Stories
Have you ever had one of those “aha!” moments? The times you realize you really did hear God’s voice or the substance of what you believe is right in front of you; those fruitful, encouraging, beautiful memories that give you fresh motivation? Describe it however you like; we all need these stories, these testimonies, to keep us going. At YWAM Ireland we long to be a tangible expression of Jesus — to be “Jesus with skin on” so to speak and love people the way He did back in the day. Below, you’ll find a collection of stories from our YWAM volunteers through the years. Stories that remind us why we are committed to this movement and love doing what we do. We hope you’ll be blessed and inspired and perhaps do something a little differently today…
June 2010 | JERUSALEM STORY
as told by Mike Maeder (Belfast R-DTS 2010)
We were in Jerusalem for a few days after our time in Palestine. I was mucking about in the Old City looking for whatever I could find. I was headed down the Christian Quarter Road when a shop-keeper stopped me and asked my name. We had each made introductions and immediately he asked me, “What do you think of the conflict?” I wasn’t sure how to respond, I could be talking to an Israeli or a Palestinian, so I thought about what to say. After a moment I spoke slowly saying, “To tell you the truth, I’ve been living in Bethlehem for 2 weeks and in my opinion…I think Palestine would be better off without a wall…” Ahed sort of smiled and then opened up and started talking. He told me about being a Muslim, Arab, Palestinian and what it was like to live on the other side of the wall. He talked all about his faith and how Muhammad promised to give all the land back to the Muslims. He also spoke sadly about the decline of committed Muslims. He believes only 30% of Muslims are actually living the faith and how the rest seem only to care about their stomachs, wallets and “this” –patting his crotch. I explained how I was raised Christian, American, Zionist but how I feel that many people in the Church are worried about the same things. We agreed with each other that people need to be seeking God harder and worrying less about themselves…but it was in that moment that Ahad pulled the conversation full circle and asked a second time…”What do you think about the conflict?” I’m not sure what he wanted to hear but something came over me and I simply told him the truth…
“I have been living in Palestine for three weeks. I did not follow the crowd of tourists, I walked everywhere I went. My team and I met a Muslim shopkeeper and we became friends. We even went to his house to clean and weed his garden. He thanked us with a great meal. I also met many others Arabs who were equally as gracious. Ahed…” I paused, “I’ll tell you the truth. I do not know about the land, but I can tell you this, I love the people.”
He paused and looked at me. His only reply, “I do not know about religion, but I know you have a good heart.”
His words were sounds of walls crumbling down.
We said our good-byes and I left. It was a good day.
March 2010 | UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE
by Steph Green (Belfast/Rostrevor Staff)
I made a new friend this week. Her name is Amelia. She has the most beautiful eyes – a deep teal blue stare that has an almost haunting appeal. Haunting in the sense of desperation and of loneliness. I met her on the streets of Dublin. She is a beggar, a mother, a sister, a daughter and her home is Romania. I discovered she is 24, just like me, but has two small boys to provide for and a very ill father. Why she’s the one in this position of sitting on the streets day in and day out, I do not know. The first time I passed by her slouched figure timidly holding up a paper cup, I did nothing. My heart sank as I passed by but if I’m honest, the thought that money won’t really help passed through my mind. The second time I passed her I got a very strong impression on my heart to buy her flowers from a nearby street vendor. White tulips to be exact. At first I thought I was being silly. Flowers for someone begging on the street? She will just turn around and try to sell them, I should just give her money. But no…God clearly said white tulips…to show her she is pure and loved by Him. I was really nervous to give them to her. I really didn’t think she would speak English and I made a lot of other excuses for why I shouldn’t do it. But finally I just went for it. I walked up and sat down right beside her. I smiled, said hello and quickly asked if she spoke English. To my delight, she said yes and asked me my name. I squeezed her hand and she introduced herself.
Where are you from? Romania.
Why did you come to Dublin? For a better life. For a better job to take care of my family.
Is it better? She interrupted our eye contact to look down and with a defeated tone said, no.
For a split second my mind flashed to the film Once. I was in Dublin after all. And I thought to myself, this only happens in the movies, right?
I handed her the tulips and said, I saw you yesterday and today I bought you these flowers. I explained how I was only in Dublin for the week. I mentioned that I was there for a Christian conference. She brightened up and said, you are a Christian? I am a Christian too! So then I boldly told her that I purchased the flowers because I felt like God asked me to, to show her that He loves her.
I never looked up at the busy street while I was talking to her, but we were interrupted at least once by the drop of heavy coins from a passerby. She never set the cup down.
I asked her the names of her children… very beautiful names that I would never be able to spell. And I asked about her father’s condition. Then I asked if I could pray for her and her family. She didn’t mind. So I prayed with her right there on the street. As I got up to leave she looked up at me with a new spirit about he said she hoped she would see me again before I left Dublin.
Today I was with two girls wandering around and exploring the city. We stopped into a shop to buy lunch for ourselves and I remembered we were very near the place I met Amelia. I peeked outside and to no surprise she was sitting in the same spot on the cold side of the street. I excused myself from the other girls and said I’d be right outside. I sat with Amelia again and I could tell she was happy to see me. Are you hungry? No, I am fine. I had a cup of tea and something that was white. We talked about her boys again… age 3 and 1. How they are her “little angels” with blonde hair and blue eyes. How much she misses them and how they are always asking for things she can’t give them. How she has had to go without food before and how she doesn’t know the next time she’ll see them. And then she asked if I could buy her a new pair of shoes. I was a bit startled by the sudden request, but then she explained that there was a pair of shoes she really liked and they were only 5 euro. I knew she would never use the money she got on the streets for something like that for herself, so I said yes, let’s go buy them. We got up together and walked to a shop. By this time the other two girls had joined us and were following along, looking a bit perplexed as to what was happening. Amelia led me to the shoes she had been eyeing. They were little ballet flats. Not the most practical shoe but very pretty and delicate with little embroidered flowers. And they were bright white. Very reminiscent of the tulips! After I bought them, we walked back to her corner of concrete where she spends every day from 9 to 6 collecting an average of 15 euro.
I talked to her about church. Asked her if she had been to any…to which she replied, no. Every time she passes one she’ll stop in front and say a prayer for herself, but she never goes in. Some other people had stopped and suggested she go to one church close by, but she wasn’t able to find it herself. I suggested she try the church that I had been attending the conference in, and told her where it is. When I said the name, she said yes, that is the same church! So we talked about how she could go on that Sunday.
When I started to say my goodbyes, she hugged me and said thank you. Then she said something that broke my heart. I wish there were more people like you. People who will just talk to me like you did. Thank you for doing that. I said rather sheepishly, there are other people like me, sometimes they are just hard to find, and she said, no, they are not here…people who will talk to me not just put money in my cup.
So I pray for Amelia now. I did what I knew how to do and followed the prompting of God within me. I pray that she finds that church, that she is welcomed in with open arms and taken care of. I pray she does find a better life, where her needs are meant as well as her family. I pray she gets to be with her children again. And I pray that more people will walk the streets of Dublin and around the world and just stop to talk to people like Amelia and listen to their story. Not judge them, or write them off, or ignore them or just drop a coin in their cup. To ask them their story and listen and show them unconventional love like Jesus would.