After our wonderful time in Ellsworth, Bar Harbor, Acadia, and spending time with our new friends at City Reach, we left for Brunswick, a small city near the coast. The morning we left I hiked up Cadillac Mountain while dad prayer walked one last time. We took our time driving Route 1, taking in the beauty of the small towns along the coast.

 

The following story happened on this drive, and I share it because of the profound impact it had on both my dad and I. As we were driving Route 1 along the coast of Maine, we passed a woman along the road, probably in her 20’s, using a cane and walking with a prominent limp. Immediately, we both felt an unspoken drawing towards her, and pulled into a gas station just up the road to wait. My dad felt he should give her $5. She turned in toward the gas station (as we thought she might), and we approached her. Her name was Heidi. She stood there, unsure of us at first.

 

After he had asked her name, my dad began by saying, “That’s a beautiful name. You are beautiful. God loves you, and he created you. He formed you in your mother’s womb. Heidi, what do you need?”

 

She replied, having some difficulty speaking due to her handicap, “I want alcohol.”

 

“That’s not going to be good for you. What are you going to do then?”

 

“Sleep, I guess,” she said.

 

“What should we do?” dad asked as he turned to me. Eventually, we decided to give her the money, and she could do with it as she wanted.

 

Then, we started to pray for her and, as we did, tears began to well up in her eyes, and her face, her whole countenance, began to beam. We were pouring the love of God upon her. We were speaking value and worth over her.

 

I said, “You feel God’s love, don’t you?”

 

“I don’t know,” she said, smiling, different.

 

When we were done praying, she said, “I’m not going into the store. Can you take me back to my home?” 

 

As I drove her back, I asked her, “You weren’t expecting this today, were you?”

 

“No, I wasn’t,” she replied.

 

I dropped her off at a large, old, rundown and depressed looking white house. I felt a strong oppression.

 

As we approached, I said, “You can talk to God and listen to him. He really loves it when we speak to him, and he really loves to speak to us.” As she got out I said, “God loves you. We love you.”

 

“Thank you,” she said as she shut the door. “I love you both too.”

 

We never even told her what to do, and she didn’t want go into the store for alcohol after we prayed for her. Something changed. Her countenance had initially been downcast when I first saw her. Although she was fairly young, her clothes and appearance were weathered. Looking at her, she had the image of one worn down and fading out, crushed under her physical handicap and the heavy darkness of life. Our hearts literally broke for her, in a way neither my father nor I have rarely experienced; it is hard to put into words.

 

As we left, my dad and I wanted to cry; we prayed for her. “I just want to take her home,” he said with tears. 

 

“Me too,” I said, choking up.

 

Despite where she lived, despite her circumstances, on that day, she experienced the love of the Father. We don’t know where she comes from or if she’s ever been loved or valued. On that day, she knew she was. We are believing for a new beginning; “from this day forth,” we prayed, “she will never be the same.”

 

We arrived in Brunswick and in our hotel room, my dad felt a prompting. “I feel like we should do something,” he said. So, he prayed, and adopted Heidi in the spirit through a prayer in our room, quoting Ephesians 6:18, Ps. 68:5-6, Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 4:6. It was a special, profound moment. We couldn’t take Heidi with us in the natural, but we could take her with us in our spirits.

 

The next morning we connected with Pastors Brad and Trish Mullins at an Assemblies of God church — Elim Community Church — in Bath, only a few miles from Brunswick. We had a wonderful morning at their church, where my dad shared with the congregation, and we both were able to pray over them. Brad and his family took us to lunch afterward, where we had a nice, long conversation. They’ve pastored quite a few churches going through a recovery (as Elim has been for around a year) after a negative situation or church split. He and his wife have such soft, pastoring hearts and spirits. They’ve been through a lot in ministry, and they told their stories and talked about their testimonies and their past. It was another incredible connection with such wonderful people. To meet people who are so strong in their faith, so true to God, and so faithful, has been both inspiring and challenging. Many people would struggle with bitterness after going through what families like the Mullins have been through. But they have remained steadfast. “It hasn’t been easy,” Brad said, “but God is faithful.”

 

 

 

 

Our last stop was in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, right across the water from Kittery, Maine, where we also spent some time. On our first night, we went to the home of Chuck and Carolyn in Kittery, the site of a possible house church plant and also connected with Bonnie and Gary, a couple my dad had connected with at the Dove Leadership Conference at Sandy Cove. Dad shared some of his stories from his previous and current walks, and we had a time of prayer for each other at the end. On our last day, we spent some time exploring the beautiful, historic area in and around Portsmouth and Kittery. The waterfront areas and quaint towns were the perfect way to end our trip.

 

We finished our first leg of the East Coast City Prayer Walk staying in room number 174. My dad remembered that John 17:4 says, “I