A monthly column in which Julita Kok shares on living adventurously with God
I have just returned from one month in the US. What a blessing it was. I travelled to Dallas, then to Tulsa and from Tulsa, did a road trip to Nashville. From there I traveled to Dallas, then Lubbock and Lamesa in Texas and back to Dallas again.
The US seems like the land of milk and honey if you look at the abundance they have. Everything is in excess. There is not one flavour or five, but many flavours. There is not one brand or three, but many different brands of a product. So they can truly pick and choose. But the waste got to me. In such excess and abundance, there is a lot of waste. And I am not used to that. But except for that, it was an amazing experience to see things through God’s eyes and see people that He sees. Sometimes we miss people, but He does not.
Let me share an experience or two.
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My friend and I went to a Walmart for some water and when we came out, there was this old gentleman, probably in his 80s. He bought some groceries and was trying to put them in the back of his pickup, but he battled. So I walked up to him and asked if I could help. At first he did not understand but when he realised that I wanted to assist, he was so thankful. While loading his stuff I asked how he was and he said, not well at all. He had had a back operation and had much pain in his leg. I said I was sorry to hear that and finished unpacking everything. He then asked what he owed me, and I said: “You can pay me by allowing me to pray for you”. He was so caught off guard, hehehehe. But he said: “Yes, you may.” And I prayed for his healing and for God to bless him and thanked Jesus for loving him so much and I could see the old man was not used to this. I helped him to just close the back of the pickup and said goodbye. He had tears in his eyes and I could not help myself, right there in the parking lot — I hugged him and in that moment, I knew God touched him. I have no proof, but I know. He did not want to let go of me and this touched me even more than it touched him, I think. I walked away, thanking God for these small opportunities to just love people, nothing more, just loving them. It is not always in the words we speak, but that hug (and those who know me, know I am not a hugger). It was a God hug for the both of us. I think this little happening meant more to me than to the old man.
I needed to travel from Lubbock, Texas to Fort Worth, Texas. When I checked flight prices three weeks before, I did not have the money for a flight ticket, so I got a bus ticket instead. A six-hour bus drive through Texas did not sound bad at all. And I know the Lord — if I was supposed to fly I would have had the money.
So I sat right in front for extra leg space and my friend, Inelda, thought it a good idea to pay a little extra for me to enjoy the comfort of not having someone sit next to me on my journey. So, in other words, the seat next to mine was also my seat.
I looked around to see who “my mission” was going to be during the long journey. After a few minutes a very, very sick woman with a big oxygen tank sat down opposite me. Had to be her, right? I thought I was probably going to pray for her or something. But three and a half hours passed and this woman only slept — so no opportunity to speak to her. Then we stopped at Wichita Falls and a group of people got on. This young lady came to me and asked if my empty seat was taken? I asked: “Do you not have a seat number?” She said she did, but someone was sitting in her seat and she did not know how to tell them to move. So she sat down. And I am like: “Lord, this is not her seat, but here she is, show me what to say.”
And I looked at this girl and I just knew that I knew that I knew, she was hungry. And for some or other reason I had got two of everything for my trip: two sodas, two packets of Lays chips, two lunch packs and two packets of gummies. Way too much food for me.
So I asked her if she wanted a packet of Lays and she was like: “Oh no, I am okay.” And I waited five minutes and asked again. “Can I give you a packet of Lays?” And she looked at me and said: “Sure! Thank you”. So I saw how she dug into that packet and when she finished I took out the soda and again she was like: “Oh no, thank you.” And I asked straight out: “When last have you eaten?” And she said that it was the previous day and she had been on the go since 4am that morning. And I took out the drink, the lunch box and the gummies and that girl had a blast. And right there and then, God used that for me to talk to her. She asked me what I did and for some reason I answered, I am in the music industry. And then she made a mistake, hehehehehe. “How did you end up in the music industry?” Of course I had to tell her the truth, so I told her how God went before me. We talked for more than a hour on what her dreams were and I explained how God was the answer. She was so inspired. I saw this very tired, chaotic girl turn into a blooming, expectant “what if” girl. It was so cool. She had no luggage with her — only three pieces of clothing in her handbag and I knew, God went before this girl today to tell her there was another way. To choose Him is the answer. I got the feeling her life was falling apart.
I left the bus in awe of His love for people. He already had His eye on this girl two days before when I had packed two of everything. He knew a hungry girl would sit next to me and the food would give me an opportunity to talk to her. But actually, He already knew three weeks before, when I bought the bus ticket and not a flight ticket. He had His eye on her the whole time. This God.
I loved this bus ride. Soooo happy there was not enough money at the time for a flight. This 20-year-old girl now knows she has options and choices, and that there is a God who knows her name. May she choose Life.
And then I had such cool experiences with two Uber/Lyft drivers. I was in their cars for 35 minutes each and had more than enough time with them. Was so very, very cool.
Both believed in God, but were not committed Christians. The first one, when we finished the ride, I asked if I could pray for him and he said: “Oh yes, ma’am, that would be wonderful”. A man in his 50s. And then he switched off the car, took off his cap and closed his eyes. I cannot tell you what this gesture did to me. It seems like nothing, but in that moment, this man bowed his heart to God and I could just see the angels standing to attention for what was about to happen. And of course, I got out and he drove off, but this is the wonderful thing about God, His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, continued with this man. And I knew something happened. It touched me deeply when he did that and it was such a privilege to be able to pray for and with him.
The other driver, later that afternoon, played all this beautiful African music and God used the music to open up a wonderful conversation. I could talk to him about Jesus and bless his business and he was so very thankful. The music was just so special in those moments and God’s presence filled the car. He said this was his best drive ever. Hehehehe.
Aaaaah, friends, what a good, good Father we have. Many of us have lots and lots of challenges, but we have a hope and His name is Jesus Christ. Therefore we can never be hopeless and this is an amazing thing. He loves us so much. He loves all people and if we can be the hands and feet of Jesus to this world, many things will be different.
I am currently in the very beautiful Velddrif in the famous Bokkomlaan and will be here for the next two and a half weeks before I leave for Pretoria and then Israel. I am trusting for God encounters and trust Him to daily send me people who need Jesus. He knows who they are. I just want to be there and be ready when they come.
May God stir your heart to share the Gospel of Jesus to all those who truly need to hear and may not only their lives change, but yours too.
Blessings to you all.
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