Another day another hunt!Laura & Adam came along to 'Treasure Hunters' at MFC this morning. We spent a while getting into the presence of God, praying for each other to be inspired and filled with Holy Spirit and then set about getting our clues - Some of which were very odd and random and made us smile a bit as we read them out (all will be revealed).
Both Adam & Laura had boats on their maps so we headed off for the Dockside Outlet place in Chatham. We drove round the marina section and all of a sudden there was a man with a red dog and he was crossing the road right in front of us!!! Well, the dog wasn't red but the smart little jacket it was wearing was very red!!! I leaped out of the car and ran after the man that was walking it. It turns out his name was Daniel and he also had a tattoo on his back! I explained the treasure hunt to him, he was ok though and didn't really want any prayer and looked like he wanted to move on so we blessed him where he was and went back to Adams car.
We parked in the car park that was full of cars (an easy clue to tick I know!) and went into the Dockside shopping centre. I saw a lime green top in the 1st window in front of me and then would you believe it, another red dog!!! This one was one of those coin operated ones that small kids ride, but I've never seen a red dog one before! We wandered around the centre, Laura noticed a young man limping (left limp) but we didn't approach him. She then saw a man with a walking stick so she approached him and his daughter who were sitting on the bench. She shared her map and it turned out that the man had recently suffered a death in the family. His wife had passed away very recently and it moved him to tears. The door closed quickly as his daughter explained it was still a very emotional time for him so we blessed them and left them explaining that God is looking out for them. This was really difficult to deal with and we really felt we should have been able to do more in the situation but it just closed up - So we left it with God and we trust Him with them. It's our responsibility to freely give what God has given us but it's not our responsibility to worry about the outcome or how others receive it - As the Bible says it is God alone who makes the seeds grow!
We prayed for them as we moved on and saw the young man with the left limp going up the escalator so Adam & Laura followed him and approached him as I looked for a lady with a shawl on her head that had gone into Burger King. I didn't approach her as she & her son were buying their lunch, but as I turned back round to see how Adam & Laura were getting on with the young man he had transfigured himself into a security guard!!! So I kept my distance and once the security guard had gone I went up to them to find out he had interrupted their conversation with the young man with the limp. Apparently he had received a report from a shopkeeper or two about our actions in the centre and he didn't want us selling people stuff or giving out any leaflets. Adam explained we weren't selling or giving away leaflets, but that we were on a treasure hunt. This confused the security guard, but Adam offered us to leave if he was unhappy with us 'Treasure Hunting' in the centre. So we left!
Back out in the car park and we saw Pizza Hut, which wasn't on our list but margarita pizza was so we approached the 3 members of staff that were outside smoking as one of them had a ponytail and another had on a black coat (which was close enough to Laura's black cloth coat).
Our conversation with them didn't really go anywhere so after a few minutes we left them to their cigarettes. We were now starting to feel like the hunt was going a little cold so as we were roaming around the car park we realised that our options had closed up after leaving the store so we left and drove to The Strand as there is a park there and also some tall trees.
We wandered around for a bit, the park was quite busy and there were lots of families out. Adam & Laura approached a young mum who had a bob cut hairstyle, her daughter had a long blonde hair in a ponytail and also had a wheelchair/pram and a cuddly toy. They shared their treasure maps with her, she didn't want prayer for anything but was open to conversation and did respond a little when encouraged that God had sent them to bless her and let her know that He knows her and loves her. They blessed her and we walked a bit further up the path.
There was a man with a massive mastiff. It was a very reddy/brown colour. Close enough for my 3rd red dog of the day. I had earlier turned away from approaching the man but ran after him as he left the park. His name was Eddie, he was in his 70's and was hugely encouraged by my approaching him. Just last week his own animal died, his dog. It turned out that the big mastiff with a boxers nose was his friends that he used to walk it together with his own dog who he missed a lot. The conversation opened up easily and he told me of how he had problems with the valves in his heart, but that an operation had seemed to sort it all out but he still had concerns. He was also concerned for the birth of a grandson that is due imminently and recognised God as being the answer to the worlds problems (and indeed his own!). We spoke for about 5-10 mins and I offered to pray for him, to which he agreed instantly and I asked for the love of God to flood his life, to restore his heart, provide his family with happiness in a healthy grandson and also to ease his pain at losing his canine companion. He was visibly moved and thanked me afterwards for my sincerity. I was just as encouraged by our divine appointment as he was and we both felt soo blessed!
I looked for Adam & Laura and saw that they were also praying for a couple next to the park. The wife had previous heart problems but was ok now, but she was a bit down on her perspective on life, quite negative so Adam spoke some prophetic words over her that spoke into her compassionate heart. The husband explained that she had previously cared for special needs children. God had spoken right into her circumstances - Amazing! The couple then went back to their blue car and then Adam pointed out to me that there was a blue whale and a dolphin painted as a murel on the park wall!!! - The truly amazing thing being that Adam had the clue dolphin and I had blue whale, we had even laughed before the hunt that we had no chance of getting those!!!
We went back to MFC and were hugely encouraged by the way that God had moved and displayed Himself through the treasure maps - It is amazing that God would choose to use little old us in reaching out into peoples lives with His clues to unearth His treasure - God is truly awesome!!!
Back out in the car park and we saw Pizza Hut, which wasn't on our list but margarita pizza was so we approached the 3 members of staff that were outside smoking as one of them had a ponytail and another had on a black coat (which was close enough to Laura's black cloth coat).
Our conversation with them didn't really go anywhere so after a few minutes we left them to their cigarettes. We were now starting to feel like the hunt was going a little cold so as we were roaming around the car park we realised that our options had closed up after leaving the store so we left and drove to The Strand as there is a park there and also some tall trees.
We wandered around for a bit, the park was quite busy and there were lots of families out. Adam & Laura approached a young mum who had a bob cut hairstyle, her daughter had a long blonde hair in a ponytail and also had a wheelchair/pram and a cuddly toy. They shared their treasure maps with her, she didn't want prayer for anything but was open to conversation and did respond a little when encouraged that God had sent them to bless her and let her know that He knows her and loves her. They blessed her and we walked a bit further up the path.
There was a man with a massive mastiff. It was a very reddy/brown colour. Close enough for my 3rd red dog of the day. I had earlier turned away from approaching the man but ran after him as he left the park. His name was Eddie, he was in his 70's and was hugely encouraged by my approaching him. Just last week his own animal died, his dog. It turned out that the big mastiff with a boxers nose was his friends that he used to walk it together with his own dog who he missed a lot. The conversation opened up easily and he told me of how he had problems with the valves in his heart, but that an operation had seemed to sort it all out but he still had concerns. He was also concerned for the birth of a grandson that is due imminently and recognised God as being the answer to the worlds problems (and indeed his own!). We spoke for about 5-10 mins and I offered to pray for him, to which he agreed instantly and I asked for the love of God to flood his life, to restore his heart, provide his family with happiness in a healthy grandson and also to ease his pain at losing his canine companion. He was visibly moved and thanked me afterwards for my sincerity. I was just as encouraged by our divine appointment as he was and we both felt soo blessed!
I looked for Adam & Laura and saw that they were also praying for a couple next to the park. The wife had previous heart problems but was ok now, but she was a bit down on her perspective on life, quite negative so Adam spoke some prophetic words over her that spoke into her compassionate heart. The husband explained that she had previously cared for special needs children. God had spoken right into her circumstances - Amazing! The couple then went back to their blue car and then Adam pointed out to me that there was a blue whale and a dolphin painted as a murel on the park wall!!! - The truly amazing thing being that Adam had the clue dolphin and I had blue whale, we had even laughed before the hunt that we had no chance of getting those!!!
We went back to MFC and were hugely encouraged by the way that God had moved and displayed Himself through the treasure maps - It is amazing that God would choose to use little old us in reaching out into peoples lives with His clues to unearth His treasure - God is truly awesome!!!
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