Change the World

God’s Play Date: 1/10/15

| Laura Lee Bonde

Lately, it seems like I’ve been attempting to make my own plans without checking with God, but it doesn’t look like I ever have to worry because God will move things around to get me right where He wants me to be. If I’m walking with Him closely every day, everywhere is a good place to be. On Saturday, my place was at the dump.God’s Play Date: 1/10/15

Lately, it seems like I’ve been attempting to make my own plans without checking with God, but it doesn’t look like I ever have to worry because God will move things around to get me right where He wants me to be. If I’m walking with Him closely every day, everywhere is a good place to be. On Saturday, my place was at the dump.

At first, I wasn’t going to go. I had tentative plans to do something else, which would’ve brought God glory, but it would’ve been some place else. At the last minute, those plans were changed, so I said, “Yes” to going to the dump. What a blessing!

At the dump, there were so many kids who wanted to play. I was helping out the team that was putting together a play-set, and before anything was bolted down, the kids started playing. They couldn’t even control themselves, nor did they want to. That’s how I want to be with God’s love: uncontrollable.

This one little girl grew attached to me. I would tell you her name, but I forgot to ask. In Spanish, she would ask me to play. In English, I would play with her. It was that simple, that pure…so much fun. She would get on the monkey bars (I think that’s what they’re called), but she wasn’t big enough to carry herself across, so I would hold onto her legs and walk under her until she reached the other side. She wanted to do this over and over again. She was so happy.

10614229_10203789417195502_4497315076419453854_n (2)Then, she pulled me along to go down the slide with her. She was so precious, was having so much fun. Near the end, she saw the basketball hoop and the basketball. She wanted to make a basket so badly, so I would lift her up and hold her there while she threw the ball up. We must’ve attempted this like ten times. She never made a basket because I just couldn’t lift her high enough, but it didn’t matter. We both laughed together so much. Laughter breaks down barriers, demolishes walls, reveals strongholds. Laughter can speak louder than words.

I’m so glad I went to the dump, but more than that, I’m so glad that my heart is usable by God. His love for this little girl was so strong that He had me there to play with her. We were each there for a specific reason. I hope each person received a revelation of God’s love for them and for those they served. He’s so amazing! I’m just excited to live!!

There for One

| Laura Lee Bonde

On Christmas Eve, a bunch of us went to Mexico to take some Christmas joy to the residents of one of the dumps. It was quite amazing. The place was full of people, but I believe God had me there for one in particular.

When the bus unloaded and we headed down towards the Christmas tree with all our bags, I heard the distant sound of mariachi music, and my heart began to dance. I couldn’t wait to let my body join in with my heart.

As I approached, I saw Phillip, dropped my bags, and ran to give him a hug. He was excited to see me. (Not many people smile there. I’m not sure if it’s because they are without joy or if it’s because they have bad teeth. We should probably take them some toothbrushes and toothpaste.) We hugged. I spoke a little in English. He spoke a little in Spanish, and then, I ate. What do you know! The trash can was next to the mariachi band. That was SO God. I threw away my plate and started dancing with the only man out there.

10403054_10203623588889898_2401755518315701031_nHis name was Ezekiel. The bus had arrived AFTER the mariachi band, and apparently, this gentleman had already been dancing. As it turns out, God had me there to be his partner.

We danced and danced. He really “knew” what he was doing. I was just hopping around. It was so fun to watch him enjoy this moment in life. It seemed like he had stopped dancing years ago and had been waiting to let it out, which he did! After dancing a few songs, we talked.

He spoke pretty good English. He told me, “I don’t know what’s wrong with everybody. Nobody wants to dance, except you. Thank you for dancing with me.” I prayed over him and spoke a prophetic word into his heart. God revealed that he had the anointing of a lion. Actually, his home was at the top of the hill. He said he protects everyone, watches over them, because there are bad people that try to come after them to take their belongings…very neat man. He’s been there three years.

Near the end of praying, he said, “Can I give you something?” I said, “YOU want to give ME something?” For a moment, I was baffled. What could he want to give me. He asked again, “Can I give you something? If I give you something, will you take it?” I said, “Yes, I will take it.”

He took off his cross necklace and placed it over my head and set it around my neck. AMAZING!10403054_10203623588889898_2401755518315701031_n (2)

To me, this was so HUGE: a man who had very little gave me something so valuable. I will keep it forever. He told me that the greatest Christmas gift he could have ever received was someone to dance with him. It was funny: at one point, he tried to dance with me as a partner. Then, he let go to dance solo and said, “It’s better this way.” That made me laugh.

Do you know how huge all of this is? There’s a past that existed where I was a stripper and used my dancing to get what I wanted. Now, that past is dead, and every moment, God is creating a new past. This one is full of Him using my dancing to bless people. Ezekiel was blessed, and I was glad that God was able to use me to dance.

Christmas Eve at the Beach

| Laura Lee Bonde

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Before I went with a group to take Christmas to the dump, I followed God’s voice to the beach. Let me explain.

On Tuesday (12/23/14), I was thinking about our trip to take Christmas to the people at the dump in Mexico, and I thought, “What about taking Christmas to people here?” That was the beginning of thoughts. Eventually, I had the idea of taking donuts to the homeless people on the beach in Ocean Beach, but I wasn’t sure if it was “my” idea or God’s.

As I was telling a friend at work, he said, “Even if you don’t do it, it’s a good idea.” Well, a good idea should be followed by action, so I told God, “If You want me to go, wake me up early in the morning, and I’ll go.” I carried on with my day, my night, set my alarm for almost 5 am, and went to sleep. Sure enough…God had a plan!

He woke me up at 4:07 am. I looked at the time and said, “Okay. I’ll go.” I made my coffee, enjoyed my time with Him, and got ready. When I walked into the donut shop, they had all these Christmas donuts, so I asked for two dozen. They looked so pretty and festive. 141224_0000

When I arrived at the beach, I didn’t see any homeless people, but I “knew” I was supposed to be there because I “knew” I heard God’s heart. I decided to sit on the wall where we normally do outreach and wait to see if someone would come by. As I approached the wall to set the donuts down, there they were. They were huddled in the sand down behind the wall, all snuggled up, trying to stay warm. I said, “Merry Christmas! I have Christmas donuts for you!” They were so happy.

A couple of them arose immediately to enjoy the donuts. A couple of them didn’t want to disturb the warmth they had obtained. I sat down with them and started to get to know them. God is so good!

Aries: she traveled from Portland Oregon to engage in “Black Sheep” and has been sleeping outside wherever she goes. She’s so young. Evidently, “Black Sheep” is a week long celebration in the woods where hippies gather to do drugs. It’s in Yuma. I had never heard of it. Following it is a “Rainbow” celebration where the drug-fest continues on. She had a sore throat. God healed her.

Robert: he was so blown away and so happy that someone thought of them to bring them donuts. He kept saying, “Thank you” with the happiest eyes and the biggest grin.

Matthew: at first, he was skeptical, but as I sat and talked with everyone, he softened up. He stayed in his sleeping bag and shared about parts of his life. He allowed me to pray over him. (In the end, he got up to hug me.)

Will: he stayed wrapped in his blanket for awhile but liked talking about our Savior. He was an older gentleman, whose eyes were blue at times.

After eating a donut, Robert went to the restroom and came back with others.

Simon: he’s been on the beach for awhile, scavenges for food and is often given drugs. He showed me his box of special necklaces, rocks, yarn, etc. It was his treasure box. He even played music for us. (You can imagine the type of music it was.)

Panda: he calls himself the original “Panda.” He’s been around at OB for a long time and is well known. He loved the donuts and sat and talked with me for a little bit.

Jacob: he likes to be called “Jake.” He was so happy to have Christmas donuts. He kept saying thanks and hugging me. Actually, there was a lot of hugging going on.

The whole time that we were all sitting around, talking, laughing…there was a grumpy looking man watching us, walking by at a distance, sneering. He never came over for a donut…just watched.

As we were talking, I asked them, “If I could gather up a donation of food, what would be best food to give you, while living on the beach. Cereal?” In unison, they all said, “Yes! Cereal! We love cereal.” The girl hollered out “Lucky Charms!” Which brings me to my next thought: collecting boxes of cereal for these precious ones.

It came time for me to leave, so I headed for the car. On my way, I came near the grumpy looking guy. I stopped and asked his name.

Larry: he was watching to see if I was being for real, what were my motives. He shook my hand, hugged me, and said, “Thank you.”

God is SO Good! He has the BEST plans.

A Moment of Value

| Laura Lee Bonde

A little while ago, I met a very grumpy homeless person at the bus stop outside of work. We would talk here and there. I would pray for him, bless him. He mentioned he didn’t believe in God but would “humor” me by letting me pray. Then, he met God.

A couple months back, he collapsed, was rushed to the hospital, and returned back to the bus stop with a pacemaker and a walker. (He was not a fan of either one, especially the walker. When he sits, he uses it as a head rest. When he walks, he carries it.) When he had returned to the bus stop and I had seen him, he said, “Laura, after almost dying, everything looks different now.” And it was only the beginning.

I had prayed for him that day, and when he returned (like a week later), he said he was freaked out because after I had prayed, “things happened.” Anyway, a couple weeks ago, he gave me an envelope with papers in it to show the kids. It was about model airplanes. His passion. (When a homeless person loans you something, that’s huge because they don’t have much to lend out.) I really wanted to return this to him but stopped seeing him.

The past two weeks, I have been checking almost daily at the same time he’s usually there and haven’t seen him. He always caught the 10:08 am bus. I wouldn’t see him every day, maybe once or twice a week. Yesterday, he wasn’t there again, so I told God, “Alright! Where is he? Will you let me know if he’s okay?” He answered.

Around 11:30 am, I went outside to deliver mail, and there he was! I said, “Emil! Where have you been?” He was happy to see me and had been blessed with a temporary place to sleep (if he’s early enough). We only had a couple minutes to talk, and the bus approached. He got up, and I pointed at him and said, “YOU have VALUE!” He looked up toward heaven and yelled, “Do you hear that, Ma?!” Then he looked at me, smiled, and got on the bus.

I love God, how He moves, how He loves, how He waits, how He protects! He’s so awesome!

Love is going to Change the World

| Laura Lee Bonde

Earlier this month, I went on a mission trip to the dump in Tecate, Mexico. I shared this story on Facebook but thought it’d be nice to share it here. God’s Love flowing through people will change the world one prayer at a time, one smile at a time, one moment at a time…Love…

On this night, Raul encountered Love. God touched his heart. On Christmas Eve, we're going back to the dump. I can't wait to hug him!!
On this night, Raul encountered Love. God touched his heart. On Christmas Eve, we’re going back to the dump. I can’t wait to hug him!!

Meet Raul

At the dump, I met this beautiful man, Raul. He was standing in line to receive a second helping of food. In person, he was a lot dirtier than he appears in this picture. He had a sadness in his eyes, but underneath, there was hope. He spoke very little English, and I spoke very little Spanish, but God spoke, clearly, to his heart.

As we were talking, I asked him if I could pray for him. He said, “Yes,” so I did. In this prayer, God was speaking a lot of life and power and hope into him. I showed him the words on my shirt: “Change the World.” I told him God was going to use him to change the world, starting in the dump. He was so overwhelmed, he moved out of line to sit down. I didn’t catch on to what was happening. I went to see if he was okay and offered to stand in line for him. He took me up on that offer.

As I held his place, a woman mentioned his reaction to what I was saying to him. He had almost dropped his plate. God was at work in him. In his heart, a fire was ignited. When he joined me in line, he agreed to start praying for others in the dump. He agreed to start changing the world. He asked if I would come back. I told him, “Yes. Listen for my laugh, and when you hear it, say, “Ah, there’s Laura.”” He was one of the many friends I had the privilege of meeting and hugging at the dump.