“...there will be great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents…” Luke 15:7
Donnie sat quietly on the steps of his uncle’s apartment just 100 yards from where our two busses would be picking up our outreach team the Sunday night of Mardi Gras. Max Love and I had gone another route to meet the busses while the team headed straight for the pick-up spot.
As we came upon Donnie he had his head down and partially covered by the hood of his dark sweat shirt. It was around 1:00 AM and this section of New Orleans’ French Quarter had become sparsely occupied. Max shouted out to him and he raised his head to see who it was calling out from the darkness.
Within minutes we had cut to the chase and were inquiring as to his spiritual condition. He was forthright and honest that he was not serving the Lord Jesus. As we spoke I could see the busses loading in the distance and I thought to myself, “Any minute my cell phone will ring and they’ll ask where we are.”
I have been taking teams into New Orleans since 1996 and have never left anyone behind after a long night of outreach. If someone is witnessing, we wait until they are finished—that is the reason that we are there to begin with. Plus, I am the leader of this team! Surely they would notice that I was not on board and would wait until I arrived. Boy I sure missed it on that one—–or did I?
A few minutes later I could see the busses driving off in the distance. Ten minutes after that, Donnie was kneeling there on the sidewalk asking Jesus to be the Lord of his life. We would eventually help Donnie to get back home to Texas. Max gave him his own Bible and Donnie got busy reading the Gospel of John and the Book of Romans. He has called me several times to stay in touch and is still rejoicing that the Lord Jesus found him all alone on that stair step in New Orleans.
Max and I made it back to the camp that night. The team felt bad that they had forgotten us, but I soon told them that they had not forgotten us, but rather the Holy Spirit had remembered Donnie! God had momentarily “blinded their eyes” and interrupted the standard course of things so that He could get His message delivered to this one lost sheep!
We missed the bus—so that Donnie wouldn’t. How many times has the Holy Spirit desired to interrupt what YOU wanted to do so that He could accomplish what HE wanted done—but you neglected to heed His nudging?
I am sure that I have walked past my “destiny” in order to get to some other “destination” more times that I would care to imagine. I am just so blessed that I stopped long enough that night to allow Jesus to order my steps!
Blessings,
Troy D. Bohn
Pastor Troy D. Bohn - International Director
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