Forty minutes. We had been aimlessly milling around for forty minutes. Riely and I could not find a place to sit, stores kept closing and she couldn't decide for the life of her if she wanted ice cream or not. We just couldn't seem to find a place to settle and wait for Uncle to come pick us up from Muisenburg on Saturday.
So we ended up by Kristen, sitting cross-legged on the ground where we meet Uncle. Right by the train tracks. Within minutes Jesus made it very clear why Riely and I were not supposed to be sitting in a restaurant. If we were in some cafe we would not have been by those tracks when that bus pulled up, we would not have been with Kristen, we would not have met him.
Him. The man dressed in slightly ragged clothing who stepped off of that bus and headed straight for us.
"Do you have some change?"
Kristen shook her head.
"Just some change to buy me some dinner?"
He pulled a few coins out of his pocket.
"This is all I have."
Andrew hands the guy about 3 rand and this man turns to look at Riely.
Now, when he looked at Riely so did I and as soon as I saw her, I knew something was up. She was literally frozen, her arm was halfway outstretched and her hand was clenched in a fist and she was having a stare down with this man. I thought to myself, "What in the world is she doing?" And then I realized that in Riely's fist was ten rand in change. She had pulled it out before the man approached us and she was going to give it to him but she literally couldn't. She could not do it. So instead she said,
Can we pray for you?
Now this man looked like a "normal" beggar when he approached us. As soon as that sentence left Riely's mouth he changed, completely. His head dropped, his shoulders sagged, and he's glance up at us then look back at the ground. Then I realized that this man had tears in his eyes, he was literally almost crying. And he still wasn't speaking.
Would it be alright if we prayed for you?
Silence. Then, eventually, a very slow nod.
Ok, great! What is your name?
He wouldn't tell us. After a few moments he spelled it out a couple times. Huh. Weird.
Andrew opened in prayer, Riely started praying next. She spoke against the shame that was literally swallowing this man.
Nikki, tell him that I see him. Tell him I haven't forgotten him. Tell him that no matter what he has done or what he will ever do, I will never leave him. Tell him he cannot fall out of my reach. Nikki. Tell him.
So I did. When Riely said amen I told him. He stared at my eyes and the brokeness that I saw in them was gut-wrenching. More tears filled his eyes and he said,
"Who sent me walking this way?"
We all smiled. Jesus did! God has his hand on you brother.
"Do you know what I was going to do?"
What?
He pointed to his baseball cap.
"I have cigarettes here and here and here and here. I have some change in my pocket. Do you know what I was going to do?"
Kristen looked at him and replied,
Drugs? Alcohol?
"No. I was going to rob and murder."
You would think that response would shock us, but the Holy Spirit takes over in moments like this. Our group just took it in stride. He looked up from the ground, stared me straight in the eyes, and said,
"Who sent me walking this way?"
Jesus did, man.
He looked back down the road and then at us.
"Who sent you here? Who sent you to us?"
I'm telling you, Jesus did. God has His hand on you.
Nikki. Hand him 20 rand and tell him that I trust him.
You trust him?
I trust him.
Ok Jesus, your call.
I pulled out 20 rand and put it in his hand.
Hey, I trust you and God trusts you.
He clenched his fist around it, looked at his hand, then looked back up at me. More tears.
"I'm going home. I'm not going to spend this money until I'm home. I'm not going to open up my hand. I'm going over there, and I'm going straight home. I don't even want to smoke anymore. I'm going home."
We all smiled.
Good.
One more glance, another question.
"Who sent me walking this way? Who sent you here?"
Jesus did.
"Mysterious ways, huh?"
That's right. God works in mysterious ways.
We shook his hand and watched him walk away. Riely and I looked at each other and shook our heads. Someone said, "Did Jesus just stop a murder?"
Yeah. He did. Jesus sent us to South Africa. Jesus placed Kristen at those train tracks. Jesus gave us words and discernment. Jesus took over the situation.
Jesus sent him walking that way.
And it started with a question, one question. "Hey can we pray for you?" That question turned a murderer into a son. A beggar into royalty. Divine encounters we call them. Supernatural appointments. Grand meetings. The thing I've learned about these life changing moment is that they are so easy to ignore. It is so easy to send a beggar on his way. It is so easy to get annoyed at another person asking for money.
Life changing moments are easy to miss. I've got to keep my eye out. I've got to keep listening. You have to keep listening. Because that wasn't random. That wasn't chance. That moment had been planned out. I would have hated to miss it.
Jesus sent him walking that way.
Thank you one for listening but also for sharing. With him but also with us.
More tears in my eyes, You are all being used by HIM to teach and help. I pray for you every day and stories like this prove to me that He listens.
Seriously was praying last night that God would keep opening our eyes to those little opportunities that make big impacts. This is amazing. God is so good. So proud of you guys for listening. Love you!!!