Oxford

So I am now about four days removed from the single most amazing trip I have ever been on. As many (that is three) of you who read my blog, I went to Oxford, England last week for spring break to bring the Euangelion (Good News) of Christ to those studying and wandering through Oxford. God did amazing, amazing stuff there. I just wanted to share a little story from this trip with all of you that really made an impact on me.


It was at the end of our sharing time on Thursday and Sarah and I just had an amazing conversation with a girl named Amile (I think that's how it's spelled). She and Sarah made a great connection and she was very close to praying with us, but she wanted to think about all we discussed more, so Sarah and I got her info (to stay in contact) and went on our way. Sarah and I were totally pumped by the amazing conversation we just had, and were a tad hesitant to have another conversation, just in case the next one we had was horrible (we didn't want to spoil the amazing conversation we just had). We decided that we should still look for people to talk to (it what Jesus wants us to do, right?) so we began hitting up some more of the coffee shops.
We were having a hard time finding people to talk to. You see, the whole day we were never hesitant to talk to people. God always pointed someone out to us and we just went for it, but now we were being hesitant. We went to a coffee shop on the third flour of a book store on the intersection of Magdalen (pronounced 'Mawdlin,' just so they know who the tourists are.) Street and Cornmarket Street. We climbed up the stairs and sat down in the coffee shop. No one stuck out to us. Everyone was busy. So sat there for a while and got up to leave, then Sarah turned around like someone was talking to her and immediately approached a girl.
The girl we started to talk to was a Christian from the US. She looked tired and like something was on her mind, like something was weighing her down. We just tried to encourage her and asked if we could pray for her about anything. It turned out that she has some sort of condition that agitates her feet, knees and neck giving her intense headaches. So, both Sarah and I went over to her (Sarah sat down next to her and I knelt down on my knees) and we placed out hands on her and prayed for God to do something amazing. We finished the prayer and she was crying a bit and told us how this was just what she needed and how someone had told her that God had a surprise for her in Oxford. Sarah perked up and said that her parents had told her that she may be a part of a healing. The girl asked us to pray for her again because her feet and knees were hot. We didn't hesitate, we both laid our hands on her (mine on her knees) and we both prayed for healing of her body and spirit. The girl was crying a bit (not sobbing or anything) and after the prayer she was just like, "wow. that was amazing. Thank you so much. I really, really needed this." And then she said something that I will always remember: "God really does love me, doesn't He?" Wow.
To think that God has me go to Oxford for that. I thought I was going to be a debater, someone battling it out with some of the most intelligent people in the world, holding up the banner of Theism against the flags of Atheism. To think that God would use me in this way, it just wasn't in my plans. Just amazing.
Sarah and I walked away from that just speechless before our God. I didn't know what just happened, and I kept thinking, "What an amazing God I serve. Do I even realize his awesomeness? So I even realize what kind of movement I am apart of?" This movement of God that doesn't just battle the intelligent but heals the sick and restores the soul. A movement that stretches to all walks of life, all people, everywhere. A movement with a God so loving, He sent His Son, not just to save us from Hell, but to give us ZOE (vibrant life as opposed to "bios", mechanical life). Our God is amazing.