This is long, but you will be very blessed if you read it all the way through. From about midway through on, it is very, very interesting and encouraging. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN My name is Wesley Duvall and I live in Aledo Texas and this past December (2013) I was invited to join a friend of mine by the name of Joseph Sansanelli on a trip to Africa. Joseph is a man God allowed me to meet in August of 2012. Joseph was a successful eye doctor in Fort Worth, TX. but was not fulfilled with his life. Joseph began to search for answers and in the process discovered the Love of Christ through the powerful message of the Gospel. As he began to learn more about God and grow in faith the Lord brought him to a passage of scripture in Matthew 6:33 - Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and my righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you. Joseph ask the Lord “what does this mean” the Lord told him, “it means exactly what I said............... Ive placed you on this earth because I want you to be a part of my Kingdom the Kingdom of Heaven and the reason that your unfulfilled is because your entire life youve been building your own personal kingdom the kingdom of Joseph Sansanelli.” Joseph replied “how do I do that?” the Lord replied........you need to un-build.............start getting rid of all your STUFF..............they are idols in your life and they own you.” So he did just that, Joseph got rid of all of his worldly possessions and his heavenly Father led him to Panama where he revealed to him that his real purpose in life was to help poor people see. So my friend Joseph moved to Panama last year with his wife and two boys. They transitioned from a life of luxury to living in a modest two bedroom house in Panama where they help people in remote villages. For the first time, many people get to experience the Love of Christ through a simple pair of eyeglasses. The Lord revealed to my friend that the Kingdom of Heaven is real and that it is completely opposite of what we think and how the rest of the world lives. In the summer of 2013 Joseph called me and informed me that Father was asking him to go to Africa. He said that God wanted him to serve the poorest of the poor, so Joseph asked me to pray with him about this. If this is fathers will that he would open the door and show him the way because he had never been to Africa and had no contacts there. Six months later the Lord opened a door. It came in the form of a personal invitation from a lady and her husband who had been in Africa some 20+ years. The ministry is called Iris and it is located in Pemba, Mozambique and their facility is called, The Village of Joy. The couples name is Roland and Heidi Baker and they had just opened up a medical clinic and had been praying for an eye Dr. Well, God connected them with Joseph in a miraculous way.................a connection that only He is capable of. When Joseph told me of the invitation from Roland and Heidi the spirit of the Lord immediately told me to go on the trip. So, in December of 2013 I bought some tickets, hopped a plane and we flew halfway around the world. Once we landed in Africa, we connected with two men from Georgia, Brian Kaiser and Denny Debner. Brian Kaiser supplies lenses and frames to Joseph and has a ministry called God’s eyes. Im always amazed at Father’s switchboard and how he connects people. Those who are willing, who have said YES to his spirit and the invitation to join Him in this great adventure that is the Kingdom of Heaven. There was a lot of excitement/anticipation building up inside of me, prior to this trip. I knew I would see and experience new things. I was stepping way outside of my normal zone of comfort. Im not used to remote regions of the world where people live in poverty, where water and food are scarce and temperatures exceed 100 degrees on a regular basis. Seeing first hand the devastation and cruelty of severe poverty. Even though I knew I would be exposed to these environments, there was still a sense of anticipation of what the Spirit would reveal. I know from experience that when I am out of my comfort zone the spirit of the Lord typically moves stronger. Im not sure how all that works but theres undoubtedly a heighten sense of awareness to the Spirit of the Lord when I am uncomfortable and out of my normal elements. In addition to that I knew that I would be in the presence of some Giants of the Faith. What I mean by that is people who do not limit God, who read his word, believe his promises and actually do it. This usually opens an environment to where God shows up and reveals himself in supernatural ways. I was looking forward to seeing and experiencing this. After I had been there for about two weeks I had yet to see what I was hoping for. No you had jumped out of their wheel chair, no blind eyes opened and no one had been raised from the dead. I had not seen the supernatural or miraculous I had hoped to see. I remember staying up one night, it was late and I was all alone........... I went out and sat quietly in the presence of the Lord. The sky was big and the moon and stars were bright and spread across the clear sky. I asked the Lord, “where are you, why havent you shown up, I dont understand.............Ive come halfway around the world and I expected to see you, here where are you?” The Lord answered me with a soft whisper to my heart “Wesley, Im all around you.”This didnt make sense to me, in fact it kind of frustrated me. A few days later we were in the worship center praising God. I was standing towards the front as the praise and worship band played. I wanted to go deep into the presence of the Lord, my eyes where closed and my heart was opened as my hands went up into the air. I remember what I was saying in my heart, “Lord..... I love you, Lord I want more of you, Lord I want to be in your presence...... more....... more....... more!!!! Reveal yourself to me, pour out your spirit on me.......yes Lord.....yes......I Love you.” As I was standing there with my hands raised pressing into worship this retarded orphan boy who lives on the base came up and wrapped his arms around me. He was clinging to my side hip and hugging me tightly, the conditions where already really hot and the last thing I wanted was another warm body pressed up against me. I remember looking down at this boy and thinking OK, thats cute but I hope he lets go of me real soon because I’m hot. I tried to kind of shake him loose but he wouldnt let go. He was interrupting my praise time with the Lord. I remember looking down at this little retarded boy who was just smiling back at me with his sweaty arms wrapped tightly around my hip. I remember having thoughts of I really wish that this kid would leave me alone so that I can worship God in peace. Im not sure how long we worshiped exactly but I know that this boy was attached to me the entire time. After the service the boy was still by my side. We left the building and he walked with me, holding onto my hand and constantly looking up at me. As we walked back to the visitor center we reached a certain point the orphan kids are not permitted. I remember seeing that point where the security guard was posted and thinking to myself, “Ill be so glad when we reach that point so this little kid will finally let go of me.” Once we reached that point the guard told the boy he could not enter and he finally let loose of me. As I walked away those words came back to me that I had prayed the night before and the response He gave.........“I’m all around you.” Just then I turned around and saw the young boy standing next to the security guard watching me walk away. It was in that moment that I realized it was HIM. He was there..............HE had taken on a form that I didnt expect and HE was trying to show me his Love through the arms of a retarded child. HE was in there and I knew it and I caught a glimpse of HIM for the very first time. A few days later a group of us where just hanging out with some of the orphan kids. One of the girls there had been born with clubfeet. I remember looking at her thinking how sad. She was sitting in the lap of another lady who was a visitor when the spirit of the Lord moved upon me and he said, “you know youre not really sad.....you dont feel sorry for that girl and if you did you would do something about it.” “My love takes action so I want you to go over and touch those little girls feet.........massage those feet that have no life and pray that your Father in Heaven would heal her clubfeet.” I wrestled with the Lord about this........ I said, “no..... I cannot do this.” “What would people think...... that would look really weird because I dont know her and I hardly know the lady whose lap she is sitting on.” The spirit of the Lord did not cease and continued to tell me to go lay my hands on her and massage her feet. “Love her like I love you.” I dont know why its so difficult to be obedient to do what the Spirit the Lord is called us to do but in that moment I remember wrestling with the Lord arguing with him as to why I couldnt do what he asked me to do. Finally, I gave in and went over to the girl. I sat on the floor and I put her feet in my lap and I begin to massage them and begin to pray that the Lord would bring life, feeling and strength back into her legs. After praying for a while I opened my eyes and expected to see her legs healed.......... straight and strong but they were not. What was strong where her eyes...........she looked deep inside me...... I can still remember her bright, beautiful, green eyes focusing so intently at me. I could not help but feel the compassion in her eyes. It was in her eyes that I saw Him.........Christ was in this little girl.......HE was staring back at me. I remember the Spirit of the Lord saying to me, “I love you, you are my child and I care about you.” It was overwhelming..............and then he whispered to me once again, “Im all around you.” He was moving my heart through this little girl............ teaching me what it looks like to follow him. A few days later I had an invitation to join Heidi on her weekly visit to a local village. This village buffers the main base and Heidi visits the people there twice a week. On this particular trip we where accompanied by my friend Joseph, Brian and Denny as well as an entourage of Heidis children. As we walked through the village Heidi would duck into a shop or store and just start talking with the locals. You could tell that she was very much in her natural element and I saw a side of Heidi that few experience, when observing her from a pulpit. She displayed a very tangible love for everyone she came in contact with and would engage them face to face and ask them questions about themselves. If we where at a place of business she would ask them how their business was doing and often she would purchase what ever it was they where selling. After buying the items she would walk a little further and hand out what ever she had purchase to children along the street. Every child we encountered received attention of some kind from Heidi and I was able to see what STOP FOR THE ONE actually looked like. Walking through this village with Heidi was the closest example I had ever seen of Christ. I could imagine Christ doing so many of the same things. Just walking through towns and interacting with people. I remember this one shop owner we came across who was making products out of steel. His shop was hot, dirty and full of rough men...........but that didnt seem to bother Heidi as she just jumped in and asked him what he was building and to tell us about his products. Another store vendor was selling dry goods and after he shared a little with us about his store, Heidi asked if we could pray for him and for his store. He agreed and I can still hear her voice as she called to us, come on over here guys, lets pray for this man and his store.........Father thank you for this man and please bless this store.......we ask that he sell a lot of product so he can feed his family.....amen I remember thinking to myself upon several occasions.........who does that? It was a great example of how we should model Christ to the world around us. Just meet them where they are and Love them. After a few hours of walking we came across a lady who was standing alone. We stopped to talk to her and discovered that she was a widow. The house we where standing in front of was hers and it was very small. Maybe 6 x 8 at the most and was leaning heavily to one side. It was constructed from bamboo and dirt but most of the dirt had washed off and there where lots of holes left in her walls. The house was small and looked as if it could fall over at any point, in fact it may have already done so if not for the adjacent structure it was leaning up against. After talking for a bit this woman invited us (5 persons) into her home for a visit. The door was crooked and only swung on one hinge but she pulled it back and we all filed inside. On the inside an old rusted box spring was the only thing that separated the dirt floor from a thin mattress.......................this was her bed and the only place for us to sit. In the corner was a tree limb that propped up a small board she had made into a table to hold the few pots and pans she had. It was hot, dusty, stinky and there where lots of flys around as we sat and talked with her. I sat in awe of this woman and realized that she had extended hospitality to us........strangers whom she didnt know ..............to come into her home. After talking to her for a while and getting to know her we decided to give her a bag of peanuts we where carrying around. We wanted to bless her with these peanuts and let her know that we appreciated her hospitality. After receiving the peanuts she nodded back a thank you and then immediately opened the bag. Nothing could have prepared me for the events that where about to unfold. After she opened the bag, she reached in and grabbed a hand full of peanuts and handed them to Heidi, then another hand full and handed them to me, then Joseph, onto Brian and Denny. I had no idea what had just happened till I saw the bag................it was empty. This widow who had nothing just shared all the peanuts we had just given her...............with us.......strangers whom she had never met. Realizing what was happening I extended my two hands full of peanuts toward this widow and turned to Heidi so she could interpret. I told Heidi no, tell her these peanuts are for her, they are a gift......here take them Heidi interpreted what I had just said and then it happened. This widow reaches into my hands and begins to peal the peanuts for me all the while smiling and looking at me with such compassion. I was wrecked and everyone in the room was crying......it was so powerful. The sound of Heidis voice shaking under the strains of emotion is one I will retain forever.......... DONT YOU EVER FORGET THE LESSON YOU ARE BEING TAUGHT HERE TODAY.......WE HAVE SO MUCH TO LEARN FROM THE POOR. As we left her house I purposely lagged behind everyone else.......I was covered by the Holy Spirit and he continued to minister truth to me. Just then he placed Matt. 25:31-40 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ It was in that moment walking back that I knew I had just been in the presence of Messiah. He was teaching me about the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN through this poor widow. I could just imagine being one of his disciples and sitting with this widow while this scene unfolds. I imagine he would have leaned in close and tapped me on the shoulder and said see here guys.....this is what I have been talking to you about.......THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.......this widow gets it......pay close attention to what she is doing for she is teaching you about the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 12:26:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015