Acts 4:20

"We cannot stop telling about everything that we have seen and heard." - Acts 4:20.

Having roomed together during our first E3 Partners campaign in Barranquilla, Colombia, two years ago, Matt and I knew what to expect this week ... late nights. We return from our two church sites and dinner around 9 PM, alternate a shower with completing our team reports ... then around 10 PM the stories start. And go, and go, and go.

Our tradition of sharing "your best 5 minutes" from the mission field has become a mainstay on my team as we head in our van from the church site to dinner. For Matt and I, there is no limitation on stories and I pity Matt for having to put up with my longwindedness.

My best 5 ... Lisa sent me to Colombia with a card of inspiration to open each day, and this morning she closed her note with "Be in Awe!!!" I shared the three words with my team and in explaining to Claudia who couldn't translate "awe" into Spanish I determined that some words are just unexplainable and deserve their own place.

You know awe when you see it. Before we left for the mission field in the morning, Pastor Juan at our church site prayed for miracles and healing of the sick today. The attached picture includes an elderly woman, who was wailing in pain when we entered her home around 2:30 PM. Samuel was emotional and animated translating to me as he walked quickly toward the middle of the home "Dave, she says she's dying ... she says she has a high fever ... she says she has diarrhea ... her daughter thinks she's dying ... she says she has a severe pain in her side and can't move."

As we sat down at her side, we were patient and calm, knowing God was in control. He had us at her home at the right time. Her excessive pain, and added frustration she shared at not understanding the difference between so many religions at such a vital time, was soon replaced by a relationship with Jesus ... a Savior who had been waiting a long time.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been able to "be" without pain. When we closed in prayer, I told her that she was in new creation, she was no longer alone in her fight ... and I asked her to stand up for this picture. Without hesitation, without fear and with her daughter also trusting in this transformation, she stood up, shuffled into her slippers and proclaimed herself pain free with a smile a mile wide. Praise God.

"When we walked into your home, you felt you were dying, crying out and scared at wondering were you were going. Now that you know where you're going, and know you will never be alone, you can start living again," I remarked.

God wasn't far from finished with his awe (even by the next house we entered), but I am. It's 2 AM and our breakfast meeting starts in five hours. Matt is on his bed penning a letter of thanks, in Spanish, to his two Colombian police officers who have protected his team all week.

Gotta love my roommate.

Gotta love our wondrous God.