Friday, July 23, 2010

Theophanies

Our teams served incredibly well again today. The Lord provided some divine moments that I'd love to share with you.

* Just as I was arriving at church for breakfast, I was informed that one of our team members was having excruciating abdominal pain. She had gone jogging early in the morning, but was now in need of medical attention. We prayed over her, asking God to heal her and to give them wisdom, and then loaded her in the car for two leaders to take her to the hospital. They called her mom to ask her to pray too. Amazingly, on the way to the hospital, the pain completely stopped! Praise God for answered prayer. She served all day long at ministry sites. What a testimony.

* The weather was rainy (again!) this morning. That put a slight damper on the sports ministry teams early on, but they were flexible and helped with other ministries until the rain stopped and they were able to get back to the ministries of playing sports with kids and teens. What a fun way to show people that God created us with these athletic abilities, and we can use them for His glory.

* The hiking team realized that many of those they were seeking to connect with got on the trails early in the morning, so when the team set up their table, the hikers were gone. And the hikers stayed gone all day. Some, however, did come down off the mountains throughout the day and our team was ready to serve them and share the good news of Jesus Christ with them.

* Our banquets team showed their flexibility when a logistical problem caused a long delay in their set-up (there were no table coverings until mid-afternoon). But as they were waiting for the supplies to arrive (the table coverings needed to go on before anything else could be done to the tables!) they took that opportunity to rest up, have some great chats with new friends from Ironman staff and other volunteers, and then be ready to knock out the job when the supplies arrived. It was a big success. Glory to God.

* The sno cones, balloon animals and face painting are VERY popular this year. Our team has done a great job of helping families have a great time at the Ironman Expo by providing these ministries. We are running out of supplies! We will adjust a bit and have a great day on Saturday.

* The prayer station is being visited by many, many, many people. These athletes desire to be prayed for. We are praying that God will protect them on race day, that He will help them to do their best, that He will bless them, and that they will know of how important it is to follow Christ eternally. Only two people have said "no" when asked if they would like to be prayed for.

* One of our team members at registration was speaking with an athlete who was very frustrated after a long trip with small children in the car traveling to Lake Placid. Our team member shared a verse of Scripture with this athlete, and his mood changed dramatically. The power of the Word of God to still our hearts and give us proper focus!

* Another team member at registration was speaking with an athlete who was very, very nervous about the upcoming race. Our team member offered to pray for her, and she left with tears of joy!

* Still another team member chatted with two ladies who were waiting for their friend to complete registration. As we chatted about the bike course, the subject moved to the IronPrayer service that we are hosting on Saturday. They had already heard about it, and are looking forward to being there. Praise God. He is on the move.

These are some of the wonderful divine moments of today. Our devotion in the morning focused on letting our lights shine for Christ, and watching for ways God "showed up" during the day. In the Bible, when God "shows up" on earth, the theological term for that is "theophany." Well, through His people today, God "showed up" in a lot of ways.

There were a lot of theophanies today.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! That is an exciting report!! I think the most fun I had when I was there last was (of course, ministering at registration but) being in the prayer tent on race day and having people stop for prayer or hollering at us as they passed to pray for them. One man just knelt briefly and prayed on his own and ran on down the road. When I got to go to the finish line last time, one man ran across the line and looked up to see me and grabbed me and hugged me (sweat and all) and told me our prayers had gotten him to the finish. That was a blessing (sweat and all). God is so good and it is such a blessing to see that ministry continuing to reach people. Wish I was there!!!

-Virginia Goforth, from TX