I wish you could have been there. I’ve just returned from a great trip upcountry with the Scripture Union team, where we met with the leadership of twenty schools, showed two films, did an open-air campaign, and then on Sunday went to another school. There’s loads I could share. We ministered to about 5,000 people in total, with amazing results. My stomach isn’t quite right as we stayed in a nasty ‘hotel’ eating nasty food – it’s all part of the deal! Anyways, here’s sharing just a few minutes of the trip with you.
Picture it: forks of lightning blazing intermittently across the dark sky, huge gusts of wind, and a scrawny white man on a makeshift stage with old UN plastic sheets flapping violently overhead. I was trying to preach a quick-fire gospel message before the heavens opened. There had already been one moderate downpour which had sent hundreds scurrying for cover before returning to their seats again. Many of us were praying, as there were plenty who needed to hear the message. I’d guess the total crowd on this occasion was about 1,500.
I was meant to preach for 45mins, but I knew we didn’t have that much time. Within 15mins we made the appeal. Incredibly impressive flashes of lightning were drawing nearer across the valley. Several hundred people poured forward to respond to the call for salvation. They were prayed for, and then the deluge came.
I tell you, that rain fell like you could hardly imagine. Helpers rushed to get the sound system and instruments into the covered truck. Everyone else fled. I legged it in the slippery mud back to our minivan, whooping with delight that the Lord had given us just enough time to see some beautiful fruit. The wind knocked me sideways and I was already getting soaked by the time I’d covered the 200yards to the minivan. Team-mates Leonidas and Ladd were not far behind me, and I laughed my head off at the sight of them, and the many others, who were like cockroaches fleeing the scene of the crime when the lights are turned on.
Within minutes, as we squinted through the steamed-up windows, the stage was a scene of desolation. Most of the plastic sheets had been ripped clean off, whilst a few lay forlorn. But we rejoiced in the truck, chuckling and praising God for yet another memorable and epic bush adventure.