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Miracle Rain!
August 2 2012 / ShareHim in Dominican Republic B, Jul. 6 - Jul. 21 '12 #568by Tim Madding
Personal Testimony of Tim Madding.
Surrounded by his dairy cows, Caesar was telling me about his farm. He had shown me his banana plants and chickens. He had explained how the farm stretched clear to the river and how he had inherited it from his father. Now, as he points to his cows, he was sharing with me how their milk production was poor. He was unsure how well the business was going to do.
Caesar spoke no English and I speak no Spanish but as he shared with me his story and the worry about the future of his farm, I understood him clearly. I could read the emotion on his face, the jesters of his hands and the tone of his voice to enjoy a conversation with my new Dominican Republic friend. As my driver for the past two weeks, I'd come to appreciate him and his wife and as a token of appreciation to me, they invited me to their small farm house for lunch. As his wife, my translator, and a couple others remained in the farm house preparing lunch, Caesar showed me around.
Interestingly, that morning I lead out in worship where I had shared the story of Honi, the Circlemaker, an old man, the generation before Jesus, that had the faith to stand up and pray for rain in the midst of a drought. He had drawn a circle in the sand end proclaimed to God that he was not going to leave the circle until God brought rain. And God heard his prayer and brought rain.
As Caesar and I stood in his pasture, and I thought of my worship talk just hours before, I offered to pray for his farm and for God to bring rain.
A few minutes later, as we walked to the river, the heavens opened up and the rain came as blessings from heaven. It poured upon his farm so much that our clothes were soaked, with not a dry spot on us.
Some might think that an afternoon on the farm that was interrupted by rain would drench their spirits. But a few moments later inside the farm house, with our simple meal of fried plantain and eggs we had a worship celebration with our hearts filled with praise to the God of heaven that heard our prayer and poured upon Caesar's farm.
As I understood him, Caesar said, "As you can see, my cows are not producing enough milk. They are about to run dry. The grass here has been so dry from a lack of rain that my cows are not producing. We need a good rain."
Caesar spoke no English and I speak no Spanish but as he shared with me his story and the worry about the future of his farm, I understood him clearly. I could read the emotion on his face, the jesters of his hands and the tone of his voice to enjoy a conversation with my new Dominican Republic friend. As my driver for the past two weeks, I'd come to appreciate him and his wife and as a token of appreciation to me, they invited me to their small farm house for lunch. As his wife, my translator, and a couple others remained in the farm house preparing lunch, Caesar showed me around.
Interestingly, that morning I lead out in worship where I had shared the story of Honi, the Circlemaker, an old man, the generation before Jesus, that had the faith to stand up and pray for rain in the midst of a drought. He had drawn a circle in the sand end proclaimed to God that he was not going to leave the circle until God brought rain. And God heard his prayer and brought rain.
As Caesar and I stood in his pasture, and I thought of my worship talk just hours before, I offered to pray for his farm and for God to bring rain.
A few minutes later, as we walked to the river, the heavens opened up and the rain came as blessings from heaven. It poured upon his farm so much that our clothes were soaked, with not a dry spot on us.
Some might think that an afternoon on the farm that was interrupted by rain would drench their spirits. But a few moments later inside the farm house, with our simple meal of fried plantain and eggs we had a worship celebration with our hearts filled with praise to the God of heaven that heard our prayer and poured upon Caesar's farm.
As I understood him, Caesar said, "As you can see, my cows are not producing enough milk. They are about to run dry. The grass here has been so dry from a lack of rain that my cows are not producing. We need a good rain."