With One Phone Call Prompted By God

TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009

With One Phone Call Prompted By God

My E-Mail letter to Delesprie,   March 17, 2009:

Delesprie,

It was a glorious Spring day today. So I didn't tell you what other phone conversations occurred today. Before I share them with you, first I have to tell you that I have been praying diligently about finding an ARCHITECT-Engineer to help design, build and oversee the next important phase of El Transito Arts Center (ETAC). In fact, this afternoon in the warm, afternoon sunlight filling my backyard in Westlake Village, I prayed about this very specific matter.

An hour or so later, I received a phone call from Pastor Arturo Castro, a Nicaraguan pastor who received God's call and became a missionary pastor. Pastor Arturo, who now lives in Miami, Floria, and who travels to Nicaragua often, had become my good friend (and mentor) via emails and numerous phone calls. He told me that he was on his way to Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua this Friday to visit his central american ministries and to attend pastors' conference. I shared my dilemma regarding Nolberto Osorio, the 19-year old youth in El Transito, who is gravely ill with kidney illness (nefrologia) and in desperate need of advanced exams and tests (biopsy) that would cost about $500... I also shared with him how frustrated I often become these days because I cannot help every family and every person that approach me with various different personal needs... that I get these 'needs-based' requests with more frequencies now, that sometimes I have a hard time believing that what they say in cry for help is REALLY TRUE... that I want to make sure that I get to help those who are absolutely in need, and that I must ask God to help me discern and prioritize well. He reminded me what a huge blessing it is to be on the receiving end of all those cries for help, but that he also understood my frustrations. It is so hard to discern sometimes, especially when I am triggered and prompted by my own selfish thoughts, limited intellect and intuition. Only God helps us to discern correctly. Wisdom comes from God, and I must make sure that we are not just meeting the individual needs but are meeting the need of the intended ministry that would benefit the whole community. Then Arturo told me to make a phone call to his local Managua contact -- this young, 30-something Nicaraguan Christian volunteer -- who works with Arturo to put together the annual Christian Youth Rallies and conferences in Managua.

When Arturo gave me Darick's phone number to call, I have noticed that his cell phone number ended with 4747, just like my own cell number (thus I would never be able to forget the number). I called Darick and began to talk to him about Nolberto and his grave condition, and he said that he would personally make a phone call to Pastor Carcamo at El Transito immediately to determine the exact status of Nolberto.  He would contact a Christian doctor named Dr. Abdala, at Hospital Bautista (the second largest hospital in Managua), to see if he could help Nolberto.  I thanked Darick profusely, then on a passing remark while discussing El Transito and my goal of building the Arts Center there, he mentioned that he knew where El Transito was and had been there. I asked him why, and he said, "Oh, actually I am an Engineer/ Architect and that is my day-time job; a while ago I designed and built a house in El Transito."!!!

Did I have, as Pastor Francis Chan would say, my "Isaiah 58" moment? You know the answer to that question.  :-)

God is just amazing... With one phone call ending with 4747, not only did God directed me on the right path to help Nolberto (at least initially) but He also connected me with someone to share my vision of building ETAC. One stone, two birds; one call, two action plans prompted by God.

Delesprie, our God is all powerful, all knowing, and just too GOOD. 

And blessings of this Great God upon you!

Julie