[Praying]….Jesus, I pray that you would prepare the hearts of Nigel and Kim. They need you. I don’t know them, or much about them. Jesus, I just know their names. I pray that they would come next week, and that you would do a work in their hearts… Lord I also pray for….. Jen’s thoughts moved on toward the names of just a few others she remembered from the hot afternoon of canvassing for the upcoming Vacation Bible School.
VBS started off with the usual excitement….
Nigel and Kimberly entered our classroom that first evening for VBS. It took me until the next evening to realize they were siblings. After the Bible story in large group, all the children who had raised their hands (indicating their desire for counseling about salvation) went to the back. Nigel went back, and later told me that Jesus had washed his sins away! We were excited to hear of his decision, and hoped he had fully grasped what it meant to trust Jesus for salvation.
The next evening, I made my way to the back to help with counseling the children who wanted to speak with someone. I spoke with Isaiah. He understood and trusted Jesus. Nigel talking to another counselor. I was slightly worried that he had not understood that he was secure in Christ, there was no need to get “re-saved”. Isaiah and I finished talking and walked over to Nigel who was finished as well. As we walked, I asked him what he and the counselor had spoken about. Nigel’s words were full of confidence and fervor. He began to explain to me that once you accept Christ in your heart, Christ does a work in your heart. Nothing you could do, sin or action, could change what Jesus had done. “Because it was His work, not mine.” I listened in stunned silence. The counselor had obviously been in-tune with the Spirit, and the Spirit had granted a wonderful amount of understanding to Nigel.
I later realized that Nigel’s sister Kim had gone back to talk with someone as well. Nigel, Kim, and I were talking about all being “sisters and brothers” since we shared our Heavenly Father. Their faces of joy were simply beautiful. Nigel looked at me and said “Yeah, after Jesus washed my sins away last night, tonight, I told Kim to raise her hand and come talk to someone about it.” I almost laughed aloud at the innocence and beauty of Nigel’s fervor for his sister’s salvation. Under normal circumstances, a child telling another child to go back would be frowned upon. But in this instance, it was a beautiful display of the Spirits work in the brand-new child of God. The lady who counseled Kim told me that she was “ready, and understood”.
Fingers sticky from snow-cones, crumpled crafts, and changed hearts evidenced the week’s end. We all sat in the classroom, and some of the children seemed sad to see the week end, others seemed indifferent. Nigel and Kim’s driver came to the door and Nigel came and hugged Kaitlyn and I, then made his way around the room and gave every person a hug. Kim smiled as she hugged me goodbye. We said goodbye, and out the door they went. A minute had not passed when Nigel ran back into the room to hug us one more time. His eyes were sad as he told us he probably wouldn’t be able to come on Sundays, because his family attended another church. It was a sad moment; embracing yet another child for possibly the last time on this planet.
“Anyone can give a testimony Sunday night.” I reviewed the week in my mind. God had most definitely showed up. But I couldn’t think of anything concrete that I felt I could give a testimony about. As Saturday and Sunday went by, I went through the circumstance of God’s obvious work in Nigel’s heart. The service was full of testimonies of Abba’s love, faithfulness, and work in hearts. It was plain as day – Abba had showed up last week. His gentle fingerprints covered the circumstances.
After speaking I sat down, I hope that made sense to everyone. I had told about Nigel and Kim, and Isaiah – they were so obviously ripe for the harvest of God’s intervening grace.
Jen came up to me. Her face was animated and joyful….. “Natalie, I canvassed and knocked on Nigel and Kim’s door”… She told me how she had thought of Kim and Nigel many times before VBS and specifically prayed for them.
If you ever get the chance to share the Gospel, do it. If someone ever pops into your mind, pray for them. It’s obvious that God was part of the details of this story. It’s obvious that God had Jen knock on their door, remember their names, and pray for them. Its obvious that God had the perfect people counsel both Nigel and Kim. It’s obvious that Abba showed up.
