Day 8 we woke up and went to the First Lady's house. There home is absolutely beautiful. We were told that she would not be able to make it, as she was out of town, but we were there for a weekly meeting with some of the top intercessors of the nation. We began with prayer, and then we began to pray and prophesy over the intercessors and the First Lady's pastor. I got the deep sense that each of those intercessors had sown many tears, hopes and prayers into their nation. It was such an honor to be in the presence of people so devoted in prayer for others. You could sense the depth of their relationship with the Lord.
Unexpectedly, someone entered the room and informed us that the First Lady would be joining us in a moment. We were, of course, elated. She came into the room and sat down. As she did, I almost began to weep. She walks in such intimacy with God that it was physically tangible as she entered the room. There are those moments in life when you meet someone and no one has to say a word...your spirit recognizes that they hold a deep affection in the heart of God. She was unquestionably one such individual.
She spoke with us for a while, thanking us for coming, sharing some things on her heart, and recounting stories of past visits form our team. We asked if we might bless her with prayer and some prophetic words. I wasn't the first person to give a word, but when I stood up to give her a word I was so overcome that it was difficult to finish. It was a moment I won't forget. It's hard to describe how humbling it is to minister to someone who carries so much weight with the Lord. As I sat down, I realized there were a couple of things I had forgotten to share. One was a picture the Lord gave me of her heart taking up the entire space in her chest and He showed me it represented her capacity to love. The other was a word that had to do with her being an amazing picture of the Bride of Christ. Jake stood up and began to describe seeing the exact same picture I had of her heart. Then Grace gave her a word about her being a picture of the Bride of Christ...I never cease to be amazed at how the Lord never misses a beat.
A relative of the first family came to join us, and in keeping with what we do best, we prayed and prophesied over him as well. I took a risk when I prophesied over him, but he laughed and told me that my word described him well. (I don't feel it would be right to share it publicly).
When we finished, they decided that we had some time and so we decided to go to the military hospital to pray for the sick. That was an incredible experience. As soon as we walked in, the atmosphere felt very heavy. You could sense the loneliness and hopelessness in the rooms. We literally had only about 20 minutes, which was frustrating. We so wanted to love on each individual, but time wouldn't allow it. So we began to speak and release joy there. We prayed for a few individuals, and almost instantly you could see their countenance shift. One woman we prayed for was pale and shaking with malaria. As we prayed for her, her fever broke, the color returned to her face, and she was able to sit up in bed. Even her shaking stopped.
We left the hospital (grudgingly) and drove to Sister Emma's school, which was on one of the highest mountains in the city and in a rural secluded farming area. She brought us into her home and as we were walking in a girl who must have been around 15 years old squealed and threw her arms around my neck. For a moment I thought she must know me....she seemed so excited to see me. I realized that she was doing the same thing to each of us. I've never experienced so warm a welcome from a stranger. Her name is Grace, and she turned out to be Sister Emma's daughter.
Sister Emma and her husband sat us down and began to explain the testimony of how they came to build that children's retreat center. I can't recall the exact details, which is such a shame....it really touched me. They put their life savings into that project in faith because they both felt it was a mandate from the Lord to pour into the children of Sierra Leone. Shortly after someone gave them 8,000 dollars, which was the amount they put in. A year or so later, someone donated something 500,000 pounds to their ministry. That money was used to build the retreat center, which was just as beautiful and almost as big as the President's home. They led us into the classrooms, and I can't describe how amazing it was to see what they were doing. To give you an idea, one of the teachers came into the room and said loudly, "Where's my princess? Where is she?" A small girl on the left who couldn't be more than 3 years old began to squeal with glee and kick her feet which hung well above the ground as she sat in her plastic chair. He picked her up and swung her around as he nuzzled her. Her face reflected pure delight. It's so rare to see men interact that way with children, let alone in a school setting in an African nation. They showed us amazing play rooms they had built and explained to us that the purpose of their facility was to rotate children from all the schools in the area into the school on a weekly basis to love on them, tell them how valuable they are, teach them their identities in Christ and to teach them peaceable ways of reconciliation with their peers. I've never seen or heard of any place like this in an African nation, and the best part is that it's come not from foreigners, but from the people of Sierra Leone.
We spent the remainder of our time making gold crowns for the children to wear, painting their faces, and making them balloon animals. There was no lesson, no agenda....we simply spent time with them and loved on them. My favorite part was seeing their faces when we held up a mirror so that they could see themselves. They would turn into a bundle of giggles, fascination and delight.
