I'm back home and still a bit tired. Sleeping in a foreign bed tends to lead to lack of sleep.
On Friday our group of 12 headed out on the amazingly beautiful 3hr drive to Arcata on the coast of California. The roads twisted and turned through the tree lined scenery complete with snow capped peaks. The clear skies left us as we entered into the common coastal fog, along with any hint of warmer weather. We eagerly sought out a beach within half an hour of arriving so we could smell the sea air. Walking along the pier, I was soon to discover the typical coastal culture. We stopped and spoke to a couple with a young baby. As our team was leaving, trying to escape the freezing cold, I asked the couple if there was anything I could pray for, wondering to myself why on earth they would be in this freezing cold place with a tiny baby. They then proceeded to tell me of their desire to escape the evils of society. Their plan is to avoid all shops and live off the land and sea. So they were fishing for crabs when we met them. That seems to be a common thought pattern in this area.
On Saturday we all lead teams on treasure hunts. Just as we're about to step out of the church to go out it started pouring! Alas, with umbrella and treasure map in hand, being buffeted by the wind, off we went. A group of four of us walked past a couple seeking shelter in a store entrance. They were giving pendants and small rocks away for free so we stopped to chat to them. They were in their mid to late 20s and were living in the woods among the redwood trees. He tries to make a bit of money selling jewelry that he makes with hemp and stones and she seems to make a bit of money cleaning houses. In return for their free merchandise they were asking for food, dog food, a dvd player and um..some weed. We spoke to them for about half an hour about general things like the price of cigarettes increasing and the evils of sin tax, wondering how we're going to transition and speak to them about the things of God. The guy eventually started to open up and told us how his mom had cancer and lost her will to live and took her own life. He too had lung cancer that was in remission. Without knowing we were christians, he said that he didn't just believe in any old healing like when people pray for you and you get healed. One of the guys on our team proceeded to encourage him to be open as he had had lymphoma in the past and was completely healed due to someone praying for him. They were amazed. Then one of the other girls had a word of knowledge about his ear and she asked him, 'is there something wrong with your ear?' He was shocked and said 'How do you know that?!' So she opened up her treasure hunt map and showed him 'ear' written under the category of things to pray for. We explained that we were christians and that he was God's treasure today. So we layed our hands on him and prayed for healing. After praying twice, he tested his ear vigorously and was amazed that there was no pain anymore. Then one of the other guys on the team had a word of knowledge about a dream, so he asked him if he has any dreams. As it turns out, he has a recurring dream every week. He sees a shaft of light come over him and pick him up off the ground. When he comes down again, he lays his hands on people and they get healed. So we interpreted the dream for him and explained that that's what we had just done. We layed our hands on him and his ear was healed. Then we asked them if they wanted to feel God's presence. So we asked them to put their hands out. Our team put our hands over their hands without touching their hands and prayed for God's heat to come. Their expressions told the whole story. Their eyes were popping out of their head, amazed that they could actually feel it. We prayed a blessing over them and on their plans to head for Florida and left them with a few things to think about!
