How a Burger Introduced Me to New Friends

There is a man named Raul with a bone sticking out of his leg who often sits outside of the McDonalds in Antigua.
The first time I went to Antigua I saw him and felt called to pray for him. Instead of listening to the voice of the Lord and praying I listened to my own mind, because broken bones make me squeamish, and walked past. The next two times I was in Antigua I saw him and knew I was being asked to stop and pray for him but never approached him, not because of the bone anymore but because it inconvenienced me or because I was to nervous to talk to him. I got back to base after the third time I had seen him and I realized that none of those were good reasons for me not to reach out to someone God was trying to pursue through me. Who am I to not listen to my Father who has the best in mind to me, who wants to partner with me to extend his love to other people? What an honor it is that He would choose me to show his love for others. I prayed that I would have another chance to see Raul and that I would have the courage to go speak to him.

The next time I went to Antigua I was ready. I kept my eyes pealed, but Raul wasn’t there. I came back the next week and he still wasn’t there. This happened for the next three weeks.
Finally, weeks later, we went to Antigua for House of Prayer and there he was! Sitting on the sidewalk. Before I even told the people I was with that I was going to talk to him Emily’s path diverted to get to him. We finally got to talk to him and pray for him.

Fast forward another week and we are having our debrief week in Antigua at Lemon Tree hostel. Kind of a quirky place with bunk beds, a cat named toe, and an airplane in the courtyard. As we have been here, I have seen Raul almost every day.
One night I felt prompted to pick up a burger for him from McDonalds. We got one and sat down with him to chat and pray. When we were ready to leave we stood up and there were two guys standing a bit behind us. They caught our attention and asked if we could pray for them too. We got to hear their story and talk to them and encourage them. By the time we were done there we had to hustle to get back to Lemon Tree in time for the next thing planned but God had another idea. We ran into Edwin, a man whose legs don’t work and was working his way to the park. He too asked if we could pray for him so of course we said yes. He asked us if we could help him get to the park. We supported his arms, but it was slow going and there was no shot we could carry him. I prayed that God would give us the strength to get him to the park and before I finished praying two of the guys on our team came walking around the corner. What a God send. With their help we got Edwin to the park and made it back to Lemon Tree with a few minutes to spare.

It amazes me every time how one interaction can open a door for so many more encounters.

We leave for South Africa on December 17th. I’ll be sad to leave Guatemala behind, but am so excited for what else is in store for our group. I’m trying to savor our last few days here as best as I can.