CHAPTER 24

Uruguay Drought

Sunday, 25 January 2009 — I became dismayed after learning that Uruguay was suffering a terrible drought. Why care about a country across the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 7,900 kilometers away? God had previously told us to move to Uruguay—we even knew where in Uruguay to move to but still lacked a relocation date. God willing, I’ll share those testimonies in future chapters. Severe droughts can have long-term negative effects on regions and countries; in this case, a country we’re supposed to move to.

While still in South Africa, the Internet helped me to research Uruguay and stay in touch with some people over there. Lacking Spanish language skills, I gravitated to the precious few English websites concerned with Uruguay. Reports on the expat forum I frequented back then—Southron Uruguay Forum—prompted me to research online news. Wherever I turned, local Uruguay news mentioned them suffering the worst drought in eighty years.

Many expats from Europe, Canada, and the USA, are farm owners in Uruguay, and the drought was also affecting them. An outspoken atheist on the forum was so desperate for rain, they asked anyone with ‘contacts upstairs’ to please pray.

I desperately didn’t want this small South American country crippled by drought, so I asked God what’s going on. Here follows my conversation with the Lord late that night:

23:10 My will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Then Lord, what is Your will for Uruguay’s drought?

It waits for the revelation of the sons of God. It is there for My name to be glorified.

Is there something…

Why will you not come and see My glory? I gave you Word that the place where you go to shall be good and bountiful.

Yes, Lord, You did, and this is why I even venture before You concerning the water in another land.

Is it another land? Is it not the land that I gave you? Is it not your land? Then do not hesitate to ask Me for My will to be done. It shall be done.

Then, Lord, I ask for You to break the drought in Uruguay with good rains but not flooding, with good watering of the lands, the pastures, and the rivers and the lakes. I ask that the drought will not only be broken, but that excellent rains shall be restored unto all the region, and that the restoration will be in place for as long as it pleases You to bless me and my house in the land of Uruguay.

Then it shall be done as you have asked. Consider the drought in Uruguay broken as of this moment for I shall command rain into the heavens over Uruguay and they shall enjoy My prosperity because you have asked on their behalf. As for now, answer on the forum with these words: Consider no longer the drought. The drought is broken. The land is blessed.

God’s Word to break the Uruguayan drought was a perfect answer to prayer—His divine will in heaven declared. All that remained was for Him to do His will on Earth, in other words, to send sufficient rain. However, He had ended His Word with a command, which became a severe test of my faith. I was always certain I would pass this type of test but, when pressed this particular time, I ended up failing. I felt like Peter must have felt, realizing—the moment after the rooster crowed—that his faith wasn’t as steadfast as supposed, that he wasn’t as “dead to himself” and as true to Christ as he had imagined (Matthew 26).

Instead of requiring a faulty human like me to be strong, why doesn’t God just answer the prayer? As sovereign, He can and sometimes does. But why does He so often make it conditional to our faith? Scripture makes it clear that faith unaccompanied by (specific, God-inspired, and relevant) works is dead (James 2:14-26). Without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11). God requires us to emulate Him, even if just by degrees. He requires us to be “in” the Son—God’s Word—who, in turn, is “in” the Father, granting mere mortals access to the omnipotent God through faith (John 17:20-26).

Even Jesus was required by His Father to do some unusual works. I’m not referring to performing miracles, but rather the work immediately preceding or during the miracle. That work comes as a personal challenge by God to prove relationship, loyalty, obedience, and a resolute belief in God’s Word for that situation (John 5:19-29).

Once proven, God responds by releasing His power for that miracle on Earth, according to His will in heaven. In response to what His Father showed Him, Jesus spat, made some mud paste, and applied it to a blind man’s eyes (John 9). In turn, Jesus gave that blind man a task to go wash in a certain pool. Healing didn’t come from either the spittle, the mud, or the pool. These were obedient works of faith preceding the release of God’s healing power. Some proving works are often as subtle as God leading one to speak to someone else in private or, somewhat more challenging, to speak in public. The work may be even more difficult, like commanding a miracle, especially before an audience, perhaps even with strangers, unbelievers, and enemies in attendance. Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit and exhibiting great faith, was led to do many such works (Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:6-11).

How far would you go to prove your faith? How far into discomfort, shame, or even physical danger? Jesus went right into death—and beyond—to attain the final victory for us. What about those of us not tasked with securing eternal salvation for mankind? Did Jesus not say that we would do similar and even greater works than Him? (John 14:10-14)

It’s one thing to declare your faith, but quite another to face and pass God’s proving tests in that moment. God properly tests, so that both Earth and heaven may witness that we truly are who we say we are: followers of Christ, true believers of God’s Word, children of God by His assessment. If our Master was tested, then so will His servants be tested (Matthew 4:1-11, John 13:1-20, John 15:18-23).

Let’s get back to this imminent miracle of breaking the drought in Uruguay. God challenged me with a test: Publish His Word regarding the end of the drought on the forum. I failed the test several times before passing.

I knew it as a secular forum and I was afraid to share this Word publicly. To my shame, instead of promptly and boldly obeying Him, I kept on stonewalling, timidly asking God for more and more confirmation. What was I so afraid of? Those people were overseas, unable to physically harm me, yet I was afraid.

One valid fear of mine was misrepresenting God—I took my role as ambassador very seriously. Damage to God’s reputation is a real possibility I always want to avoid. However, I also feared damage to my own reputation and, worse, suffering ridicule and persecution. I know how words through the Internet can cause severe personal harm. What if I published this Word and the drought wasn’t broken? Digging deeper, I realized my fears were like weeds flourishing in a bed of doubt. To me, the implications were enormous. I lacked faith that God would actually break this drought. I was desperate for more divine revelation to fortify my faith, hopefully elevating it from a tattered shack in a dark ravine, to a secure castle flying its colorful banners from a sunlit mountain top.

Although God was testing my weakness, posting His Word on the forum also included certain people witnessing Him at work, even the atheists. Although well aware of His purposes, I still tried postponing this simple task. I’ll now share how I sought more confirmation.

After initially being patient and gracious with me, He grew increasingly stern, then angry—shouting at me twice. As you read, please note God’s incredible patience and grace. Note how He keeps granting me what I asked for, even through His anger. Since I’d been hearing His voice for over seventeen years, regularly receiving personal training from Him in spiritual matters, His anger was warranted.

Remember, the Lord had already spoken and given His Word to break Uruguay’s drought: “As for now, answer on the forum with these words: Consider no longer the drought. The drought is broken. The land is blessed.”

Lord, please reveal more to me regarding Your will for Uruguay.

Let this breaking of this physical drought be a sign of what I shall accomplish in the Spirit in the time to come. For the people will remember the breaking of this drought and how it is that their hearts turned to wonder where I am. And some of them considered that there is no God and that they are right in thinking so. And others cried out to Me but their hands were dirty and I did not hear them. Therefore, because I gave you this land, I find it pleasing that you cry out on their behalf for rain and blessing. Yes, that you would bless strangers is good and perfect in My sight. Therefore, consider their drought broken and torn apart and the heavens do I rend open for their sakes and pour out blessing upon their land so that even they will know that I live.

Then, Father, as the rain falls and the rivers and lakes fill, I ask, please impress it upon them by Your Spirit that it is You who has done this mighty thing. Amen.

It shall be so, for My purposes are well designed and I am not foreign to waging wars in the hearts of men so that I will be victorious. Therefore shall this be a count of victory for Me and for you. You are blessed because you bless these people.

Lord God, in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, I bless the people of Uruguay with rain to break this drought and to bless their land, their fields, their livestock, their rivers and their lakes. Cleanse their land and touch their hearts with the sure knowledge of the Living God. So be it.

Amen, so be it. As I have led you to write, write. Declare it by faith and see the works of the Lord your God! I am not asleep nor am I powerless. For by My Word shall the rains fall now. They shall not sleep when I was awoken, nor shall they tarry when I am come. For they shall hear My command and obey. Therefore speak it.

I thank you Lord. I shall speak it.

I bless you. I have entered into the heavens on their behalf because I have heard you. Shall I not honor My Word?

Lord, You honor Your every Word. Let Your name be glorified! Please fill me with the fullness of Your faith for this thing which You do in Uruguay, Lord. Please fill me with the vision of Your will so that I may drink it.

23:47 This very night shall it rain there. For in My right hand is the authority to do these things. For I have made these lands, her people and the skies stretching over her. She lays dry and languishing but I shall press the clouds together and like a sponge empty them. I shall not cease until she is restored. Then you shall know whereto I send you regarding the spiritual victories you shall enjoy!

I thank You Lord. Your will be done on earth in Uruguay as it is revealed in heaven this night! May these people of Your promise receive the blessing of Your acts inside their hearts. May it not be that they take Your rain but reject You.

26 January 2009, midnight: My son, as the rain comes down to water the earth, so shall My Word accomplish what I send it for. I am not powerless. I shall confirm what I have spoken and what I have spoken shall come to pass. Before you sleep this night you shall know that the drought in Uruguay is broken in the heavens.

00:07 I shall break the back of this drought. Do not doubt My Word. Send it. Fathom it not, but send it. For what will a man fathom of such a thing if he does not trust the Lord? But you already trust Me and My Word is already ringing true in Your heart. Therefore, be alive!

A note made while hearing God:

At this point I am struggling internally to boldly declare on the forum that the drought is broken, even though the Lord is speaking to me more evidence that it will rain…

Tremble, for the Lord has said it will rain and the drought will be broken in Uruguay! [now the Lord shouts in anger] Shall I boom it with thunder in your room and write it with lightning upon your walls!?

A note made while hearing God:

Even in His anger, He graciously confirms signs of rain!

While hearing God’s booming voice, dread filled me as I imagined almighty God follow through with thunder and lightning in my bedroom. Amazingly, even His displeasure with me carried confirmation of thunder and lightning, elements which accompany rain, rain which He said would fall in Uruguay. While thunder and lightning in my bedroom would certainly be an encounter to experience, I shudder even just thinking of provoking God like this. Instead, I yielded in humility.

Let it not be so Lord, for the still quiet voice of Your Holy Spirit carries sufficiently the full weight of all your authority.

Then announce it, for rain shall not break forth unless you announce it so as to validify My Word through you. Blessed are those who hear the will of God and who announce it loudly for all to know and understand. For they shall see and hear the fulfillment of the Lord’s works by His Word.

00:28 You shall speak with the words of the woods, with the words of flint, with the words of sharpened steel wrought in the fires of the throne room of the Almighty God who has made heaven and earth. You shall hear faintly and speak boldly and you shall receive silently but make it known loudly. I am not dead.

00:37 My son, say to this nation: The Lord will spare you and relieve you from this drought. He will have pity on the vineyard and on the heifer. The Lord will not banish all hope but hope shall He return to the land.

Again the divine ball is in my court. Again I waver and go online to first research what God had spoken.

A note made while hearing God: I’ve just checked the Internet news about Uruguay’s drought and this is the report ten days ago…

Drought hits Uruguay’s cattle

14 January 2009 — Cattle struggle to survive in parched Uruguayan pasture regions a day after the government declared emergency measures for farmers due to a serious drought. Reports say rainfall is at a three-decade low in some areas of the country. Farmer Andres Camy, from the dairy-producing area of San Jose, says the situation is dire and will probably get even worse in the winter. He worries about the number of animals that are already dead or dying.

The drought is hurting farmers at the same time as they also struggle with falling prices for key products due to the global economic slowdown. The government has offered farmers cattle feed with deferred, interest-free payments, aid for pumping water and extra time to pay their electricity bills.

“There hasn’t been anything like this since 1920. We haven’t seen significant rainfall since April 2007, nothing to feed rivers and water tables.”

I go look up the meaning of the word “heifer.” I also watched an Internet video where a Uruguayan farmer mentions his dead heifers while being interviewed. Exactly what God was talking about. Amazing!

00:48 Lord, You have spoken truth, for nature yearns for water in Uruguay.

I am Truth and I shall restore the rains. Let no one say that I am weak.

God’s additional Word is wonderful and uplifting, confirming—once more—that He brings rain to break the drought in Uruguay. At this point, I possessed plenty of divine evidence that the drought would indeed be broken. I had also faced a stern reprimand. Even so, I still floundered and asked for even more confirmation.

01:00 Lord, I ask for more about Uruguay and her affliction with this drought.

Shall I not stem this drought? Shall I not cut it short and bring it to a turn? Shall I not cause a change in the history of Uruguay so that it will be written that upon this day the rains started and the great drought was stemmed and reversed and overtaken by good rains? So it shall be. I shall not flounder.
01:05 I am not lowly that I should falter. I am the Lord God who created the heavens and the earth.

Lord, You do not falter, but I falter. Help me up and strengthen me, Lord. Encompass me with confirmation of Your will for Uruguay.

I have just received even more confirmation, from God Himself. Again God put the ball in my court. I kept hitting it back to Him in some frail hope that this task would be lifted from my shoulders or somehow become easier.

Let me put something into perspective here. God is able to create through His Word by speaking short, simple sentences. “Let there be light,” is a well known example. In this situation, His Word was also succinct: “Consider no longer the drought. The drought is broken. The land is blessed.”

The divine command needed for a miracle was received within mere moments. The volumes of extra Word, received over hours, was for my benefit; not for breaking the drought in Uruguay, but for breaking my lack of faith.

For another hour, an internal battle raged as I still failed to bring myself to make God’s Word public.

02:08 Lord, You have given Word for Uruguay’s drought. Please show me Scripture to confirm it, if it is Your will.

Cautiously, I added the last words “if it is Your will,” because I was trembling in fear before almighty God, the Creator and King over all, whom I respect and revere. I was still squirming to get out of this task. I write all this in shame, but I must share it like it was. His response to my request for scriptural confirmation hit me hard.

A note made while hearing God: Again the Lord shouts at me in anger.

It is My will that you will publish My Word and then it will be Scripture!! Then it will go out and accomplish what I have sent it for!!

I had struggled with God until after 2 a.m. Totally exhausted, I dropped into bed.

Upon waking, there was a report of drizzle in Uruguay—far from a declaration of the drought being broken. In calm obedience, I went on the forum, told them I had prayed as they requested, and provided God’s reply: “Consider no longer the drought. The drought is broken. The land is blessed.”

Besides that post, I also posted the rest of God’s Word. I didn’t share my struggle with God, but whatever else was of value to the drought-stricken people in Uruguay.

Initially it was quiet on the forum. Someone publicly thanked me for praying. Then I received a private message from a husband and wife, well known people on the forum, admitting they are Christians too, but afraid to come out publicly with their faith. They were most thankful I had prayed and posted God’s Word. They invited me to visit them when coming to Uruguay.

Then came the public ridicule from the atheists. Then the rains started; good, steady rain, much more than just a drizzle. Various people on the forum, living in different areas, started reporting the rains. The reports kept coming in over the following days.

I kept watching the weather satellite images, which showed heavy cloud cover all over Uruguay. Whenever the clouds parted, I reminded God about His Word, and then the clouds would cover Uruguay again. The rains continued.

A few days later, the Uruguayan newspapers reported the lifting of water restrictions in Montevideo, the capital city. Shortly thereafter, the Uruguayan president announced that the drought is broken. This was all written in the newspapers, exactly as God said it would happen.

“Shall I not stem this drought? Shall I not cut it short and bring it to a turn? Shall I not cause a change in the history of Uruguay so that it will be written that upon this day the rains started and the great drought was stemmed and reversed and overtaken by good rains? So it shall be. I shall not flounder.”

After several days of forum members reporting good continuous rains, an atheist on the forum had this to say: “What rain!? What are you people talking about? Here it is still just as dry and our animals are dying.”

It seemed to rain on the rest of Uruguay, but not on the farm of the atheist who had mocked God’s Word. I imagine the rains eventually came to them, because God is also merciful to the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45), as well as the plants and animals.

“My son, say to this nation: The Lord will spare you and relieve you from this drought. He will have pity on the vineyard and on the heifer. The Lord will not banish all hope but hope shall He return to the land.”

Years later, after viewing the Vegetation Anomaly (NDVI) satellite image for 17 January to 1 February 2009, I saw that northern Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil were heavily hit by this drought. It would be interesting to know when those neighboring countries received rainfall. After all, God had inspired me to request rains for the region, not only Uruguay.