"AMBER!!!" by Cameron
Back in Mexico, our Intake team was led on a scavenger hunt. This consisted of, first and foremost, praying for all those we might encounter. Then, we split into teams which were each given a list of things to find and a time limit of a couple hours. This list consisted of finding different places that we would take a picture of in front but also offer to pray with anyone there. Some things to find were a Tortilleria, curtains with flowers on them, dogs, and a horse, but it was a full list of this kind of stuff. You would be surprised at how many people we encountered and were able to pray for on our way to finding these things.
Fast-forward a couple of months and we are in Missouri on our Christmas break. It is New Year's Day, and we decided to have a scavenger hunt with our friends and mission partners. So we made a list of items to find, split into three teams of 5 or 6, and then went off in our cars.
Rewinding a bit now, there is something similar to scavenger hunting that a lot of our FMC friends have done. It is called Treasure Hunting. It is when you pray for God to reveal different charecteristics about a person or a name. Simple things such as red shirt, cowboy hat, bike, or the name Jack. If you don't get a specific place to look, you can usually just head to Walmart or some other place that you feel like going. There, you will hopefully find the person, explain in a not creepy way that you were looking for them, and offer to pray with them.
So, one of our FMC friends went treasure hunting one day. When she was praying, she had gotten the name "Amber." She then looked and looked but could not find anybody named Amber. When she got home, she was a little bit discouraged and told her husband what had happened. Then, they didn't really think too much more about it.
The next day, our friend's husband was at Lowes getting some stuff with another missionary friend. They were in the checkout line, when our friend's husband saw that one of the cashiers had "Amber" on her nametag. Very exited, he shouted: "AMBER! MY WIFE WAS LOOKING FOR YOU!!!" Afterwards, they explained the whole situation to the cashier, and were able to pray with her.
All of this is to say, my Mom put on the list, "A person named Amber" as a joke. Other things on our list were: a customer at Walmart, someone walking their dog, a business with christmas lights, a baby, a nursing home, someone who is ill, and many other similar things.
So, as I said, we all headed out in our specific teams. I was on a team with my older sister, Autumn, and some of our friends. We were not sure if we would be able to make some of the harder/farther away stops, like a nursing home and some other places.
After a few stops, we decided to go to our friend, Mr. Jon's house. He had had some health issues recently (so we could count that as a ill person), and we knew he would have on (or could put on, wink wink) a cross necklace, which was also on the list.
While there, we jokingly asked him if he knew anyone named Amber. He said that yes, he had a niece named Amber. Already we were suprised and exited, but he continued. He told us that his niece had gotten in a terrible accident many years ago. She had been driving to work in a blizzard and had gotten out to help someone whose car had slid to the side of the road. But on her way to the car, she was ran over at least two times and her head was ran over. She was seriously injured and was rushed to the hospital. Since then, for at least 10 years, she had been in a nursing home, making a slow recovery.
When we asked where the nursing home was, he said it was just 10 or 15 minutes away. So, we asked if he would take us there, and he said "Yes." He hadn't visited her in a while and was glad to do so. So we went and met her and were able to pray with her. She had been very lonely and suffering with a little bit of dementia, and even had a dent in her head from the accident. It was a beautiful encounter, and she seemed glad to have visitors.
This all being said, who could do that besides the Holy Spirit? Seriously! I could truly see God's hand at work that day. We were able to return home, and share that story with the other groups. They also had some amazing Glory Stories from their time. Our Mimi and Papa judged and tallied up the scores. It was pretty much a three-way tie. We then ended in a prayer for everybody we encountered.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post! Maybe you feel inspired to go scavenger or treasure hunting yourself! It truly is an amazing expeirience that I would highly recommend. Please continue to pray for us as we are praying for you guys!
God bless!
-Cameron
