...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes ... Isaiah 61:3
Marseille is a beautiful city filled with people from different walks of life. A place where God wants to bring beauty out of ashes. A place that will be known for its love.
As we were praying we felt that God wanted us to love people and step out in practical ways to show them love. Whether it was giving someone a meal or giving little gifts away, one thing that was clear was that God loved them and wanted them to know that His love was much more than just words. It was love in action.
We saw people encounter the love of God, some were healed instantly and some were encouraged in their walk with Jesus.
Here are 2 stories from our time in Marseille.
We met this gentleman sitting on the side of the walkway with his crutch beside him. We started talking to him and asked if we could pray for his ankles that had arthritis. After we prayed my friend asked him to stand up to which he replied it doesn’t get better that quickly. He stood up anyway and to his surprise the pain had receded. We prayed again and the pain was totally gone. He started jumping to test out his ankles and was so happy because there was no more pain. He then asked us if it was magic to which my friend replied it’s Jesus. My friend who was doing all the talking then continued sharing about Jesus.
Meet Salim! I met him on our last day of evangelism in Marseille. He is from Spain and when we met he was homeless. I started sharing with him about Jesus and spoke truth into his life. He was so happy with what I shared with him and agreed. I later found out that he had heard the gospel 5 years ago and gave his life to Jesus but was still so young in his faith. After some time I asked him if he had something to eat to which he replied that he had not eaten for 2 days. I then took him to McDonald’s with a friend to get food and as we walked back to the rest of our friends he kept offering his food to others to eat. What a guy!
I got to hear Salim’s story and was deeply moved by what he had been through. At the age of 8 he lost his parents in an accident. After living with his grandmother for some time he found himself on the streets in Spain at 13 years of age after his grandma become mentally ill. At the age of 18 he decided to start swimming hoping for a better life. He was 3 days out at sea floating and fatigue, when a boat rescued him and brought him to Marseille. He was sleeping on the streets in Marseille one night when a group of guys beat him up. This experience left him so fearful, traumatised and hurt.
We introduced him to 2 of our friends who worked at a Church cafe and they were able to meet with him again. Before I left Salim, I prayed for him with my friends, gave him a big hug and told him I loved him.
Later I got news from one of my friends from the cafe that they were able to get Salim some help and that he had somewhere to stay. Praise GOD!
Please pray that Salim will grow in his walk with Jesus and experience all that God has for him.
THANK YOU!
I am so thankful for your support. Thank you for praying and giving financially for me to be able to meet people like Salim as well as all the others. Without your financial support and prayers I would not have been able to make it to France to experience what God was doing in my life and through my life.
Thank you so much. 🙂