This is a longer post than usual, but it's a miracle story so you'll want to read it.
The meeting of the "Rush Movement at Jack Britt" went much later than usual today. We're supposed to end at 4:30 and we didn't walk out of the building until after 5:15. Kevin, a Jack Britt '09 graduate and freshman at ECU (he's one of our leaders), gave an incredibly impacting message today to the guys in our normal classroom, and Rachel and Lindsey spoke with the girls outside.
Anyway, as the guys and I (plus Rachel) walked out of the building, there was one lone student sitting outside waiting to be picked up. All students, including all the Rush students, had already left. (Usually, when we leave on time, there is still a crowd outside.) This kid walks up to us holding a small box and asks us to donate money for a charity. A few of us gave money, and we began walking on. Pete was walking ahead, but Kevin was joking with this kid, "Hey, I want to see some ID!" The student said, "Oh, I forgot my ID, but my name's Darrell."
Pete overheard this and turned back immediately. "Wait a minute--you're Darrell?!" Pete goes up to him and says, "Hey man, can I pray for you?" and right before he starts he asks, "How's your family?" (Turns out Darrell's parents are breaking up.)
Next thing I know Pete is holding hands with this kid praying for him. After he finished praying he mentioned casually, "When I woke up this morning God told me to pray for Darrell, and I didn't know who he was. I went to Wal-Mart cuz I thought he might be there but I didn't meet him. So I've been wondering who this Darrell was that I'm supposed to meet."
After that we stayed and talked with Darrell for about 30 minutes. It just so happens that Darrell was into rapping and dancing, and coincidentally, Kevin is a talented rapper and dancer! And get this: Kevin's friend Jeremy from the Rush Dance Team showed up just before we met Darrell, so the three of them all started showing each other dance moves and hanging out.... what a God-ordained "coincidence"!
Think about the details God had to orchestrate:
1. He gave Pete advanced notice this morning: "Pray for Darrell."
2. He made sure we would go really late in our meeting today.
3. In order for that to happen, He made sure that Rachel & Lindsey had planned on talking separately with the girls today (they took them all outside). That meant Kevin was free to connect with the much smaller guys group and spend a long time talking with them--much longer than usual.
4. He made sure that Darrell was getting picked up late today for whatever reason--really late.
5. He also made sure that Darrell was the ONLY student waiting outside--had their been a crowd, we wouldn't have noticed Darrell and he wouldn't have noticed us.
6. He made sure that Kevin made a casual little joke about wanting to see ID, prompting the kid to offer his name instead.
7. He made sure Pete, even though he had walked on ahead, was still within earshot and could hear the name.
8. He made sure that Kevin and Jeremy were there, so they could hit it off with Darrell talking about dance stuff.
Darrell, by the way, is a Christian, and as he put it after hanging out with us, "I thought I was the only one!" He'll be getting to know us...
