In 1999, I was 19 and in my first year of college, doing my own thing, partying and living freely, or so I thought... I was not serving God (I hadn't been, since Grade 10/age 15 or so). I was searching, that's for sure, but not interested in formal 'Christianity' as I knew it... I would watch Oprah, read some self-help books, and went that route to 'discover myself'...
My mom went off for a month to visit her sister (my aunt) and my cousins and uncle in Uganda in the winter of '99. She came back and told me about the trip. It woke a hunger in me to go on a life-changing trip and see some places in the world outside of Canada. What better place to go than Uganda where I could stay with my Aunt Meg and her family? I expressed this desire, and in a matter of months, the plans were set and arranged by my Ma, my Aunt, and fully paid for by my wonderfully generous Gramma (Dorothy).
I was headed to Uganda from May to July 1999! A 3 month African Adventure!
Looking back, I see that God was working on my heart that whole first year of college. Although it looked like I was living a wild life, God knew that I was hungry for more and that I was not satisfied with just partying and 'getting by'... and living a shallow lifestyle... but I was just too blocked about church and christian stuff from family issues growing up and my own issues and seeing the imperfections of the church....
So, I went to Uganda, with the mindset of "I can play the religious game!" ...You see, my Aunt Meg & Uncle Jim (and cousins Sarah and Rachel) were MISSIONARIES in Africa... So, I had to put my 'religious face' on, to survive there (or so I thought)... I arrived in May of 1999, with excited nervousness, not knowing what to expect. All my senses were expanding as I was plopped into a completely different world. It was fascinating and difficult and wonderful all at once. Here I was in Uganda, a new world, with familiar faces from my old world. Hard to put it all together for a while... As I adjusted, I was able to keep it up in the religious game department. For the first couple weeks, I was able to 'handle' all the christian talk and church going. I just took it all in as part of 'the experience'.
Well, let's just say GOD HAD OTHER PLANS ;)
A few weeks in, now into June, I'd just turned 20, and God decided that a prophet (Sonny, a humble yet powerful christian man in his 50's) from Malaysia was going to stay in the guesthouse at my aunt & uncle's where I stayed as well. He was coming to the town of Mbarara to preach and prophesy. This was the turning point in my life!
Even though I was getting along fine with everyone and doing well, still, when I would go to a church service, it didn't mean anything to me. It was just like 'the thing to do' since that's where my relatives went on Sundays...
Well, one day in the week that Sonny was visiting, he had a 'word from the Lord' for me... (this was all new to me as I grew up in a very conservative Baptist church and didn't know anything about the spiritual gifts or prophecy). Well, that day, he went to my Aunt Meg and let her know that he had been hearing these things from God about me and wanted to know how to approach me.
Well, later that afternoon while Sonny was in town, my Aunt came up to me in the yard and told me that Sonny had a word from the Lord about me and shared a little bit about what he'd said. IMMEDIATELY, I started bawling and choking and felt like I had a huge ball of something in my throat and that it was choking me and I felt like I had to throw up. (demonic oppression, possibly?). Anyway, she prayed for me and said that she and Sonny would come and pray for me when he returned from town that evening. This was all very strange for me, and looking back on it, I don't remember what was going through my head, but I knew that something significant was happening, but didn't know what. I just knew at that moment, I REALLY needed some prayer in order to get through whatever it was that was surfacing in my heart... I was kind of a wreck...
That evening, Sonny and my Aunt Meg came to my room and he shared more about what God had told him. Let me just say that it was like he was speaking word for word things that were going on in me that I had never told anyone. He was 'reading my mail' as some have said. It both freaked me out, yet it overjoyed me, to have secrets exposed, and truth and light shed on my inner world. I was bawling and sobbing (and probably slobbering too. trust me, to the natural eye, it was probably not pretty lol). They both said, basically, for true freedom to come that I needed to surrender my life back to God. At that point, I didn't really think it over, I just knew that all I wanted now was to give my heart back to God. I did not see any other route. Any other way. This really was THE ONLY WAY to freedom. It was so clear. But I didn't really think... haha... I just NEEDED freedom!!! So I prayed to the Lord to forgive me of my sins and come into my heart for real this time and to live for Him. And then they prayed for me about the things that had come up about what was going on in my heart and life (what Sonny had heard from God about). More mega-crying and gutwrenchingly honest sharing on my part. I was so vulnerable, yet I felt beauty in it...
Then Sonny began to pray for me for deliverance and freedom from all the oppression that had come on my life over the years. This is where it really gets cool and *DIVINE* (in my opinion!)... When he prayed for me, I literally was suspended in time, and I saw and felt like my head had a lid on it and the lid of my head (so to speak) was ripped off and out came all this black stuff and just flew up kinda like a cloud of smoke from my head, and disintegrated in mid-air. I felt a huge lift after this. THEN the coolest part happened. After that, I felt like this huge fountain and flow of the most cool, refreshing crystal clean water began to flow through my entire body to the tip of every limb. I felt outstretched in this flow of water, like I was flying almost in this cleansing stream. (Yet in reality, I was actually curled up on my bed, in the fetal position). I described this to my aunt and Sonny after. They were overjoyed! I couldn't stop giggling or laughing or smiling after that. This was the NEW LIFE God had redeemed for me! I got up and went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror! I was a swollen-eyed, puffy-faced red-faced sobb-sacked girl on the outside, yet I was a new person on the inside!
I slept like a baby that night... and the next morning, my two cousins, Sarah and Rachel who were 10 and 8 (i think) at the time, came running up to me, since they'd heard that I'd given my life back to God, and were all chattering with excitement and hugging me and I told them that God had unclogged me and washed me clean, and Sarah exclaimed something about "Well, make sure you keep yourself unclogged! Don't get plugged up!" It was so cute and made me laugh. It was so profoundly true. So true... We can get so clogged & plugged up with the cares of this world that we forget the eternal things of God...
From that point on, my entire time in Uganda changed. I couldn't stop talking about God... and I started playing the guitar, and would practice different hymns and christian songs, and looking back reading my diary/journal, every other word was "Jesus" this "Jesus" that! I was in love with Jesus! I learned so much the rest of the summer, and was able to be in a safe, loving environment, learning anew the truths of the Bible and experiencing a truly unique and special relationship with the Lord. I still struggled, and I still wanted to do things my old way many times (It wasn't like I'd thought out this 'decision'... God just came rushing in and divinely changed my life and I just dove in...). So because of that, sometimes I'd think "What have I gotten myself into?!" but then immediately this rush of peace and freedom and truth would come over me and I knew, that even though I still had to align many parts of my thinking and my lifestyle into God's Way, I still knew that this truly was the Way, the Truth and THE ONLY LIFE and that NO one comes to the Father except through Jesus.
John 14:6 NIV Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
So, that is my 'Divine Experience' in Uganda in 1999. I would love to say I came back to Canada and all has been peachy fields of sweetness since, but that would be a lie. BUT, since that experience, I have become a new person. The person God created me to be. I am NOT the person I was before. I am enhanced! I am in the Truth. My spirit is at rest. I have peace. Deep peace. I don't have to run anymore... I will never turn away from God. EVER. Nothing will sway me. I may shake in the wagon, but I will never jump off this wagon. No siree! When you've touched upon the Real, there is no possible way to ever go back to the Counterfeit and feel any type of satisfaction from it. There is no way it's possible. Maybe a temporary thrill, but once your spirit comes truly Alive to God, all else is just sinking sand and dead Nothingness....
I plugged into an awesome church, God blessed me with such amazing leaders to guide me, mentors to disciple me, and friends to fellowship with and grow with. God's Holy Spirit has filled and baptized me, and each day is precious. Even though this happened 6 years ago, I'll remember it like it was yesterday. Truly Divine.
Like Sonny, we are ALL someone's Divine Experience waiting to happen. You just never know whose lives you could completely change when you surrender to God and ask Him to lead you each moment and to be sensitive to 'what's really going on' in the heart of a person. Sometimes, it's a kind word, or a prophetic word, or even a smile, or writing a special email or letter, or a gift or a financial contribution.
I thank God for those who were divinely set in place because of their obedience (willingness to do what God asks). Because of this, my life was changed forever. Thank you everyone for your obedience and love. To Sonny, for the divine trip you took and word from the Lord and for speaking it out; Aunt Meg, for your obedience in sharing with me and being there for me that entire time; my Mom for encouraging me to go to Uganda and for starting the process with that precious 25 cent Bible that Easter and your prayers over the phone before I left, my Gramma for your divinely inspired financial funding of this Divine Trip, my cousins and uncle who were a part of my Adventure to Africa... to all my friends & family who have supported me along the way, and most of all, God, for Your supernatural goodness.
"Thanks for 'hookin it up, Lord! You da Man!"
Here are some bible verses that I clung to, when I was over in Uganda:
Psalm 126:5 NIV (my life verse)
"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy."
Psalm 139:9-10 NIV (these verses were special for me while I was far away from my home)
"If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
Even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast."
If any of you want to comment, I'd love to hear from you now or sign my guestbook or if you have any personal questions or spiritual questions, and want to know more about how you can have your own personal divine encounter with God, email me! I would love to hear from any of you! ~ Alison :)