Our Taxi Cab Driver Ministry

Madrid, Spain
Mario, Said, Jaeson, Awan, Sergi and so many more that we never asked their name. We have learned so much from our taxi drivers.

This last one was a whole different version. We arrived via train into Madrid from Granada close to 11:00 pm. We walked to the taxi stand. You must know that often when a cab driver sees us, they make a face. Three cabs pulled to the front of the line and they just looked at each other. It was obvious no one wanted to pick up this motley crew. The guy at the far end lost and he grumbled under his breath the whole time he loaded our luggage. I wanted another cab and walked to a driver second in line to ask if he would take us. The grumbling driver suddenly decided he wanted us in his cab. So we all piled in.

He took a phone call and got into a huge screaming argument with someone on the phone. He began to pull out of the train station without ever asking where we were going. I interrupted his call and told him our first of two stops. He went in the wrong direction. He continued his argument on the phone.

It was late, I was tired. I now understand why Jesus went alone to pray so much. It was the only way He could keep His composure. When our cab driver hung up from the call, I told him in a not so kind voice to stop the car and let us out. I was not happy with his service. He immediately responded in such a rapid and loud tone that there was no way I would understand him, even if I spoke fluent Spanish. I was in the front seat and I didn’t need to look back to know the boys were ill at ease with what was happening.

I took a deep breath and asked in a calm and polite voice if he knew where he was going. Our conversation then took a different turn. He had lived in Dallas, Texas for a year. He practiced his English and I practiced my Spanish.

He started talking politics and I turned the conversation to God. He didn’t seem in a hurry to get us where we were going and my guess is it took us an extra 15-20 minutes to get there. I can’t say I was a mighty witness to him, but I do know the boys prayed a lot in the back seat. They shared that with me the next morning at breakfast. I confess I too prayed a lot.
Come to think of it, I bet Jesus prayed a lot too, even when He wasn’t alone.

“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,…” 2 Timothy 2:24 and 25

Diego: "You Have Chosen Well"

Holiday Inn Express Room 111 Madrid, Spain

You Have Chosen Well

It’s 009 here, which means it is nine minutes after midnight. I had tucked the boys in and laid down to sleep but my mind was still awake. After some time in prayer, I knew I must write what is on my heart. I got up to get the computer and Reid’s sweet voice sounded in the dark, “Mom, is it ok to ask God for supernatural things?”

“…how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11

“Absolutely!” I replied “God delights in us asking for Him to pour out His best.” I couldn’t help but wonder what was on his mind. “Oh, I was just thinking about the security guard.” Funny, so was I.

Earlier that day we had left to go pick up our visas and the hotel staff had warned us we would need a special ticket on the metro to get there. When we entered the metro there was Diego, the security guard. In Spanish I asked for help and he got a lady to show us how to save money and get the special tickets. I turned to thank him and the words suddenly poured out of my mouth. I just began sharing with him about our mission trip and our call. He shared that he was a Christian and I asked if we could pray for him. He seemed surprised and yet delighted. I asked what he wanted us to ask of God for him.

You must know we have asked this question to almost every person we have prayed over. We have had a variety of answers, but mostly people ask for health or their work or maybe for their family.

Deigo didn’t have to think, he knew exactly what he wanted. He asked that he would learn more about God. The minute I understood his request, I knew God would answer him in a mighty way.

We prayed and I could see he was touched by God. I tried to translate for him what we had all prayed and we gave him one of our website bracelets (we are out of all other witnessing materials as of this writing) and one of the 5 remaining tracts we had in Spanish. As we walked away to catch the metro, I turned back to look at Diego. He was absorbing the tract we had given him.

The trip to and from the embassy took about three hours. I could not stop praying for Diego. The minute he was out of our sight, the words, “You have chosen well” kept running through my mind. It reminded me of King Solomon in the Book of 1 Kings when God tells Solomon to ask Him for anything and He will give it to him. Solomon asked for wisdom to rule God’s people.

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 1 Kings 3:10

After picking up our visas, we stopped at a store and found a children’s version of “read the Bible in a year” (it was the only version of a Bible they had). I bought it in hopes we could give it to Diego. Harrison had prayed for Diego to read his Bible more.

When we arrived back at our metro station, there he was. He was delighted to receive the Bible. I shared with him the word I felt God had given me about him that he had “chosen well”. As we left, again I turned to see Diego absorbing what we had given him.

When I asked Reid what he was thinking about concerning Diego, he said that he felt God was going to do something in him and it would be soon. I too have felt that all day. Please pray for Diego and stand in agreement with us that God will pour out His supernatural blessings upon him.

The rest of the Story….

We are supposed to be in Ghana. Obtaining our visas (for another country, not for Ghana) have been a difficult task and this morning I learned we would not be able to get to Ghana for two more days. I was frustrated and took it to the Lord. I got on my knees and prayed because I did not have a peace about staying in Madrid. “Lord, I am ready to go to Ghana, why do we need to stay here?” Although He did not answer me directly, I felt a burden to pray in the Spirit and I did. After a bit of time, my frustration left and I submitted to staying in Madrid until Saturday. Whether He needed to prepare me more or He had something else for us to do, I did not know. I simply knew He wanted us here.