Here’s another amazing story from Athena Hultgren.  I asked her permission to share this with you all.  Here’s her response…

Hi John,

Sure, you can forward the spiritual treasure hunt story. You may also add:

One of the greatest joys of taking people treasure hunting; especially kids, is to see their clues match the people and for them to courageously pray over their needs!  It’s builds faith, demonstrates loving kindness, fulfills our call to share the good news, and cultivates the practice of listening by quickly obeying those promptings from the Holy Spirit.  It’s all done in “community”J as we go out in groups of 3 to 4 people.

July 1, 2014

Here’s the latest treasure hunt & the attached picture of Natalie and Marjorie

10 of us went treasure hunting- going in three groups.

14 Clues that ended up matching our treasures are underlined below (Note:  Each team spends time listening to the Lord for “clues”.  Similar to Ananias in Acts 9) :

crafts, craft store, scissors, dark skin, silver sparkles, sandals, red nails, the smell of a craft/fabric store, (2) flower print, medicine, eye issues, peace/rest, needs a home, peace

As Sierra, Zoe, Adrianna, and I walked into Michael’s Craft Store, we walked right to the beads section (scissors were there) and immediately saw two Afro-American ladies (not sure if mom/daughter) but one had a bright flower dress, sandals with silver sparkles, and red painted toes. When we got close up, we noticed a huge tattoo on the girl’s arm that was a flower pattern! We quickly sensed she was it but all the girls chickened out so they voted me to be the first one to approach the two ladies.

They were open from the get go and the mom started to tear up as I read the clues and the other girls shared theirs. The mom, Natalie, was crying because she said that her daughter, Marjorie, had just complained a couple of hours prior that her eyes were bothering her as some film kept coming over them. Natalie also said the word “medicine” was right on as it was a big issue for her son, who’s paralyzed due to a car accident and the medicine is causing him sores and some serious reactions. Natalie was just telling Marjorie about this issue of medicine and felt she needed to talk with the doctor. She couldn’t stop crying because she felt faith with us. Sierra read the need for peace and the mom immediately started nodding. When one of the girls said, “need a home,” the mom cried even harder and said that she actually needed a home!

Each of the girls prayed for Marjorie’s eyes and her brother’s issue with the medicine and for a home. The daughter was blown away as the mom kept saying, “I’ve been telling you that God is for real and we need to look to him.”

Right before we prayed over Marjorie’s eyes, I looked intently into hers and said, “God doesn’t just want to touch your eyes physically but he’s going to open your eyes to see him. And when you do, you’ll be transformed. He wants to show himself to you. You are his precious treasure!”

After we prayed for Natalie, I pulled out the Name book and began to read the meaning of her name: “Black Pearl,” and one of the others shared how pearls are formed from agitation and suffering. Then when we read the verse that went with her name, it was: “The pure in heart shall see God.” We were all in awe of the timing of this verse. Natalie expressed how much this meant to them and exclaimed, “We NEVER EVER come to Michaels. This is unbelievable.”