"Though I walk through the wilderness"

God's presence is definitely the best place to be.

I wasn't sure whether to share this story, but my friend told me that I should, and I hope that somehow God will speak through it.

On Thursday I had a message from a friend in Uganda telling me that one of our friends had been robbed in the night and that he was 'not okay'. I had no more information than that and no way of getting in contact because his phone had been stolen in the robbery.

I was totally helpless and it was horrible... This is one of my best friends and someone I love so much and I had no idea what kind of state he was in. I did the one thing that I could do - I prayed, I gave the situation to God and I decided to trust him with it.

I finally managed to speak to my friend on Friday evening. He told me that someone had come into his house whilst he was sleeping, drugged him so that he would stay asleep, and taken pretty much everything that he owns. I just thank God that they didn't hurt him because the situation could have been so much worse. Because of the drugs he had been given, he was feeling dizzy and had passed out earlier in the day, but he couldn't see a doctor because all of his money had been taken.

Again, I felt totally helpless and so worried for my friend. To hear one of the most joyful people I know, sounding so down and telling me that he's afraid to go to his own house was horrible, but I knew the only things that I could do were to listen and chat to him, and to pray for him... so that's what I did. I was at a youth event that we were running and it was about to start, so I gave the situation to God, and decided to just let go and worship him... because he is always worthy of our praise.

The following morning I received a message saying that my friend and some others had spent 5 hours in the presence of God until 3am, and that he was now feeling much better than he had been.

God's presence is a miracle in itself and is so clearly the best place we can ever seek to be.

I don't know why this has happened, but I do know that God is working in and through it, and I know that he'll be glorified from it.

The situation is still pretty bad and the police will only do their jobs if my friend can fund their transport and meals. Understandably he's feeling really down, scared and upset. He's lost everything and doesn't know what the future will look like. As I try to figure out how to support my friend in such a rubbish situation, I ask you to join me in prayer for him... I know that God has a plan, and I'm looking forward to the day when I can tell this story in it's fullness with the glorious ending I trust it will have.

If you want to hear about what I get up to in the week, have a read of my youth work blog at http://gunvillemethodistyouthwork.blogspot.co.uk/