everything, to begin to do something! But you must always rely on Him and remember that you are His messenger. This totally takes ALL the pressure off of you, and puts all your faith and trust in God! (EXACTLY where you need to be.) And always remember, God cares about the one. We sometimes get caught up in the "BIG numbers = success," but to God, every ONE matters to Him! (Check out Luke 15:1-10.)
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Kate: Tell me a story of when you reached out to be a missionary in your everyday life.
Jodi: One evening I was grocery shopping, and it just happened to be a very busy night. I was trying to roll through the store as quickly as possible (just like everyone else there), but I got caught behind a man stopped with his cart who was talking on his phone. I wanted to pass him, but people were coming through from the opposite direction, one-by-one. So I knew I needed to chill and just be patient. Little did I know, there was a mission opportunity right in front of me. While standing there waiting for the man to move (as I endured my patience test), I overheard him talking on the phone. He said, "Don't say that Kathy! You're going to get through this! I'm so sorry." When I heard this, I actually began to notice that this man looked as if he was weighed down by every burden imaginable. God was giving me HIS EYES for this man!
Then I had a chance to pass the man, so I did. I got to the next aisle and felt the man's weariness for Kathy and even Kathy's weariness, so I began to pray for them. Suddenly , I felt like the Holy Spirit wanted me to pray directly with the man. So I peeked back at the last aisle I was in, but the man was no longer there. So I said to God, "Lord, I will pray for this man if you want me to, but please put him directly in front of me, so that I know it's you and not me!"
So I continued to shop for 45 minutes and to pray silently for this man. He was no where to be found. It was time to check out. So I looked at every check-out line in the store, hoping I could run into him and pray, but he was still nowhere to be found! So I loaded my groceries on the belt and began chatting with the cashier about how crazy busy they were.
All of a sudden I felt like someone was standing behind me. So I turned, and lo and behold "the man" was loading his groceries on the belt behind me. "WOW GOD!" I thought to myself. Then I looked at him and said, "Sir, I know I may sound crazy, but earlier I overheard your conversation with Kathy. It sounds like you guys are going through something tough. So I started to pray for you both...then I believe God told me to pray directly with you, so I told God to put you directly in front of me and then I would do it! Would that be okay if I pray with you, right here, right now?"
So this largely-built man, with a shaved head and
covered in tats, was shocked as he stared down at
me in amazement. He said, "Wow, that would be
great!" He began to share some of the hurt that was
going on, and he began to cry (I honestly never saw
a big dude covered in tats with a shaved head cry
before). So I said to him, "If God put you directly in
front of me and He told me to pray with you at a�
grocery store, He must want you to know He loves
you both very much and that He's your hope!"
So I began to pray with him. As I left the store, he
thanked me, but still had a look of shock on his
face. (God had just ROCKED his world and mine!)
As I got into my car and left, I thought, "Wow God,
an opportuntiy that appeared to be an
inconvenience at a busy store on an average
night, was really a God-Rock'n missions
opportunity to share your UNCONDITIONAL
love and MIND-BLOWING hope with a hurting
person! God seriously just BLOWS my mind!
Jodi with her husband Joe
and daughter Sofia.
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