. He comes out to talk in perfect English. 

We pray for the man. Meanwhile, the broken down house next door is blasting music. We already had noticed this house. Then a white small dog, exactly as the Lord showed me in my mind as we prayed beforehand, runs by. 

We almost keep walking, but instead follow the dog. The white dog circles this house. We all feel spiritual heaviness around the house, feel specific strongholds. We pray for the house. Asa with boldness knocks on the door numerous times. 

No answer.

A young local boy who came with us told us that a mother and her three kids live there. They have a lot of problems, and men go in and out of the house. 

 We have such a hard time leaving. Kiersten feels led to go back down to one of the widows to ask if she needs prayer. The widow tells us her love for the Bible and how she’ll be praying for us. 

Then, up the street, finally, a young woman our age walks out of that house. We get to talk to her, tell her she’s loved, pray for her. She seemed nervous, reserved, and so heavy emotionally. Numerous of us left her with tears in our eyes, hurting for her. 

 

Lilly has it on her heart to go back with a note. We drop off a note and a Spanish New Testament and a prayer with her brother, kind and broken and touched in his eyes.

 .

 Moreover, Asa and some of the racers have made friends with people in the community that often stop by to say hi. Through Christ, we offer prayer, love, and light that a man like Felix (above pic) is longing for. 

---

As for me…

So much happens squad leading. My favorite thing is walking with the racers in what the Lord is doing. Nothing in my life has been as fulfilling as having them say you make us feel heard, seen, known, and loved or getting to stretch them in evangelism and being led by the Spirit.

What an honor to burden with them the brokenness and then release it to the Lord (reminds me of what I walked through – Thrilling Evangelism and Tears of Zion (theworldrace.org)

How every little part of my story or thing I learned that’s from the Lord I get to pass on depending on what individuals are walking through. 

I got to this point last week where I felt I was going through the motions – doing all these things with and for God but missing just knowing Him for myself. Missing just experiencing His Presence.

And after realizing, through my incredible, sharpening co-leaders who go to the Lord first, that I had been struggling again to confide in others, I decided to fast journaling again (which is very hard considering I journal everything every day). But I can’t tell you how good it’s been to go directly to God and directly to others to process.

Spirit flowing intercession is back, and he’s helping me to step more into getting visions and words from Him. But before all that, I had to sit in Reagan’s worship in a middle of a Valentines Party. I authentically checked myself before the Lord and realized I’d been missing my focus on Him. I’d been missing believing God still has MORE for me. He has more than squad leading.

And I’m starting to dream with Him. Starting to remember that He has the sovereign power to make any dream come true. And like someone spoke over me, made in the Potter’s image, I get to help shape the clay of communities and opportunities He places in front of me by the power of the Holy Ghost.

I’ve also sat before Him sad and lonely and confused and defeated and straight up mad at the world (especially about women’s vulnerability to abuse or trafficking – a future blog on that coming). Thank God Jesus wept, and thank God chapters like Psalm 42 exist.

I can trust in this Savior

Oh, Lord

Oh, Sovereign Potter

What an adventure

to be the clay