thank filled for answered prayer!

do you remember the earthquake that rocked sichuan province in 2008?

i remember hearing "earthquake" and "china" in the same sentence and first wondering how close it was to abraham. we were waiting to travel at the time the earthquake hit.

i also remember praying.

praying that god would be glorified amid the chaos and tragedy of it all.

praying that god would use the tragedy to draw people to himself.

big picture says that god answered those prayers - offered by myself and SO many brothers and sisters around the world. but we don't generally come face to face with those answers; especially when they are half a world away.

today, i am thank filled for answered prayer.

this is mandy. she was one of my translators at camp.

during camp, we make life charts. they are used to allow us to share our stories with the campers and as a tool for the camper to share some of their stories with us, if they choose.

while mandy was sharing her life chart with our family, she shared about some american students she met at university during the 2007-20008 school year. they shared their faith with her. she rejected it.

and then the earthquake happened.

mandy is from chengdu, sichuan.

her family's home was damaged and deemed unsafe for an extended amount of time. mandy and her family lived in a public park with only a bed sheet hanging from trees as a shelter. it rained a lot in the days that her family lived in the park. their possessions were destroyed...

but, god heard the cries of believers around the world. the cries that HE be glorified in the chaos. the cries that he would draw people to himself - amid the tragedy of so much death and destruction.

he reached down into a park in chengdu, sichuan and ignited the kindling that had so lovingly been placed by those american believers during the school year...

and mandy surrendered her life to the father!

as mandy shared her story, i sat across the table and wept.

i was praying for mandy back in may of 2008.

i was praying for her and god answered.

and because he is loving and filled with mercy, he brought us together for 5 days in zhengzhou, henan.

originally, i wasn't supposed to go to zhengzhou. i asked god to allow us to work at camp in xi'an... unless there was a reason i needed to be in zhengzhou.

originally, mandy had missed the deadline to apply to be a translator for camp. and she had to travel 24 hours by train to work camp that week.

but, god gives good gifts.

he brought a rescued daughter and a intercessor together.

mandy brought me a gift from chengdu. she didn't know me and certainly didn't know that i had prayed for her back in may of 2008.

but, god did.

she brought me a beautiful set of chopsticks - from a christian bookstore in chengdu.

they are engraved with the words: god is good.

he sure is!