One single day. One single moment. One single event that will forever be sealed in my memory as the voice of God speaking, leading, directing and unveiling.
August 28, 2010.
I was at a men's retreat up at Utica, IL (Starved Rock State Park). Pastor Michel, a pastor from Togo shared a message on that Saturday night. After his message, he challenged all of us men to get down on our knees and cry out to God. To ask for strength, courage and direction for our lives. As I was on my hands and knees, kneeling on that metal folder chair, God whispered. He spoke to me and called my name. And he gave me a vision. Not just any vision, but a specific vision for a specific place. All he said was,
"Johannesburg. Johannesburg. Johannesburg."
It was if someone was sitting right next to me whispering in my ear. It was unmistakable. It was as clear as a bell and simply undeniable. It was so clear that I actually opened my eyes and looked around. No one else was in the vicinity.
Apparently he needed to tell me this three times. Only once in all of Scripture is a word used thrice over, and that is when John describes the very nature and character of God in the book of Revelation: Holy, Holy, Holy. The 24 elders around the throne in Revelation along with myriads upon myriads of angels proclaim this attribute 3 times, thus signifying its importance. This is has nothing to do with me, other than the fact that I'm a knuckle-head and he had to tell me something 3 times so that I would recognize what I was supposed to do. Not sure why Johannesburg was communicated to me like this. He didn't tell me what to do, why to do it, or when to do it. All he did was speak to me.
I got home from the retreat, and told Jenn about my "vision" for Johannesburg (which we will call Jo'burg from now on). She didn't quite grasp the magnitude of the vision (neither did I in all honesty). It felt like we were all of a sudden transported back to the movie "Field of Dreams" and Kevin Costner's wife says "If you build WHAT, WHO will COME?" I again told her that all He had said was "Jo'burg." We didn't quite understand all that this meant, but we decided to keep it on the down low for a while and just simply sit back and pray.
