Rain God

With only a week to complete the construction on the Austrian school, the weather had to cooperate because classes were beginning in a matter of weeks. Yet our 30 team members were met with six full days of cloudy, wet skies which made our puddy moist, our spackle spoty, and the roof impossible to work on. What should have taken one day, took two.

We were so excited to see the clouds rolled back and the sun shining as we awoke on our final day in Graz, Austria. The team had planned to spend the day shopping before boarding our plane home in the afternoon, but instead we took the opportunity for clear skies to work on the roof.

Six of our teammates climbed onto the roof to begin work, while the rest of us wrapped up the final touches inside. It wasn’t even an hour into our workday before rain drops began pounding on the roof. Really? We were so close to finishing the work that we set out to do here.

Then we began to hear sounds from the roof, which were far louder and more powerful than the thunder had been that week. These sounds were not as you would expect; they were screams of laughter and joy.

What could these guys be so happy about? We’ve waited all week to work on this roof and the small chance we had to complete it has just diminished with the clouds opening up and dumping water on our hopes. One of our teammates, Lukas, came rushing into the school to announce a miracle.

We all wondered why Lukas was the only teammate running in the building? Were the rest of the guys still working on the roof in the rain? That can’t be safe.

We all listened intently as Lukas conveyed the miracle. He said, “As we were working on the roof the clouds moved quickly above us and rain began to fall. Marco stood up frustrated at the rain messing up our day and reached out his hand to the sky. With all the faith he had, Marco pointed to the sky and said, ‘In Jesus Name, I command this rain to stop.’ Immediately the rain stopped.”

We all stood in amazement, because the story that Lukas was telling us did not match what our eyes were seeing out the window. Surely he is confused because we see rain outside.

Then Lukas led us outside into the rain to see the miracle for ourselves. Indeed, God had honored Marco’s faith and stopped the rain over the roof. It was dry as the men continued to work to complete the work they started, while the rain continued around the school soaking us all to the bone.

There is power in the name of Jesus.