“Remarkable stories are coming my way. I’m visiting with people regularly who are offering testimonies about intimate encounters with God. Like the guy next to me on the airplane right now. Two stories from Lorne highlight a miracle and a “coincidence” that only God could orchestrate. Every week I am hearing new stories of how people have been guided by God in beautiful ways. These are life-changing stories. In 2017 I have had the privilege to facilitate retreats and listening experiences for Koreans, Norwegians, Albanians, Romanians, Germans, French, Indians, Ethiopians and more. Their unified declaration could not be summarized better than by the words of Jesus himself recorded in John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice”. Every story that follows is one that I have heard or watched unfold in the last month.
A woman in her seventies looks back on a childhood moment of desperation when God answered a prayer and helped her find something that was lost. She tells me about it as though it happened yesterday and claims that it has been foundational to her journey with God. A Chinese man in his fifties tells me about his mother’s experience when she was pregnant with him and not a believer. Her encounter with God at night included an audible voice that she thought was her husband’s, but he was snoring beside her. The voice led her to salvation and changed everything for their family. A Norwegian woman on a mission trip in Africa needs an emergency surgery. Alone and afraid in a hospital bed she hears the chirping of birds through the window and receives comfort as she remembers Jesus’ words about birds.
A YWAM leader in Norway is moved to tears by a story from the Scriptures as he sits in quiet early in the morning all by himself. Later that morning I teach on that same story and he shares the little “coincidence” with the whole class and breaks down before us all as he celebrates God’s intimate presence among us.”
~ Steve Klassen, Executive Director
