You meet a lot of amazing people on the World Race. A good portion of them are on your squad, but it’s especially great when you get a contact who chooses to take a breath between ministry and family life and care about pouring into yours.
Sometimes these people have no connection to the World Race at all.
Enter Hammie, who hails from South Africa, the land we had traversed only two months before. He showed up to our house one night, sat down for a typical dinner of noodles, rice, fresh veggies, and potatoes, and told story after radical story of the way God has worked in his life.
Hammie and his wife Alti are dedicated missionaries who literally take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. During one of their many mission trips, they had to go through the airport of a country where all Christian materials were strictly forbidden. Their suitcases were full of Bibles and tracts, and they knew they wouldn’t make it through security without a miracle, as each person’s bag was being checked for prohibited items. But right before the security entrance, they were pulled aside and taken through another way, and their bags were never opened.
The same missionary duo went on another hike to evangelize to a small village in the mountains, which God had told them would take ten days. The Muslim guide who accompanied them said they would not be able to reach the village at all due to the weather. Holding up his cell phone, Hammie asked the guide if they could pray to Jesus for a signal; and, if they got service, they could continue on the hike. Knowing they were well out of range, the guide said yes. So they prayed, and God gave them full signal. They kept going, trudging through a life-threatening blizzard, which of course God stopped after they prayed again. They got to the village after ten days.
Hammie told us that God speaks to him and his wife in a lot of different ways, but most often through specific Bible verses. Before a certain excursion to a small Buddhist country, He had directed them to “queens… will bow down before you” in Isaiah 49:23. Not knowing what it meant, obviously, they set out for the journey and arrived after hiking for seven days. Once they got there, they stood before the entrance, unsure of how to get through the gate or what to do next. So they prayed. The doors opened, and the queen came out, surrounded by her guards and servants. She asked the newcomers who they were. Without missing a beat, Alti responded, “I am Princess Alti, and I’ve come to greet you in the Name of my Father the King.” The queen bowed down before them and allowed them to enter.
Those certainly aren’t the only stories. I’ll never forget the ones about…
the sudden appearance of money – thousand of dollars – necessary for mission trips and payments on their children’s homes, without ever having asked anyone for help.
the feeding of an entire town, when food had been prepared for only twenty people. Each person had more than one helping.
the ability to preach the Gospel in a language they had never heard to a group of people they had never met.
I listened to him talk at the dinner table, on walks from the school to our respective living areas, in sermons at the church and school and graduation ceremony and conference.
These are the kinds of stories you read in the Bible. The kinds of things God did a long, long time ago with people who really knew Him, could hear His voice in a whisper, could see His hand as a cloud and a pillar of fire. But now? Really?
I sat, and I listened, and I wondered. I wondered at my own doubt. Because God doesn’t just do cool things in some people’s lives because He likes them better than others. He does it because if you have faith as small as a mustard seed…
What if I had faith like this?
How many times have I had a crazy thought and wondered if it was from God?
How many reasons have I come up with not to do something because it was unsafe or irresponsible or simply sounded ridiculous?
How much faith has it really taken for me to live my life? I mean, really? Have I ever been in a situation where I’d be screwed if God didn’t come through for me? Have I ever been willing to be there?
I’m not talking about skydiving or climbing up the 10,000 steps of the Panchase trek. I’m talking about those flickers of revelation in the middle of my mundane, everyday life. Those times when I hear a voice telling me that there’s something more, that I should do this thing that doesn’t really make sense, that maybe all things really are possible with God… and I can’t quite decide whether it’s just my own thoughts running rampant or if it’s actually a word from the Holy Spirit. I’m talking about just… well, going with it.
What if it’s not God?
Well, it might not be.
And He will inevitably redeem the times I’ve screwed up, disobeyed, or not stepped up to the plate.
But what if it is Him?
What if I’m missing out on something because I’m too scared or too safe or too committed to my color-coded, bullet-pointed spreadsheets?
What if my desire to get dirty was greater than my desire to chase the butterflies and rainbows within the confines of my comfort zone?
What would my life look like then?
Probably a lot like Hammie’s.
Or Jesus’.
Hammie on left
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