Luke 10 - In Europe. Expect the uNeXpEcTeD!

During the year you have read about a Luke 10 journey which the other teams have done. During the month of August, we as Northbound, went on our Luke 10 journey, also known as a faith journey. So this is the Lime teams journey of how God provided and what we learned through all of this.

We began in Lisbon, Portugal about 4 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. We were heading for Andorra ,which is exactly 1258km away from Lisbon. That is where we felt God told us to go. We knew it was far and even impossible but with God all things are possible. We also got lots of pictures and scripture confirming this. 

Our plan was to get to Madrid and then find out about a bus that goes to Andorra. That was our plan, but Gods plan was totally different. So are you curious yet?

Our first lift was out of Lisbon to Setubal with what we thought looked like a bunch of rough mechanics. They did not speak any english but using a piece of paper, that had a few portuguese sentences on and mapping out the towns we wanted to pass through, we were able to communicate with them. They dropped us off at a gas station just near the highway. 

We stood there for about an hour before our next lift picked us up. Again, no english, and with not very clear drawings we got the idea that he was going to the next smaller town in the direction we were heading. That was all that was important to us. He dropped us off in a town called Casa de Sol. Some of us met his family and they gave us wine and bread. We had communion together and it really was a significant moment for us. We decided that we are going to sleep in the town and try to catch the trucks at the supermarket in the morning. Now you won't believe me if I tell you that that night we ended up sleeping in the public disabled toilet. Yes, you did read it we slept in a public toilet. The next morning at five o'clock we woke up and tried to get a truck. Needless to say we did not find one. We did however find breakfast- prickly pears on the side of the road. 

We started to hitch hike again, first at a turn and then an older lady told us that this was not a very good spot, so we walked up and ten minutes later we got a lift with a truck driver that was born in Mozambique. He took us about two hours further. We blessed him with a sneaker and he blessed us with four packs of cookies and two bottles of water that ended up also being our food for the next two days. 

After we got dropped off we started to hitch hike for I don't know how long but we got a lift in a very small car with all our baggage on top of each other. He was a very eccentric, non-believer but Jarred sat in front and had the opportunity of ministering to him. 

He dropped us off 20 km from the Spanish border. God provided two different lifts for us and we met up again 1km before the border of Spain. 

We walked over the border of Spain and slept outside the bus station. We were, however, not allowed to sleep there, so we basically sat up the whole night. The next morning we prayed and we all felt at peace that we must take the bus because it was already our third day and we still had 300km to go to Madrid. Then we will be halfway on our journey to Andorra. 

We wanted to get the bus but when we found out about the price it was to expensive for us to go. We decided that we will have to hitch hike. Sitting at the hotel, thinking that some of us might take the train to Madrid and the others hitch hiking, Rona decided that we should go back to the bus station and ask again. When we asked, the bus tickets was half price and we were off to Madrid. Yet another testimony of God's provision. When we arrived in Madrid we found out that we must take a bus to Barcelona and then we can take a bus to Andorra. We did not have the finances for this so we prayed and we felt that God closed that door and that we must stay in Madrid.

We immediately went and found out about churches and ministries were we can serve and encourage. Unfortunately all the evangelical pastors were on holiday. A lady at a catholic church blessed us with money and gave us an address were we can get free accommodation. When we got there the place was locked and there was no one there. 

We then decided that we will go and sleep in the airport. The next morning we decided to send two people out into the city to follow up on the churches that we went to the previous day. 

With a great frustration they didn't achieve anything. After a whole day of walking around they headed back to the airport. Meanwhile the team that stayed behind prayed and felt that this was the end of Luke 10 and it was weird for them because there was still three days left before it should end. We all got together and prayed. We were confused with many questions unanswered but somehow felt at peace with "ending" our official Luke 10. We still felt there was something we had to do in Madrid and it was not just sitting at the airport until our flight left on Tuesday.

Jarred, one of our team members, had a contact of an Every Nation church in Madrid. We got in contact with Mel Collingo and he arranged for us to sleep in a hostel , what a blessing. The next morning we realised we were situated right in the center of the biggest homosexual community in Spain. We used the time in fellowship and also doing prayer walks in the streets. We joined an Every Nation service and were blessed in every way possible by their church.

On Monday morning we met up with Mel, and his family blessed us with breakfast. We had the opportunity of sharing the heart of Global Challenge and our journey.

During our de-brief time we realised that most of our team members struggled with ending the journey so quickly. We felt that our story did not meet our expectations.

We were so focused on expecting God to do great miracles and raising people from the dead, that we completely missed God's hand in all the small blessings. God sent an angel before us, to protect us and guide us in our every move. We also realised that our lives is a Luke 10 journey, and it is not just a week that we set out for God to use us.

"Behold He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?" Psalm78:20 

What a privelige to know that our Faith journey is not just bound to a Luke 10 journey.