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What God Can Do with a Lollipop

What a blessing Sunday evening to hear the glorious God-stories of His good work in San Miguel during the medical mission trip! One particular story inspired my heart and reminded me of the powerful and global work of the Spirit of God. Dr. Randy Kemp shares it below. Be blessed, and remember that little is much when God is in it!

I’m not sure what it is about mission trips and “God moments”. I know for a fact God works and moves in my life on a daily basis. He certainly doesn’t wait until I am hundreds of miles away, out of my comfort zone, speaking broken Spanish to reveal Himself. But there is something about being on a mission trip that heightens my awareness of His presence. It’s that vibrant expectation of knowing God is close, and realizing He has placed you on the front row, center stage, and allowing you to be a witness to an incredible display of His love, compassion, and power!
Our recent medical mission trip to San Miguel, Mexico did not disappoint in the category of “God moments”. To speak of all of them our team experienced would take more than this letter (or Tommy) would allow. One particular “moment” started with a gift from Bonnie Ritchie. Our team had asked the church body to bring bottles of vitamins for us to give out to the patients we would be seeing in San Miguel.. Now, I don’t know where she got them, but Bonnie brought us something I had never seen - two large bags of vitamin lollipops. My first reaction was, “How am I ever going to use those?” as I dutifully packed them away with the rest of the “normal” vitamins.
Three days later…the tiny 2 ½ year old was in obvious pain. She had recently been through a major surgery to remove a maxillary sinus tumor. Sadly, the surgeon also had to remove her upper teeth, her hard pallet, and her entire upper sinus cavity. The plastic prosthesis she was using to fill the void in her oral cavity was obviously too small as her mother attempted to place it back into a space of now proud flesh with purulent drainage. The child, for the last few days, was being fed with a syringe as she could no longer chew or swallow in a normal fashion. Instructions and antibiotics were given to a very concerned and worried mother. Arrangements were to be made for a hopeful meeting with the child’s surgeon. The child, however, continued to be in pain and the stressed mother was at near breaking point. That’s when God showed up with the lollipops. The language barrier was no longer a problem as we unwrapped the lollipop and gave it to the little girl. Never has one seen a tongue flicker as quickly as that precious child’s did as she attacked that lollipop with a purpose. The countenance of the child when she saw “candy” and of the mother when she heard “vitamins” were one in the same – pure joy. When I handed the mother an illustrated gospel tract and explained to her, through my interpreter, that Jesus loved her and we were going to pray for her and her child, I knew she understood. She had already seen Jesus in a kind word, a loving touch, and yes…a lollipop.
Thank you, dear brothers and sisters for your faithfulness to missions. Want to be a part of a “God moment”? Look around and step out in faith. Want a front row, center stage seat? Get hooked up with missions. I know I’m hooked.

Randy Kemp

Category : Tommy Talk