This Is Jennifer
As previously mentioned, we got to do "treasure hunts" while in the village which meant that we spent time in praying, asking God to speak to us, and show us who He wanted us to talk to that day.
During our treasure hunt prayer time, Macie got a vision from God. She saw a woman walking with a yellow (yes, had to be yellow) oil bin on her head. She told the group that this woman carrying the oil bin is also carrying the burdens of her family. That afternoon, after lunch, as we drove through the village, we saw her. We saw the woman with the yellow oil bin. Macie said, "That's her. Dave, we need to stop." And so we did and that's the beginning to a story that God was orchestrating all along.
As we all got out, we began to walk towards where the woman was walking to. We found her and introduced ourselves to her. This woman's name is Jennifer. Our team sat down and we began to talk to her and get to know her. We quickly found out that this woman is married to a man who has 2 wives (this is not too uncommon in the area). She is his second wife, which means that he lives somewhere else but comes to visit her when he wants to. The husband was there and he was very, very drunk. It was hard to get answers out of her to even the most basic questions, due to the fact that her husband was right there and he would generally cut in. That day, we decided it would be best if we returned when the husband was gone. We offered to pray for her, but she did not want it, so we left the property and made plans to return again.
The next day, we stopped by Jennifer's place to check on her. Her husband was not there, however it was a busy business day for her brewery and she did not want us disrupting her business so we were asked to leave. Jennifer told us that we could return again another afternoon. To be honest, I didn't really understand this and I was quite discouraged at the time. God made it so clear to Macie that this was the woman and that He had a word for her, yet she kept rejecting us. Up until this point in the trip, we hadn't faced too much pushback or rejection. Everyone had been receptive of us and very open. This was different. This felt as though we were unwanted and unwelcome.
I wondered what God was doing. Doubt began to creep in. I just didn't get why reaching out to Jennifer seemed so much more difficult than the others. Then again, what would be the point to any of this if it was easy?
We returned another day, for the third time. And you better believe that we got different results. We were welcomed in. Most of our team spent that afternoon crammed inside Jennifer's house, getting to know her, talking to her, and encouraging her. Unfortunately, Macie was unable to join us that afternoon and I wondered how it would all work out without her there. She was the one who saw the vision, she was the one that heard from God about this situation. She wasn't there. But God still was. As we spent the afternoon talking to Jennifer, we learned a lot about her life.
She first opened up about having bad dreams. When we asked her what the dreams are about, she said that they are always the same. She dreams that someone walks up to her and holds a gun to her, right when they are about to shoot, she wakes up. Wow. This is some heavy stuff. We soon found out that her first husband died after having a dream that he had been shot. When he woke up, his arm was paralyzed and that was the beginning of a sickness that killed him. Since then, Jennifer has been having these dreams and they scare her because of what happened to her husband.
After talking to her for some time, we asked if she felt as though she carries the burdens of her family. Jennifer said no. Wait, what God? You told Macie that this was the woman. You told Macie that this was the word for her. You told us that, why did she say no? This makes no sense. Once again, God was showing me that maybe it's not always easy. Maybe (in fact, always) this will take some time, there may not be immediate results, but that it's okay.
As our team sat there slightly confused about the answer we had just gotten from Jennifer, we decided to ask her more. We asked about her beliefs, her family, her business, and her current husband. She told us that she is unable to provide for her kids, and that is why she is married to her current husband who already had a wife. He supports her and her kids, but it is not always consistent and he is not always around. She owns and runs the brewery to help provide for her family. She then flat out told us that this is hard for her. Once again, someone said, "Jennifer, do you feel like you are carrying the weight of your family? or having to provide for them?" She said yes, she indeed did feel like that. We knew, God knew. Our team got to tell her that she doesn't have to carry those burdens anymore. That weight can be lifted. We continued to talk to her and found out that she has charms in her house for protection and prosperity in her business. We got the opportunity to encourage her and speak truth into many areas of life, such as giving her burdens to God, trusting Him for protection and prosperity, asking Him to heal her of her bad dreams, and the list goes on.
While Jennifer did not give her life to Jesus that day, we fully trust and believe that God was and is doing a good work in her life and in her heart. She gave us her time. She gave us her charms and allowed us to burn them (which is a HUGE step). She gave us her life story and allowed us to pray for her. Yes, God can do amazing, crazy things and transform someones life in an instant. God can show miracles and immediate fruit. On that day, God chose to show up in a different way. In a way that is just as real and just as powerful. God showed up in the form of being with someone and loving them. Relationships takes time. Loving people takes time. Sharing Jesus takes time. Listening and caring takes time. Ministry takes time.
On that day, we did exactly what God asked and told us to. On that day, that looked like sitting on the floor of a tiny little home and simply being with Jennifer. On that day, it was loving Jennifer where she was at, because that's what Jesus does. At first, it looked like rejection. Sometimes it takes days, months, even years of investing in someone's life. Sometimes it means being asked to leave, multiple times. Sometimes it means going back, over and over again. We kept going back, for her. We kept knocking on her door. She was worth it. Jesus does the same thing. He looks at you and says, "you're worth it, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times I need to keep knocking on your heart until you get to Me, you are worth it."
It takes time. And you know what? God is still there, He is doing amazing works. We just don't always get to see it. It takes time. But it is completely worth it, even for the one. Every. Single. Time.
Jennifer was someone who needed us to keep coming back. This was someone who needed to know she was worth it. This was a woman who needed to hear what God had to say to her, even if it took a few days. She was placed in our path for a reason. This was someone who simply needed to be listened to, loved, and encouraged.
This is the lady walking with a yellow oil bin on her head. This was the lady that rejected us at first. This was the lady carrying the burdens of her family. This was a divine appointment. This is Jennifer.
During our treasure hunt prayer time, Macie got a vision from God. She saw a woman walking with a yellow (yes, had to be yellow) oil bin on her head. She told the group that this woman carrying the oil bin is also carrying the burdens of her family. That afternoon, after lunch, as we drove through the village, we saw her. We saw the woman with the yellow oil bin. Macie said, "That's her. Dave, we need to stop." And so we did and that's the beginning to a story that God was orchestrating all along.
As we all got out, we began to walk towards where the woman was walking to. We found her and introduced ourselves to her. This woman's name is Jennifer. Our team sat down and we began to talk to her and get to know her. We quickly found out that this woman is married to a man who has 2 wives (this is not too uncommon in the area). She is his second wife, which means that he lives somewhere else but comes to visit her when he wants to. The husband was there and he was very, very drunk. It was hard to get answers out of her to even the most basic questions, due to the fact that her husband was right there and he would generally cut in. That day, we decided it would be best if we returned when the husband was gone. We offered to pray for her, but she did not want it, so we left the property and made plans to return again.
The next day, we stopped by Jennifer's place to check on her. Her husband was not there, however it was a busy business day for her brewery and she did not want us disrupting her business so we were asked to leave. Jennifer told us that we could return again another afternoon. To be honest, I didn't really understand this and I was quite discouraged at the time. God made it so clear to Macie that this was the woman and that He had a word for her, yet she kept rejecting us. Up until this point in the trip, we hadn't faced too much pushback or rejection. Everyone had been receptive of us and very open. This was different. This felt as though we were unwanted and unwelcome.
I wondered what God was doing. Doubt began to creep in. I just didn't get why reaching out to Jennifer seemed so much more difficult than the others. Then again, what would be the point to any of this if it was easy?
We returned another day, for the third time. And you better believe that we got different results. We were welcomed in. Most of our team spent that afternoon crammed inside Jennifer's house, getting to know her, talking to her, and encouraging her. Unfortunately, Macie was unable to join us that afternoon and I wondered how it would all work out without her there. She was the one who saw the vision, she was the one that heard from God about this situation. She wasn't there. But God still was. As we spent the afternoon talking to Jennifer, we learned a lot about her life.
She first opened up about having bad dreams. When we asked her what the dreams are about, she said that they are always the same. She dreams that someone walks up to her and holds a gun to her, right when they are about to shoot, she wakes up. Wow. This is some heavy stuff. We soon found out that her first husband died after having a dream that he had been shot. When he woke up, his arm was paralyzed and that was the beginning of a sickness that killed him. Since then, Jennifer has been having these dreams and they scare her because of what happened to her husband.
After talking to her for some time, we asked if she felt as though she carries the burdens of her family. Jennifer said no. Wait, what God? You told Macie that this was the woman. You told Macie that this was the word for her. You told us that, why did she say no? This makes no sense. Once again, God was showing me that maybe it's not always easy. Maybe (in fact, always) this will take some time, there may not be immediate results, but that it's okay.
As our team sat there slightly confused about the answer we had just gotten from Jennifer, we decided to ask her more. We asked about her beliefs, her family, her business, and her current husband. She told us that she is unable to provide for her kids, and that is why she is married to her current husband who already had a wife. He supports her and her kids, but it is not always consistent and he is not always around. She owns and runs the brewery to help provide for her family. She then flat out told us that this is hard for her. Once again, someone said, "Jennifer, do you feel like you are carrying the weight of your family? or having to provide for them?" She said yes, she indeed did feel like that. We knew, God knew. Our team got to tell her that she doesn't have to carry those burdens anymore. That weight can be lifted. We continued to talk to her and found out that she has charms in her house for protection and prosperity in her business. We got the opportunity to encourage her and speak truth into many areas of life, such as giving her burdens to God, trusting Him for protection and prosperity, asking Him to heal her of her bad dreams, and the list goes on.
While Jennifer did not give her life to Jesus that day, we fully trust and believe that God was and is doing a good work in her life and in her heart. She gave us her time. She gave us her charms and allowed us to burn them (which is a HUGE step). She gave us her life story and allowed us to pray for her. Yes, God can do amazing, crazy things and transform someones life in an instant. God can show miracles and immediate fruit. On that day, God chose to show up in a different way. In a way that is just as real and just as powerful. God showed up in the form of being with someone and loving them. Relationships takes time. Loving people takes time. Sharing Jesus takes time. Listening and caring takes time. Ministry takes time.
On that day, we did exactly what God asked and told us to. On that day, that looked like sitting on the floor of a tiny little home and simply being with Jennifer. On that day, it was loving Jennifer where she was at, because that's what Jesus does. At first, it looked like rejection. Sometimes it takes days, months, even years of investing in someone's life. Sometimes it means being asked to leave, multiple times. Sometimes it means going back, over and over again. We kept going back, for her. We kept knocking on her door. She was worth it. Jesus does the same thing. He looks at you and says, "you're worth it, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times I need to keep knocking on your heart until you get to Me, you are worth it."
It takes time. And you know what? God is still there, He is doing amazing works. We just don't always get to see it. It takes time. But it is completely worth it, even for the one. Every. Single. Time.
Jennifer was someone who needed us to keep coming back. This was someone who needed to know she was worth it. This was a woman who needed to hear what God had to say to her, even if it took a few days. She was placed in our path for a reason. This was someone who simply needed to be listened to, loved, and encouraged.
This is the lady walking with a yellow oil bin on her head. This was the lady that rejected us at first. This was the lady carrying the burdens of her family. This was a divine appointment. This is Jennifer.
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