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Decaf coffee anyone?

I was on the beach, spending time with God.  I sat in the sunshine contemplating His words while the beautiful ocean lapped at the shore under a cloudless sky.  As I finished journaling what He had spoken to me, I smelt coffee. I really like the smell of coffee, it was unmistakable, yet no one near me appeared to be drinking any. The aroma of the fresh brew was so strong, so distinct but then just as soon as it came, it was gone. The immediate thought that came was, have a decaf coffee. I don’t drink caffeinated drinks after breakfast but at that moment, I thought, how strange, I don’t even feel like having a coffee. But I felt God nudge me and say, go have a decaf coffee. 

I gathered my things and walked up the hill towards my hostel. I was walking past the only coffee shop I knew that served decaf coffee but still I had no desire to drink one. It just didn’t make sense. Then suddenly God said, someone in that coffee shop needs Me. I stopped in my tracks. Ah! There is the reason I needed to go in there. Why didn’t I just obey, without question, from the beginning! So I turned back and walked the short distance to the coffee shop. I ordered my decaf coffee and sat down, the only customer there. Two more ladies came in shortly after me but I didn’t feel God saying it was them I needed to talk to. I finished the delicious decaf brew and the little scrumptious cookies that came with it. It was a treat, even if I didn’t feel like it! I looked around again and asked God, who is it Lord? He said, its one of the staff, there’s a sick child. 
So I went over to the two lovely ladies that had served me and explained in my limited Portuguese that God had told me to come in and have a coffee there. I then asked if either of them had children, both said no, but one immediately added, I have nephews. I asked if any one of them was sick, she said, yes. She then proceeded to share with me that her little nephew, Nicholas, had a problem with his eye, it seemed serious from what I could tell. So I said, God knows and I believe He is going to heal him. As I said that, she began to cry. At that point more people were beginning to come into the cafe. So I said, can I pray for him? She nodded yes, unable to speak. So I held her hand across the counter and prayed a simple prayer. I wish I could’ve given her a hug then but I knew she was under pressure to serve the others, so I smiled and said, God bless you and left. 

I walked away with a certain spring in my step joyfully knowing that God was going to heal that little boy while also showing His deep love and care to an aunt that had been weighed down by the burden of sickness. 

I didn’t get an opportunity to ask after Nicholas until about three weeks later. His aunt smiled, recognising me as I walked in and after enquiring, she confirmed, yes, he’s better. Wow! And, finally, I got to give her a hug. All this and a lovely decaf coffee too. Extravagant love! I am so grateful to God for His love for us, not only that but His willingness to pursue us and reveal it. 

I hope in future to just instantly obey God when I receive His prompting. In this case I remember thinking, how expensive a decaf coffee was and that I really didn’t need one or fancy one. But my obedience was instantly triggered when God defined why I needed to go to the coffee shop. God could’ve just said, go to the coffee shop and pray for someone there. But He instead sent the aroma of coffee my way. The truth is there had been many an afternoon when I had wanted to have a decaf coffee. I was reluctant to buy one because it wasn’t a need to me, more an extravagance. But God wanted to show me that He doesn’t just love through me, He loves me.

 1 John 3:1 ESV See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…

The lady in black

It was nearly midnight and our team were all together, ready to worship God and thereafter begin our regular 'red light outreach'. We did this each Monday and Friday night. It is my very favourite thing to do, to love the unloved. While we worship God and thank Him for His beautiful love and endless mercy, we also ask Holy Spirit to give us pictures or visions of people that we will encounter. Where God calls us, He always goes ahead and prepares the way with divine encounters. 

That night as I worshipped I had a picture of a woman dressed all in black. In the picture she had on a black crop top and a black skirt. My friend sitting next to me leaned over and said, did God show you a picture of a lady dressed all in black? I said yes, and she said, He gave me the same picture and told me He had showed you too. We were super excited! God spoke the same thing to two of us, surely this lady had a divine appointment with Father God! We set off for the red light zone, an avenue that ran alongside the beach, littered with among others, prostitutes, pimps, partygoers and tourists. Our group divided into teams, each group headed to different parts of this notorious area. My group began to walk the avenue to look for those we had seen in the pictures God gave us. One of my friends said, Nikita, is that her? And as I looked in the direction he indicated, I saw her. She was dressed exactly like God showed us. I knew instantly in my spirit, it was the woman that God wanted to love on that night, through us.

My friend and I set off to talk to her. There she was, beautiful on the outside but so broken on the inside. She was sitting at a table, part of an al-fresco restaurant set up in the middle of the avenue. I kneeled beside her and asked her if she wanted prayer, she immediately said yes. I began to pray and she began to cry. As I prayed, God showed me in a vision that the circumstances in her life had been overwhelming her. In the vision, she was swimming and a strong current pulled her under and a wave swept over her. At the moment she was completely underwater, a huge hand came and drew her out of the water, it was Jesus. I shared this with her, and asked her if it was true of her life right now, she said yes and began to cry even more. Then she told me she had had dream a few days before that was the exactly the same as the vision as I had just had. So we asked her if she would like to invite Jesus' to come into her life and help her, she said yes but wasn't ready to commit her life to Him. I asked her if she'd like a hug and again she cried and said, yes, I was just telling a friend that I really need a hug. I put my arms around her and held her, her body shook so much. I held her for as long as she needed, I could feel God's embrace of her through my arms.

She gave us her number and asked us where we were based, she wanted to keep in touch with us and even come to visit with us. We were so encouraged by this. So we said goodbye after praying for her friend too, for whom God also faithfully gave us words of knowledge. 

A week or so later, we visited with our new friend. She had invited us to come to her apartment. So off we went, three of us, all excited to see what God was going to do. When we got there we found our friend in severe pain. The doctor had diagnosed a respiratory virus and to top it off she also had asthma. She was really struggling to breathe. As we began to pray for her, God showed me in a vision, that she would be full of joy and well when she said goodbye to us that night. Then I knew, He was going to heal her. We prayed and the pain subsided a little but persisted. I was asking God what was needed. He said, I want to be her God, her Father, I want her to know My love. So I asked her if she was ready to invite Jesus into her life, she said, yes. As she surrendered herself to Him, made Him Lord and King over her life, received His mercy and forgiveness, she got healed. Suddenly, she could breathe. The pain had disappeared. She smiled. Our friend was totally healed, not just physically but also mentally, emotionally, spiritually as God, our Saviour, had come and made His home in her, she was not alone anymore. Now she could live free, with His help and grace. 

And true to His word to me, as we said goodbye to her, she was laughing and well. I am so in awe of our Father! I recall when I first met God, I was astonished by Him. First, because He is so beautiful. Second, because when He says, I love you, it changes everything. There's a deep knowing in your inner being that says, yes, it's the truth. And if you're willing, you can receive it with faith and live loved for the rest of your days, choosing never to act out of an orphaned heart again. He truly is a Father to the fatherless.

Father of the fatherless and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation. Psalm 68:5

Hennan the humble

It was lunch time at the missions base. Even though I was physically hungry, I couldn't tear myself away from the intimacy that I was experiencing with Father God. I was just enjoying His sweet presence so much, He was feeding me with His joy. It was only a while later that I gathered my things and went downstairs to eat with the others. Most had already tucked into lunch so by the time I arrived, there was just rice and beans on offer. As these are some of my favourite foods I was happy with what I had but I made sure to scrape the wok that bore the tasty, leftover juices of chicken and veggies into my plate too. 

Just as I was about to take my plate of food to the lounge to sit and enjoy it, one of my friends, Hennan, came over to me. He took the chicken off of his plate and put it on mine. He said, you don't have any chicken, here's mine. 

I didn't need the chicken. It wasn't essential to my survival. It was an extravagance. What Hennan did was an act of extravagant love. He is my brother and that day, he made me feel so loved by his kindness, his simple willingness to share what he had. I hadn't missed out because I chose to spend time with God instead of go to lunch on time. The intimacy with Father that I had had earlier had by no means diminished, it just continued to flow, through others to me and through me to others. 

Hennan is a beautiful son of God. He is not a man of many words but when he speaks, it's valuable, worth listening to. He loves to laugh, he loves to worship God, he pours himself out for others, he truly represents humility to me. I count it a privilege to know him and call him my brother and learn from his example. 

Philippians 2:1-11

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One day in the Favela

Joining with a team of fellow Jesus-lovers in Fortaleza, on the coast of NE Brazil, I came to be sitting on the floor of lovely home, very well kept and clean, in the midst of a favela. On the outside, there was a sudden scattering as policemen were performing drug raids, their rifles ready and pointing while others sat outside tiny dwellings staring vacantly surrounded by the smells of urine, drunken hopelessness and other things. Yet, in the very midst of this, my friend Natasha and I, sat on a pristine floor in a beautiful home of one of the families that were receiving God's healing love. This home was like a sanctuary, a place of peace where you could almost forget you were in the midst of such brokenness. We were made to feel so welcome by the lady of the house. I remembered her from the worship service on Monday night, at the prayer house around the corner. She had held eye contact with me for a while that night and I had wondered if God had an appointment for us for something deeper...and here we were, days later, in her home. 

I learned that she had been a prostitute and also a drug addict. I saw nothing of that former life in the beautiful, strong woman that sat with us that day in her pretty flowered dress. As we prayed with her, I asked Holy Spirit what He wanted to do for her. He led me to ask her if she had sickness in her body, she did, she had syphillis. Holy Spirit sometimes manifests Himself to me in a sweet presence. On that afternoon, I felt Him come with such peace, faith arose in me and I knew God wanted to heal His daughter. So we prayed a simple prayer. I asked if there was some way she could check if she was healed because I believed she was. The only way was through a blood test. Then we began to talk about other things like the audio bible that Natasha had brought with her as a gift. Illiteracy will not stop God reaching His beloved. 

We then talked about the many pictures and even a figurine of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the house that God brought my attention to. It turned out that this beautiful daughter of God had not made Jesus the Lord of her life, with the understanding that He was the only way to the Father. John 14:5-7

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

When asked if she wanted to invite Jesus in as Lord of her life, she immediately said, yes. Then we asked for God to fill her with His Holy Spirit which He did. There was joy! Great joy and such a sweet peace. Her husband who had been working a very long shift had fallen asleep on the carpet with the audio bible under his ear. It was a beautiful time. We we totally unaware that at the very same time on the outside, many shots were fired by police and fear ran rampant right on our doorstep. Natasha and I both, after learning of this, said, 'but we heard nothing, how strange'. It was like God had created an oasis for us in the midst of chaos, so He could speak without interruption to His beloved daughter.

A few days later, back at the missions base, Natasha came to me and said, Nikita, I have good news! I had no idea what she was going to say as there could be so many different possibilities. Then she said, the blood test came back and there's no syphillis! I whooped, I danced, I sang, we rejoiced! Not only that but the husband of the woman we had visited, had also had his blood tested and his results were clear too. So good! Our God is so good. This family's story is one of God's redemption. Their children have a better future ahead of them, a future of hope - not to barely survive in their own strength  - but with a living hope anchored in Jesus, the author and perfector of their faith, Who is their Strength. 

This family's door was opened to me that day because for years prior, the team that included faithful, patient Natasha, have served people in this favela. They have held on to the faith that says with God all things are possible and with His hope and strength they could indeed make a change, loving one person at a time, though one conversation at a time - giving their time, energy and attention. I honour them for their persevering faith in God. Thank you for faithfully serving me and others by translating what God spoke, speaking as His ambassadors. I love you all at Iris Fortaleza! 

One Life

I recall visiting the Netherlands in 2001 for the first time, I was part of a group on a European tour. It was there that I encountered formal prostituion, as a tourist attraction, in the famous red light district of Amsterdam. The girls standing or sitting, on display for all to see, on sale for anyone who had the money. When I could finally bring my eyes to look at some of their faces, I saw such incredible beauty, it took my breath away. Even then, in my B.C. days, as I call them, I felt such an awkwardness about these beauties standing in the red glow of lust. Some of them were so friendly, they smiled and even said hi. They weren't objects, they were human. Deep down in my soul, even though I left it unexpressed, I knew that these women did not belong there. 

Years later, my encounters with prostituion have zero awkwardness. Why? Because now in my A.D. days, I have Jesus Christ living in me. When He occupied the territory of my heart just over ten years ago, He drove out the spirit of lust that had controlled me for years, in my mentality, in my choice of relationships etc. I have tasted, through His sacrifice, a freedom I never thought possible, I didn't know existed until I met Jesus. His Holy Spirit taught me how to honour my body and also how to honour others. Now His love compels me to love and to love in such a way that people start to realise God is alive, He cares for me, He knows all about me, He's ready to help me. 

Our Father speaks in so many different ways, for me one of the ways He often speaks is through movies. So when I watched the movie Human Trafficking, it wasn't because I planned it, or even knew it existed. It was one night years ago, I sat on the living room floor of my cosy, comfortable cottage, on the border of England and Wales, and switched on the telly that something profound happened. I remember it so clearly. I was rocked out of my socks by the stunning reality that human trafficking was taking place in my day. Until that movie, I had no idea what it looked like to be a victim of trafficking. It was like the hand of God had reached into my hand and switched on the telly at that moment and the horror, in full colour, poured into my living room. It left me weeping aloud on the floor for hours. What can I do, what can I do God?, I cried through my snot and tears. In that moment, I would have instantly quit my job and run, run, run to the first opportunity in an effort to help any one I could, so overcome was I with a burning compassion to stop this ugliness. But it was not the time for me to go. When God spoke to answer my question, He spoke clearly and told me to sow financially into anti-trafficking work, He was specific to say into whom and how much. I love this about God, He is specific! 

The hunger to be on frontlines fighting alongside other Jesus-lovers against trafficking never left me. So fast-forward four or more years and I am with a team from Shores of Grace (www.shoresofgrace.com) on the northeastern coast of Brazil. This is a team of people from around the world that have fallen in love with God, then heard and obeyed His call to Brazil and particularly to end human trafficking. They're going to the root level, where poor families in drug-stricken favelas are fighting for their lives. As they go out in faith, God shows up, He builds friendships, He heals and He restores. This is the radical love of the Father on display, in our day. 

I joined the team for the red light outreaches too. It was happening, here I was fulfilling the desire that God birthed in my heart that night in the living room floor. The first girl I encountered was standing in the light of a corner shop, her eyes were those of someone trapped. We asked if we could pray for her and then God started to speak to me about what was happening in her heart. He showed me the pressure she was under and how she saw no way out. As I started to speak what I was hearing, the presence of God came and she started to tremble and cry. I held her then, in a long hug. I cried with her and told her that I loved her, my heart was consumed with love for her. It was intense yet at the same time I felt such a joy that she really encountered her true Father, maybe for the first time. The team has a relationship with her now and every time they see her, it gets deeper and I believe one day, she will believe and leave the streets for the life God destined for her.

On another night, I prayed for one girl who was soon getting off the streets and starting a day job! This was an incredible moment to affirm and really celebrate with this beautiful daughter of God, a whole new life awaited her. She said to us that she really didn't want to be there on the street that night, she wanted to be in her pyjamas on the couch, watching telly, safe in her home. Ah! We said, go home, you're free to go. Sometimes it's just hearing something, from someone else, that you already feel that lights the fuse of action.

Then straight afterwards her friend who was drunk said, 'Next time I'd like you to pray for me'. So I said, 'Let's pray now!'. As soon as I touched her hand, Holy Spirit gave me a word of knowledge, something about her I didn't know but God was revealing to me. As I spoke this out, revealing who God really created her to be, also prophesying that she was destined to work in social justice, a hope began to arise in her and she wasn't drunk anymore. At the end, she cried and said, 'That's exactly what I want for my life, I just talking to your teammate about it before you prayed for me'. My teammate laughed and nodded, he knew that God was doing what only God could do. She laughed as she said, 'I knew that you had something for me, that's why I asked you to pray'. The hunger for something of God was stirred in her heart when she witnessed the beauty of God's love expressed to her friend. I know she also felt Father's love as I held her and kissed her cheeks. That encounter was already prepared before the world began, it was just waiting for me to step into it. 

I have many other stories to tell of encounters on the streets, in the wee hours of the morning, when we get to pray, prophesy and hug the women selling themselves. God speaks specifically to each one, He reaches them as only He can but He chooses to do it through us. Imagine someone who has no hope of life ever changing that getting into a car in the dead of night with a stranger who will do who-knows-what-to-them, maybe even kill them, is the only option...experiencing God's love. Imagine what it feels like when you give this person a rose and tell them they're beautiful. Imagine when you start to speak about dreams they had as a little girl that only God knows but He's choosing to reveal that through you to them. That first hot fear that slides down a painted cheek speaks volumes. I believe that the fight against human trafficking, in whatever form it takes, starts with one life. One life believing it can bring the hope of salvation to another life. 

Jesus said of Himself, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.' Luke 19:10. 

Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, 'thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness'. Ezekiel 34:11-12. 

Paid in full

Approximately two weeks ago, as per my last blog, I was waiting on finances to pay for my food and board. It was a large sum of money that I had no way of acquiring except that God provided it for me. When I began my journey as a missionary in June 2013 God said don't ask for money, I will provide for you. So I waited. Some days my heart was at peace - usually when I remembered His goodness, other days I was in turmoil, feeling heavy under the burden of debt. But I realised soon after I wrote that last post that this wasn't solely about me trusting God but also about unity in the body of Christ. 

There was something greater being accomplished than I had realised. And when I had addressed the subject of unity that had been burning in my heart with the person with whom God had highlighted to me, I found a kinship and the same burning heart. It took a bit of courage to talk about what Holy Spirit was showing me and that boldness created an opportunity for the other person to also share. During our conversation, I felt a sweet relief come over me. I had been living under a tension that I just couldn't seem to shift and now it had just lifted off of me. The real issue was not the lack of finances. God had allowed the lack of finances to create a situation where we noticed one another to the extent that compassion flowed. 

We are not called to only acknowledge those who also believe in Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit as brothers and sisters. We are called to consider all who believe as members of one body, so that when one part of the body is hurting, the rest of the body pays attention. As we notice ourselves, God is calling us to notice each other. It doesn't take much to notice our own pain or our own problems because these things are our natural reality. But what is important to me is not necessarily important to you. 

So how do we notice what others are going through? Why would we even want to? Only you can answer these questions for yourselves. For me, the whole reason for being is my God. I want to get closer and closer to Him, I want to live like Jesus lived when He was on earth, this is the standard for my life. One of the things I love about His demonstrations of love is that it flowed from compassion, whether it was teaching, healing or eating with people. God identifies with our sufferings, He notices us, in detail.

Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

Jesus prayed, John 17:20-23

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

We are called to be one, with God, with each other. That oneness is not opposed to an individual's uniqueness instead welcomes each unique individual, yet unites us. When we allow the love of God to flood our heart, mind, strength and soul as in the first commandment, something changes and we start to see like Him, to think with the sound mind of Christ, we feel as He does. Compassion is not something we have to pray for or desire, it comes in with the love of God. Compassion for the toe or the leg when you are the eye. Compassion for the heart when you are the lungs. Why? Because when one part hurts, the whole body is affected. We come alongside each other because we notice the other, we are driven by compassion to see the other edified, encouraged and to do all we can to remind them they are loved. Truly loved. 

This was what the lack of finances was all about. Once I had that pivotal conversation and we agreed to pray about things together, the next thing I knew, finances became available! A huge chunk of what I owed arrived. Such joy! I laughed with my friend at the timing, realising and celebrating the greater purpose of God and how very wise He is in how He brings about good for ALL of us. I'm so grateful for the provision, most importantly of unity, which is how I get financed to go, one listens and obeys, the other receives and goes. 

A couple of days later I checked my bank account and what was about 40 pence turned into 17 pounds. No one had deposited any money in my own account, the balanced just increased. I owed 20 dollars more and was able to pay it all. Glory to Father God for the great things He has done and is doing to bring us into the fullness of His answer to Jesus' prayer.