Dark clouds were gathering as we were all sitting under the agbado (a shelter made with palm branches supported on poles) out in the village of Adankonukope. It was the annual women’s conference among the Watchi and over a hundred women and children were all gathered together to sing and praise God.  Earlier on we had been shown to our abode for the night, a mud hut with a grass roof.  Part of the sky could be seen as there was a hole in the thatched roof. We (six women from our team) had made our pallets on the tarp-covered mud floor just before assembling for the meeting. When I saw the dark clouds, the lightning, and heard the thunder roar, I couldn’t help but be worried about rain falling.  Deep down, I knew that God could cause the wind to shift and stop the rain.  So, I began praying as the rest of the people were singing praises to our God. I prayed that I believed He is the Lord of everything and acknowledged that He is able to control the weather. I asked that He make the wind shift and not let us have rain. My concern was that we would all be drenched and our stuff and bedding soaked.  Even as I was praying, I started feeling the patters of the raindrops. I prayed more fervently. But the rain continued to fall, though not heavily. I told myself that I trust God but I couldn’t help but think of our stuff in the hut. What if it all got wet? Where would we sleep? Etc…….I felt that I had to do something. I ran to our truck and got out a tarp, hoping to cover our stuff in the hut. I realized that it was not possible to protect everything. Whatever I covered, the rain would just roll off and soak the other stuff. The only way was to get someone to go up on the roof and cover the hole. With so much going on, that wasn’t possible. As the rain continued to fall, all of us left the agbado and fled and packed into other shelters, (the cooking area and the church building.)

It was then that God convicted me that I was like Peter when he was walking towards Jesus on the sea and sank because of his little faith. I said that I believed in Him and then I was frantic, trying to take control of the situation myself. Most of the people were just sitting around and waiting out the storm. I felt God’s gentle rebuke, ”Oh, you of little faith.”  I decided then to lay my worry aside and started to sing praises to God with the rest of the women.  Before long, even though the sky was still overcast, the rain stopped and most of our stuff was not even wet. The rain had cooled the temperature down a good bit and we were able to have a pretty cool night instead of a hot and humid one.  Isn’t our God great?!  He loves us and gives us good gifts despite our unbelief.  Just imagine how much we can expect from Him if we believe.  “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  (Matthew 21:22)