A $1.20 Cap brings about salvation Pt. 3

The plan was to hand Dima the hat with a Bible verse in hopes that it would spark curiosity and lead him to the Scriptures. But curiosity must have set in rather strongly after prayer, as we found Dima at the foot of our cabin. No time to write down Scripture. Time to bust out the Evangecube. Never been used between the two of us, Claudette attempts to break down the gospel in basic terms - "Man - God - sin - broken - Christ died - forgiveness - relationship." Alina comes in at the perfect time and we begin to ask him his thoughts. This 12-year-old had a very keen sense as to the power of prayer. Alina translated that his grandmother prayed for him daily and the day she failed to pray, he fell and hurt himself. But he also felt that God didn't always hear his prayers. This kid wasn't simply led to Christ in one day. I begin to notice that this has been a journey of small revelations from God and deep questioning by Dima…

How blessed are we that Lord allowed us to reap what had been sown long ago. How blessed we are to have a God that shares in the sweetest moments of life on earth. We begin talking as Alina rapidly translates back and forth. We talk about God's faithfulness to answering prayer, that His ears are open to every word Dema mutters, that His Son was sacrificed for Dema and that he is dearly loved. We ask if we could pray. He quickly accepts the offer. Our faces light up and Alina graciously translates for us.

As we finish up prayer, Dima describes an amazing encounter with what could only be the Lord affirming his presence in Dima’s life. In a room full of women, Dima feels the presence of a man lifting him up. Our eyes widen. How great is our God.

We walk to the dining hall where the students are gathered to watch movies. Thinking that God is finished creating mind blowing moments, I am quickly humbled as I listen to Dima begin to speak with his friends saying, “Bog… Bog…Bog,” which means God in Russian. He just received Christ and already He was preaching the love of God!

The Lord will move in your life in ways unexpected. He plants seeds for a season, he waters for another and he allows your hand to take part in His greatness. And every once and a while He reaps before you what He has sown. He will use all the works of His hand to bring about His will. Maybe he’ll use you at church when you volunteer with the youth. Maybe he’ll use you in your family. He may even use you to help out a perfect stranger at the perfect time for a perfect moment that will bring Him glory. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll use a $1.20 to bring about salvation in a roundabout way for a young boy who loves hats.

A $1.20 Cap brings about salvation Pt. 2

Students are running around like monkeys on the camp ground. It’s overwhelming, but over the course of the week, I find my place as a helper to a group of girls from ages 13 to 14. They are all so amazing, each with their own personalities that will be remembered to the end. Their openness is well appreciated and the outward expression of love, from the genuine hugs to the sweet kisses on the cheek, refuels me after each eventful day. No other place I’d rather be.

Thursday rolls around and the Americans are required to put on a skit. No perfect time like the present to bring out THE hat...It's a hit. The kids don’t expect it at all, and the execution of its unveiling is perfected with a calm pause followed by an abrupt burst of dance to La Cucaracha.

It's Friday and Claudette approaches me with her arm swung over a little man. "This is Dima. He collects hats and he wants to know if he can have yours." I hesitate. "But this is my hat," my selfish mind echoes into my ears. The Holy Spirit beats that thought out of me and I question, "How can this be a ministering tool?" "Do you really want it?" "Da," he says. "Do you believe in Jesus?" He shrugs His shoulders and gives Claudette, Alina and me a strange look, as if he knows the desired response is "YES!" but he can't seem to bring himself to lie. Alina translates the body language and says, "I don't think he does." "I'll think about it," I say as I walk away confused with what opportunity God's placed before us…

We walk outside as Alina chases after us and asks us to pray for Dema. We do. The three of us huddle up as we pray in the drizzling outdoors. We pray for God to open up his eyes to the truth. We pray that he accept Christ as his Savior. We pray that he is surrounded by godly people to lead him in the right direction...