A young lady (who has become a good friend of mine as she was on both of BJ's Peru teams) in Portland, Oregon celebrated Easter a bit different from the rest of us.

She is a seminary student. To know this about her is a bit surprising. Those that have watched her grow up, look at her now in disbelief. She walks in the power of Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. I have written of her before.

To know her is to get to know a shy young lady. Very unassuming. She wouldn't stand out in a crowd of people, except for her actions. She is very uncomfortable speaking in front of people. She has a Greek final coming up that has her insides twisted, because she has to speak in front of a class of 6.

That she walks in the power of Christ is revealed most vividly when she does what she was called to do. I have told you about her before. While in seminary, the Lord has called her to minister on the streets of Portland where she can be routinely found sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those she encounters.

Perhaps this is never more poignant than when the people group she is called to share with surround her. She takes the aroma of Christ into the church of Satan.

That she has been accepted by many of them has many believers casting dispersions her way. They seem to forget that Christ suffered the same persecution for not spending time with the people they thought He ought to be with.

Praise God for a young lady who is afraid, but goes anyway! She knows to whom she belongs, and she is ready.

For Easter, she organized a party of a most unusual nature. She got together with a friend who also spends some time with this group, and they invited 10 other believers to join them. Then, this group of 12 invited 40 members from Satan's church to come to an Easter party.

They invited 40, but 130 showed up! 12 believers walked among 130 Satanist's. To say that they were nervous would be an understatement. They had no expectation that so many would come. Surely the odds would change the intended direction of the party.

Not to happen. While they entertained this group that outnumbered them by more than 10 fold, they were also obedient to their objective. To share Jesus Christ.

They encountered hardship. They were argued with. They spoke not of their own power, but with the power of the Holy Spirit. You know, that same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead?

They overcame odds, they overcame arguments, they walked in simple obedience. "David" in this "Goliath's" tale, once again came out the victor.

Because they did not back down because the odds were scary, the Lord reaped an incredible harvest! 17 people gave their hearts to Jesus.

Imagine that, on the day of resurrection, 17 people who worshipped the enemy, now are free!

This young lady knows who she is in Christ, and follows Him when He directs her. She had a teammate that did the same thing a couple of years ago. Though he was seven years her junior, he, the youngest and smallest on the team, also walked in obedience, and did what the Lord called him too.

When walking in the power of the Lord, your size does not matter. Your youth does not matter. Your ethnicity does not matter. The odds against you do not matter. What matters is that you have an obedient heart. He supplies the courage, the strength and the words. Sometimes, He also reaps a harvest!

Let your next step be from a heartbeat of obedience.

dad