"Anywhere but Africa, Lord. What? The Middle East?

"I just ask that you don't send me to Africa!"

Yep, I was one of those who, hearing God's call upon my life to vocational ministry, was in a heap on the floor, crying out to God that my whole life was His. But...Africa? No way, Lord! In the years following that committment, I came to discover that the Lord has given me a spirit of adventure in teaching His word around the world! I guess He really did know me better than I knew myself. Now one of the personal items on my "bucket list" is to, in fact, minister in Africa! But in his whimsical way, He appears to be sending me to Africa via the long, circuitous route! Just like the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land. So to my surprise, the next stop was the Middle East.

 I spent two weeks in the countries of Qatar and The United Arab Emerits. My first week of ministry in Qatar came with it's challenges; due to being sick, I had lost my voice and was physically weak. In addition, the barreness of Qatar as well as the environment felt oppressive. While I am typically an emotionally strong person, I felt vulnerable and somewhat fragile.

The night before my first speaking engagement, I sensed I was in a dark spot. I remember raising my hands to God in the darkness of my room "Come rescue your lost lamb!" The next morning my voice was restored and God gave me favor to speak into the lives of ex-patriots who are invited to work in the Middle East on short-term contracts.

Many of these ex-patriots can feel displaced, discouraged, and isolated; without a vision for God's purposes in bringing them to a Muslim country. The Lord had given me a word that addressed these issues; many women responded and stayed after to talk further. I also was blessed to speak in an additional venue in Qatar; teaching on how to discern God's will in your decision making. It was a joy to see how relevant the teaching was to the women who attended.

Onto Abu Dhabi! Week two entailed bringing "Prepare to Engage" to a women's conference. What a tremendous experience to pour the truths of scripture into the lives of women who were attending, especially since they were all from other countries! India, the Philippines, Guatemala, Peru, England, Australia, Austria, and Germany were just a few. As we worshipped, it was a glimpse of what heaven will be, made up of "every tribe and every tongue"! I have since received many e-mails of how those who attended are engaging in "Divine Appointments". One lady had a fender bender with a national Emerati, who are Arab Muslims, as they exchanged information she struck up a conversation using what she had learned from the conference. It resulted in her inviting the gentleman and his wife to join her and her husband for dinner...he accepted! Now that's "loving well" in my book!

Here are some interesting facts about Abu Dhabi and Emerati Life

Falcons are the national bird of the UAE and falconing is a national sport in the Arab Nations. But even more than that, there is great affection and admiration for this beautiful bird among nationals. Many own them as prized possessions, at an average cost of $25,000! And, each bird has it's own personal passport, required for traveling.

Abu Dhabi is in the midst of a building explosion and currently has the largest amount of steel cranes located anywhere in the world! But what really takes your breath away is the intriguing architecture; like the picture of this "curved" building that I drove by.

"God's Girl" Retreat in Mt. Vernon, Washington

I was especially touched by the Lord's presence at this event. The heart of the women were so responsive and I am blessed to continue to be in touch with those who made life-altering decisions at that retreat. But one of the profound ways that the Lord's presence was evidenced was through the impromptu call to be baptized.

Two nights before the event I was praying, asking the Lord if there was anything He wanted to do at the event that I needed to prepare for..."What's on your heart, Lord?". In the stillness, I felt a strong prompting of the word "baptism". Teaching others about the significance of baptism is one of my great delights! In teaching on baptism, we often do not hear of the spiritual annointing element for service, but it is clearly demonstrated in the scriptures concerning the life of Christ.

The next day I immediately called those at the church sponsoring the event to see if they had a baptistery we could use and if this would be a possibility. They didn't sound confident due to the fact that they were one of five churches that shared a portable baptistery. "I don't know if we even have it, it may be at another church".

Sensing that the Lord wanted me to continue to be prepared, I called the church I attended in Washington to see if I could borrow baptism attire for this speaking event. They said "yes" and asked how many shorts and t-shirts should they give me? I paused to ask the Lord..."10!" I replied. To my amazement, the sweet sister-in-Christ who was helping me said "Tina! I just washed and prepared 10 shorts and t-shirts and towels in a basket...it must be for you!"

I arrived at the event thrilled to my inmost being! What would the Lord do? It was then that I heard "Tina! Guess what! It's our turn to have the baptistery! It's here and the men are filling it right now!"

WATCH OUT! JEHOVAH'S IN THE ROOM! I knew He was up to something intensely exciting! 

At the call for baptism, the women began to walk forward, committing to be baptized...right then and there! It was a powerful moment. When I was with them in the backroom preparing them for their baptism which would occur at the beginning of the next speaking session, I told them the story of how this came about; the baptistery and the basket of shorts and t-shirts. I wanted them to know, to REALLY know that the Lord had been thinking about them and this was their moment. But wait! There were only 9 women...the last set of baptism attire sat at the bottom of the basket, we all looked and wondered was there one more that needed to join us? 

One woman exclaimed "Tina! You need to go out there and let the women know! There's someone else that needs to join us!" I was touched by her faith, the others agreed and began cheering me on. We could hear the worship music, the session had begun.

I courageously came out of the backroom. What if no one responded? I could feel my faith waivering. At that moment I realized that I was moving forward by a faith inspired from the very women I had just moments ago, inspired by faith to move forward in committment to Christ. WOW!

I shared with the audience of women the story and of the one remaining t-shirt and shorts. I prompted again, but had no takers.

The baptisms began, it was a tremendous experience. The Lord's power and presence remained throughout the sessions and we all knew we had experienced something supernatural.

But what of the lone pair of shorts and the t-shirt? As I was leaving the event, two women approached me. "Tina, we are so glad you came! We are so excited because our friend wanted to come forward for baptism but was embarrassed to because of a medical condition. We are going to baptize her at her home!"

While I was overwhelmed that the Lord brought this to me so that I would have no doubt that I had heard Him and had done what He desired, I couldn't help but think what greater faith would have been inspired in all of us if only she had abandoned her embarrassment and shame and solely focused on Him. My heart was sad, knowing that He had planned more for all of us, especially for this precious sister who I never did meet.

What a lesson to me to disregard the opinions of others and to follow wholeheartedly the One who disregarded all for me. In doing that I know I will be a light for those who need to find their way.

"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe." Proverbs 29:25