Thank you for covering my mum and her team in prayer on their trip to East Timor. Mum is home safe now and has sent an email regarding their travels. It was an eventful experience with a few close calls. 3 out of 6 of them injured their feet even before landing in Timor. My mum felt the Lord was cautioning them to watch where they were going to tread.
In May 2008, just prior to their first trip, God gave my mum two visions as they prayed in preparation. One of a dead chick and another of red lips with a long tongue licking them. The first brought to her mind the passage in Numbers 6 speaking of death as a symbol of defilement. With the second image, it was the word "lasciviousness". What was fascinating is that they witnessed these two pictures in the physical during this second trip. One of the places they visited was an art gallery that was opened by a Caucasian woman to feature paintings from local artists that represented the culture and thinking of the people in Timor. Two particular pieces of artwork caught their attention. One was of a dead chick and another a painting of red lips with a long tongue coiled around them. We believe God was confirming the visions of yesteryear and urging them to pray specifically for hearts, minds and lives to be cleansed and made holy.
During this second visit, my mum suddenly felt prompted to cover the missionary who has been living in Timor. The organiser of their trip gathered the team in prayer. I don't think they really knew the reason behind this urgent 'request' but an accident the following day answered any such wondering. The missionary was driving the team to their next destination for the day, with my mum in the passenger seat beside him, when he made a quick left turn and crashed headlong with an oncoming motorcycle. Up went the bike with its very shocked rider. Thankfully, despite it being common for locals to dismiss road safety guidelines, the motorcyclist had a proper helmet on and did not suffer any grave injuries. A large crowd of by-standers had surrounded the jeep by that time, some belligerent. I'm grateful nothing untoward transpired.
Even the flight home had its own eye opener. My mum found herself a row of three empty seats towards the front of the plane and was settling in when passengers along the side of the plane got into a scuffle. The Caucasian man in a row of seats beside my mum was using his laptop, and though he could have easily moved to one of the empty seats beside him, he chose instead to yell at the Timorese man in the row before him who was slowly lowering his seat to rest. The argument led to both men standing up with the Timorese having his back towards my mum. Strangely enough, no one came to intervene which led to mum being concerned that punches would fly and the large Timorese would land on her. Well, that didn't happen and eventually the Caucasian did move himself but not before he called the Timorese rude, who countered with "racist white man". I guess it could have been uglier so again I thank God for His protection. Mum mentioned such occurrences are common in Timor, with locals facing discriminatory treatment.
I have to admit I know little of the background of this nation. It's clear though that a large proportion of the people in this land are far from the truth. Far from a God who loves them and seeks to restore them to their rightful place as His children, as co-heirs of His kingdom. They've settled for less for too long. It's time for a revival.
In May 2008, just prior to their first trip, God gave my mum two visions as they prayed in preparation. One of a dead chick and another of red lips with a long tongue licking them. The first brought to her mind the passage in Numbers 6 speaking of death as a symbol of defilement. With the second image, it was the word "lasciviousness". What was fascinating is that they witnessed these two pictures in the physical during this second trip. One of the places they visited was an art gallery that was opened by a Caucasian woman to feature paintings from local artists that represented the culture and thinking of the people in Timor. Two particular pieces of artwork caught their attention. One was of a dead chick and another a painting of red lips with a long tongue coiled around them. We believe God was confirming the visions of yesteryear and urging them to pray specifically for hearts, minds and lives to be cleansed and made holy.
During this second visit, my mum suddenly felt prompted to cover the missionary who has been living in Timor. The organiser of their trip gathered the team in prayer. I don't think they really knew the reason behind this urgent 'request' but an accident the following day answered any such wondering. The missionary was driving the team to their next destination for the day, with my mum in the passenger seat beside him, when he made a quick left turn and crashed headlong with an oncoming motorcycle. Up went the bike with its very shocked rider. Thankfully, despite it being common for locals to dismiss road safety guidelines, the motorcyclist had a proper helmet on and did not suffer any grave injuries. A large crowd of by-standers had surrounded the jeep by that time, some belligerent. I'm grateful nothing untoward transpired.
Even the flight home had its own eye opener. My mum found herself a row of three empty seats towards the front of the plane and was settling in when passengers along the side of the plane got into a scuffle. The Caucasian man in a row of seats beside my mum was using his laptop, and though he could have easily moved to one of the empty seats beside him, he chose instead to yell at the Timorese man in the row before him who was slowly lowering his seat to rest. The argument led to both men standing up with the Timorese having his back towards my mum. Strangely enough, no one came to intervene which led to mum being concerned that punches would fly and the large Timorese would land on her. Well, that didn't happen and eventually the Caucasian did move himself but not before he called the Timorese rude, who countered with "racist white man". I guess it could have been uglier so again I thank God for His protection. Mum mentioned such occurrences are common in Timor, with locals facing discriminatory treatment.
I have to admit I know little of the background of this nation. It's clear though that a large proportion of the people in this land are far from the truth. Far from a God who loves them and seeks to restore them to their rightful place as His children, as co-heirs of His kingdom. They've settled for less for too long. It's time for a revival.
No comments:
Post a Comment