Hospital Blessings

Praying in the hospital has been a real blessing for both Nena and myself.  We have had the privilege of praying with and for many people and God has shown up! We wanted to share a few of the more memorable occurrences:

When I was in Charleston in February, Nena and I felt the Lord directing us to the ICU waiting room.  We had our 'Need Prayer?' sign with us and quietly sat down on one end of the room with it.  Nena and I both noticed a refined older woman nearby and after several minutes, I approached her and asked if she had someone in the ICU. She revealed that her son was there and went on to say that she was a retired nurse! Well, this opened the doors of communication since we had this in common.  Soon we were talking openly and ultimately were allowed to pray for her and her son. What a privilege!

The Lord also has placed on our hearts a desire to leave people in the hospital with encouraging cards.

One day I had drawn a picture of a heart lifting a heavy weight with the verse, "My heart and my flesh may fail me, but the Lord is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Ps 73:26.  I also had a card with the verse "Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life."Ps 23:6.(MSG)  I prayed that the Lord would show me who to give them to.  Early on in the day I walked past a woman that was crying in the halls.  I handed her the card with the the Message version of Ps 23:6 feeling that the Lord was directing me to do so. 

The end of my work day came without me feeling prompted to give away the card with the heart drawing on it, despite the fact that I was around many heart patients that day.  I was leaving work, but stopped by Children's Hospital to see my 1 year old cousin who was there for minor surgery.  I walked past a child in a wheelchair decorated with many stuffed animals. I made a friendly comment about the stuffed animals and the grandmother proceeded to tell me that she had collected these over the last 5 months while waiting on a heart transplant! I quickly pulled my card out of my pocket and told her that she was the one that was supposed to have this card then.  The grandmother was very touched and opened up to me about the little girl's story. The little girl, named Grayson, has been in the hospital most of her life and has already had many surgeries.  She looked to be around 4 or 5 years of age. I prayed with her as we stood in the halls and the last thing she said to me was that I had "made her day".  God had allowed me to bless this grandmother and I was blessed right back!

Nena now goes to the hospital with a precious Godly woman, Susie, to pray at least once a week. I pray with patients as the Lord prompts me, as I am in the hospital 40 hours a week plus. When we are in the hospital, we are acutely aware of our need for help.  It is our prayer to show the patients and families where their help comes from. 

Matthew Pridgen - Evangelist for EXTRAORDINARY GOD

How can 2 ordinary women pull off a evangelism event for God on the beautiful beach of Kiawah Island? That is just the question Kristi and I began asking ourselves once God began revealing His plan to us. We both knew that God wanted us to join in ministry together in December 2010 and we also knew He would ask us to do things that only He could do through us and boy has that ever happened!

She shared this news with me and we began asking God for more direction. He began revealing that he wanted us to have a beach sunset service so that Christ could be shared with a large crowd. God also showed us that we would coordinate services at multiple beach locations but that we needed to start at Kiawah Island. The task seemed enormous to pull off until God reminded me that I knew exactly how to coordinate a beach service on Kiawah Island because I have coordinated an Easter sunrise service on the beach at The Sanctuary Resort the last two years. I didn't know if The Sanctuary Resort would allow a service like this type to take place but I certainly knew who to ask.

One wonderful item that God revealed is who the main evangelist would be for the event - Matthew Locke Pridgen. He has an incredible testimony that is inserted below and is also on his website - www.reawake.org. You will also find information on his website about his book, From Folly, and his awesome, recently published videos.

Our prayers about the event continued and God revealed so much more. Kristi began seeing praise dancers in brightly colored costumes dancing on the beach with their black toes in the sand.

Of course, we both knew that the dancers were Moore Arts Movement because their performance in Charleston the previous summer was still being talked about by many people. That, along with their love for the beach, made them a perfect match.

 Kristi and I also couldn't believe the image of toes dancing in the sand because my book is named, Toes in the Sand. God had given me the title of the book before it was written but I had no idea all the future plans He had in store!

 

One wonderful item that God revealed is who the main evangelist would be for the event - Matthew Locke Pridgen. He has an incredible testimony that is inserted below and is also on his website - www.reawake.org. You will also find information on his website about his book, From Folly, and his awesome, recently published videos.

 As you will read below, after being in the ocean for 18 hours, he swam to shore at the The Sanctuary Report on Kiawah Island...right where I coordinate the Easter sunrise services! God had this evangelism event planned a long time ago and knew how He would bring everyone together. I met Matthew and his wife, Nicole, a few years ago through a mutual friend, John Stinson. I recently invited him to speak at a church conference we had at Church of Our Saviour and had the pleasure of getting to know him and Nicole even better. They are beautiful examples of people living their lives to spread the Gospel of Christ.

God has more plans for people to be involved in EXTRAORDINARY GOD so we look forward to sharing more in future blogs. He is truly overwhelming us with His plans!! In the mean time keep this picture in your mind -







An evening, a couple of hours before sunset, on a gorgeous beach in front of The Sanctuary Resort where you will see volumes of people seated on blankets. The people are intently focused on a stage where Matthew is sharing his testimony and how to accept Christ as their Savour. Also picture the flowing praise dancers in brightly colored costumes dancing on the stage and out among the people. Everyone is praising and worshiping our awesome God with complete freedom. As the sun sets, in a breathtaking performance, you can now picture people's lives being transformed because they have just accepted Christ, received the Holy Spirit and are being baptized right there in the ocean. Christians attending the service will be in awe watching God at work. Everyone will say after the evening is over - we serve an EXTRAORDINARY GOD!