Jesus multiplies food for a Turkish woman

When studying the Holy Spirit, our house church decided to spend ten days praying and fasting, just as the disciples did before the Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day of Pentecost. We prayed every night together for thirty minutes for the Holy Spirit to touch and move among us. One Thursday night during our fast, our house church gathered for our regular Bible to study John 6 when Jesus fed 5000 people by multiplying twelve loaves of bread and two small fish. A couple of us shared how we’d also seen Jesus multiply food when serving food to international students one year during Thanksgiving. We all went to bed encouraged by the story.

The next morning, Adam from our group noticed several sacks of groceries in front of our neighbor's door. So, he texted him, “Hey Jim, do you need help with your groceries?” Jim texted back, “What groceries?” Adam checked the receipt of the groceries and noticed they were for someone named “A. Little.” So, he called the grocery store to track down the rightful owner, but the grocery store said they couldn’t take the groceries back. They told Adam that he could either keep the groceries or donate them to someone. Adam told the story to our group that night during our prayer time, and we all realized that Jesus was multiplying food for someone. He had even left us a note! While Jesus is able to feed 5000 people, he sent us just “a little” of what he wants to do among us! So, we asked the Holy Spirit who should receive the groceries. Our group had made friends with a few members of a local Turkish center that had connections with Turkish refugees and immigrants, so we decided to reach out to them.

The next morning, Sarah, one of the members of our group, reached out to her Turkish friend Zora to see if she knew of anyone in need. Zora texted back immediately to tell us she had a friend Aida who would really like the groceries. Interestingly, Adam was completely free that day, and all of Sarah’s appointments cancelled! We knew that Jesus was doing something special for Aida, so we printed the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 from John 6 on a beautiful piece of paper to let her know that it was Jesus who brought her groceries. We didn't expect too much from the interaction – maybe thirty minutes of chatting and dropping off the food. But when we arrived, Aida was outside waiting for us and greeted us with a warm hug. She invited us into her home for Turkish coffee as she began sharing about her life.

Aida is a Turkish immigrant who won an immigration green card lottery to the United States. She believes that starting from scratch is the perfect way to be humble and learn new things. She opened up about her struggles and financial challenges moving to the U.S.: She’d just lost her job and was having to work several jobs just to make ends meet. The stress had caused pain in her jaw, neck, and back, Diagnosed with ADHD, she was also having trouble focusing while trying to start a new business. The day before we arrived, even her close friend criticized her for financial difficulties, which hurt her deeply. That night, she couldn’t sleep the entire night. All she could do was pray and cry to God, and she told him, “It’s even hard for me to go and buy groceries!” And the next morning, here we were with several sacks of free groceries from Jesus! After she shared her story, she brought us her Bible that a friend had given her. It was pink with her name on it. She does not profess to be a believer in Jesus, but she had been visiting church since she’d arrived in the United States. Jesus was definitely hearing her prayers!

We felt led to pray supernatural healing over all the pain in her body and for her business. While we prayed, Sarah felt vibrations and Adam saw darkness dissipate. He envisioned the room surrounded by light, what he thought might be a reflection of the Holy Spirit. Then he saw hearts open and could see Aida’s wedding in his mind - someone to provide for her so she could be herself and not worry financially. Aida began to feel the stress leave her body and her muscle pain dissolved.

After we prayed, Aida danced with joy over how much better she felt. She shared with us more about her business and a video she’d made to help promote her services. As we talked about the joy of making videos, we were able to share with her the Connect the Nations Gospel video. Her services are designed to help people overcome emotional and mental struggles in their life, so we were able to share about a similar program we offer in Connect the Nations. She expressed interest in learning more. During our time together, Aida cried a lot, and we really felt the presence of the Lord. We’re continuing to pray for her and to see the Lord move in her life.