Here’s our first journal entry for 2026!…
1) Ethan got chatting with a twenties-something man at a cafe the other day. After a long and in-depth scripture-based discussion, the man wanted to pray right then and there in the coffee shop. Despite his confusion and previous negative experiences with “religious people,” the man was open to being shown the truth by the Lord. So, the two of them stepped over to the side where Ethan laid hands on him, and they prayed quietly. Ethan said the guy started trembling and then began to speak in tongues, still quietly, but so clearly. They prayed for a while more, and then they talked about his experience; the guy was quite surprised by how peaceful yet powerful it was. Before they parted ways, he shared with Ethan that he’s keen to go through our online Power Up course – awesome!
2) Venus (from the last post) brought her mother and grandmother to our place. We had a wonderful afternoon sharing experiences and talking about Scripture. As it turns out, Venus’ mom has been filled with the Holy Spirit for many, many years, and she loves to pray in tongues. Even so, we were able to encourage her about the value of purposefully praying in the Holy Spirit daily versus waiting for emotional inspiration, like during worship services. We have been keeping in touch, and we’ll hopefully get together again this coming weekend.
3) Last week, Don met an older, Spirit-filled lady named Noni when he took some dirty gear to the laundromat. Apparently, she hadn’t prayed in tongues in a long time, and she was feeling unsure and struggling in her relationship with Jesus. Don offered to pray over her, and Noni eagerly accepted. She was soon praying in tongues again, and she was so joyful and relieved. Noni felt renewed and refreshed, and they parted ways with her eager to continue growing spiritually.
4) While playing pickleball last Sunday morning, we met a Spirit-filled couple near the playground area. Initially, Don got chatting with them when they were drawn to our puppy. Don and I (mostly Don) ended up talking with them for more than an hour. They were very encouraged by what he had to share from Scripture and from his personal experiences over the years. What is particularly interesting is that they weren’t planning to come to the park that morning. They were only there because they were a few minutes late getting to their church meeting (so they couldn’t get their young boys into the church daycare). They definitely saw God’s hand upon the morning, and Isaac (the husband) has been texting with Don since then. They are planning to get together with us again very soon.
5) Don was on the lake dock the other day and started to chat with some people who were visiting the area. As they talked more and more about the Bible, one man grew increasingly agitated. Even though this man professed Jesus, he didn’t know much about Scripture. Don patiently tried to explain various things to him, but the man seemed to have a closed heart (for now at least – we pray the Lord will work on him and that his eyes will be opened to truth). The main point of this story, though, is not what happened with this man. The wonderful news is that there was another man (a lone individual) also on the dock, but off to the side. On the surface, he seemed to be somewhat homeless and disassociated from what was going on between Don and the others. But, as it turns out, this second man was fully attentive to what had been happening, and he was the one who was fully eager to hear what Don had to say. After the others left, Don and this second man chatted for probably well over two hours, going through things, scripture by scripture, example by example. Praise God!
