American Missionary Fellowship

Randy G. began showing up right from the start at the family night we hosted on the Indian reservation where we do ministry. He was in his early 30s, but while other adults visited with each other, he would get a seat right there with the little kids and watch the movie intently with them, always laughing when they did. He didn’t seem like he would be interested in Bible study or other “serious” spiritual things, so I treated him more like one of the little kids than an adult.

One Thursday, the community center became suddenly unavailable for our gathering because a memorial needed to be held there right away. The building was made ready without much trouble because death is not a rare thing in Nespelem. This time, it wasn’t violence but the accidental death in the woods of a man who worked at the school. Our family night was hastily moved to the tribal longhouse outside town, but many families went to the memorial and others didn’t hear about the location change. The week before seventy-five had come. This night, only a few adults and about fifteen children showed up.

Have you ever forgotten a prayer that you have made to God? Have you ever had a prayer answered and you didn’t recognize it? I guess I did both of those things that night.

Mina and I always ask God to make these gatherings what He wants them to be. We pray that He will call the ones of His choosing to come.

On this night I remember being a little disappointed that there were so few adults. I had planned a movie called The Ride about a rodeo star whose life fell apart because of alcohol and who was in need of faith. The movie had a positive message, but it soon became obvious it was over the heads of the six- to ten-year-olds sitting there with Randy, waiting for something they could understand.

As we stopped the movie, Etta, our tribal co-host who works with youth, volunteered to play a game. Chairs were set in a circle, and one person stood in the middle. The game was to ask who was wearing purple or who had a dog – any question that would get some to stand and then scramble for the seats. The one left standing continued with a new question. After a few rounds, I found myself standing in the middle trying to think of a question. Etta leaned up and whispered, “Ask them who prays.”

I asked the question, and suddenly everyone was on their feet – including Randy! Everything changed. The game was forgotten as we sat in the circle and talked about prayer. I told them that we had come to pray with them, that God wants us to share our needs with Him and with each other. When we asked for things that we could trust to Jesus, one little girl spoke up: “My mom,” she said, and we learned that her mom had just been diagnosed with cancer.

Prayers began flowing back and forth. We prayed for the family of the man who had just died. All the kids knew him from the school. A young girl who is being raised by her grandfather because her mother died last year told how she missed her mom. Little kids prayed for wonderful little kid things. Adults prayed with them. We prayed for all kinds of things.

And then Randy spoke. I felt the tears come to my eyes as he spoke of his yearning for direction and peace. Both of his parents were dead, and he wanted to know God’s will for his life. I didn’t know his heart because I had never looked deeper than the outer man.

The children and Randy – everyone who came that night – had been invited by Jesus because He knows completely what’s in our hearts. He sees inside and knows what each of us needs to give up to Him. I was invited by my Lord that night because I needed to remember that I had asked him to be Lord of these gatherings. I needed to look at whoever comes as His personally invited guest. I needed to look for His blessings because they are always there when He answers prayer.

From that night Mina and I are blessed with a new and wonderful gang of prayer partners – some short, some taller, and all precious. Randy and I are talking, and our prayer is that he will know God’s plan for him means accepting Jesus as His Savior.