I went to Australia for Christmas and arrived back in New Zealand just in time to celebrate my birthday. To my surprise I was given a ticket to the New Zealand Parachute Music Festival for a present. This is a full weekend of Christian music concerts and speakers which is the largest event of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
Early February, a few weeks after Parachute, I was talking with Lauren, a good friend of mine. During our chat she asked me when I was planning to leave New Zealand. I didn't know, but felt inspired to give a time even though I didn't know any. With unusual confidence I told her, "I will be gone before June".
At that time I had not even thought about when I would leave to any great depth and any thoughts I did have were more towards leaving in August or September. June seemed wrong. Too early. Strangley however Lauren just smiled and told me that she knew I was going to say June because God told her just before I had spoken. I was amazed, but greatly encouraged too. I started preparing to leave by June, looking also for why it would be then.
Around the beginning of March a good friend called me about a job offer with his business. As we talked, he told me about his business expanding and needing new staff in June. That caught my attention. Could this be why I would be leaving before June - to spend time with my good friend in his business? It amazed me that even though we only speak a couple of times each year he would call me with such an offer only weeks after my conversation with Lauren.
Some time in the middle of March I felt strongly that I should pray. As I prayed the atmosphere in the room changed. God seemed really close. I felt him ask me to sit down as he wanted to tell me something. After I did, he gave me a series of directions to follow that were very detailed and contained names of people with descriptions of others. This was like a strong thought process that I wasn't part of but could listen in on. I was really taken aback by this. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and at first I was thinking that perhaps my mind had gotten overactive.
I always like to be careful during times like this because sometimes I think it is God when it is me. Even now I cannot say unequivocally that it is God, however, it has impacted on my thoughts of South America. Some indicators that it is likely to be God include:
- The idea of going to Buenos Aires or even Argentina had never entered my head. I was focused on Brazil. Perhaps Peru would have been more likely because of what Jacqueline had told me, but Argentina was a very strong break from my existing thought patterns
- There was some very specific information included in the direction. This was so detailed that an intimate knowledge of the country would be necessary to interpret them. It was definitely something that I would not be able to even know about until arriving there and seeing the place.
- Some of the directions really surprised me and I was even taken aback by some of them. If it was directions of my own doing then it would be likely to line up with things that I understood and knew and would not have been such a surprise to me or so contradicting.
- The strong presence of God in the room before and during the time that I got these directions. It was a feeling like I have not experienced before. A strong awareness of love and warmth is the only way that I could describe it.
One thing I know is that if it is not God, it will be shown up for what it is soon enough, because the instructions will not happen as I received them. But for now it appears that my direction could well be Argentina.
Bring it on! :-)