“I’ve Got Tears In My Eyes”

On Thursday, our gulf coast prayer journey began appropriately. We had a chance to pray on the beach of Grand Isle one last time before moving along. We worked our way from Grand Isle, Louisiana all the way to Gulfport, Mississippi. The road included much beautiful scenery. The way was scattered with rivers, marshes, bayous, forests, and some great trees.

Upon arrival at Gulfport, we headed straight to the beach. There we found a pier and walked to the end to see the condition of the water (which was totally clear of oil).

At the end of the pier were a couple of guys on a bench. Ben soon struck up a conversation with one of them, a local fisherman named Michael. It turns out that Michael had been crying and praying about the oil spill when we showed up. He shared much of his story and thoughts about the spill with us, but the following quote is what will stick with me for a long time:

I’ve got tears in my eyes. I don’t want it to get here. I don’t want it to get here! That’s my livelihood!

Somehow looking at it on the computer does not seem to do justice to the sincere passion and pain that he delivered it with. This man truly felt the pain of many of his gulf coast neighbors and deeply feared how it would impact him.

As we spoke a man sat quietly next to Michael with his head buried in a booklet. At some point along the way, Michael interrupted him. Luis, who only spoke Spanish, was out from Texas for a few days visiting family. Though I didn’t want to interrupt his personal, devotional time, I am glad that we – and by we I mean our new friend Michael – did. It turns out that Luis was going through a Catholic devotional.

Luis had a powerful story. He had lost his wife in 2003 (if I remember the date correctly) and had turned to drinking. But in 2005 he gave up drinking and turned to the Lord instead. It was great to hear his story and share what we were doing as well. He and I had a great time sharing how God is in control pase lo que pase (“whatever happens”).

After a while the four of us, who were absolute strangers 20 minutes earlier, joined together in prayer on the end of the pier there. What a powerful and unexpected time!

As of Thursday morning a couple of plans had fallen through and I was wondering if anything meaningful was going to happen. Certainly the two of us would pray, but I thought that other than that it would mostly be filled with a lot of driving, catching up on work, and planning. What a pleasant surprise to see God move in this way. As we walked away, our two new friends were encouraged as were we. And I have a new friend Luis who wants to give me a call sometime.

God is good!

More on our prayer journey:

Decontamination, Frustration, & Oration

Choppers, Marinas, & Shelters

Let the Prayers Flow

Praying Confidently in the Midst of Disaster

Oil Spill Prayer – Update & Prayer Journey

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