Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Let the little children come to me. Jesus

You gotta sit down for this; mind you, you probably are.
In the last week and a half 32 children have become Christians!!!!! How sweet is that!!?? And every one of them filled with the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues!!
Of these 32, 11 are Hindu and Muslim. All the  kids are famished for the Word of God, and very eager to grow in their new found faith. They come into my room every single break time now just to pray and learn more. I have 20 + kids at a time, coming of their own volition. The Spirit of God comes on me and I start preaching. When I’m on duty on the playground, the kids gather around me and we form a circle and pray. I asked the kids to start praying that many of the Secondary kids are going to become Christians.
What an incredible sight - these youngsters earnestly calling out to God for the lost!!! Most of the kids are in grade 5 and 6.
Every soul that comes to Jesus is priceless, but I must confess that the Muslim and Hindu kids - seeing the Spirit on them - wow!!! What joy!!!  You know, these kids could undergo severe persecution at home. In extreme cases girls are killed by their dad; boys I believe are generally disowned.
There are about 10 kids that were Christians before already,  but they wanted, and received the in-filling of the Holy Spirit.
We’re praying for more children to come and experience the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Oh, by the way, in my previous blog about 3 or 4 weeks ago, I asked you to pray for 2 girls that both of them would receive Jesus. Prayers answered!!!! Shortly after I blogged, kids came into my room and said that one of them was scared and had cried when other kids had said the world was going to end because of the tragedies occurring in Japan. What a golden opportunity to speak truth into her. Praise Jesus!
Please pray for all the kids as they continue to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Pray for me as well, that God will continue to guide and direct me. And please pray for Isaac, Colton and myself because the spiritual warfare is not easy - the enemy is losing ground and he doesn’t like it one bit. Stand with us for a bigger harvest.

We had an all time low in temperature this week since our arrival in Buj 21 months ago. When we got up at 5:45 it was a mere 22.7 degrees!!! Brrrrr
You must have all watched footage of the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake. One of the teachers at King’s is from that city. She did not lose any loved ones personally, but knows many that did. Please continue to pray for that situation there as well.
I dreamed that I was eating farmer sausage; boy, I dream good! (at least if it was Pioneer Brand ;-)) I wish I woulda’ continued dreaming; I definitely would have enjoyed a large slice of chocolate/rum cheese cake for dessert.
There is a great increase in rebel activity in the last number of weeks. There is much violence in the province of Bubanza, which is about ½  an hour from us. This is were we went a year ago with Honda to do the crusade.
But the blood shed is also very close to our home. Not even a mile from our house there is a large, very rough neighbourhood called Kanyosha.  This is where our friend Deo (the husband of Divine who died of cancer last June), together with his 6 kids lives. A while ago we had gone for a visit to his house in the evening. A few hours later, just down the street from Deo’s house, there was a grenade attack. It killed 3 young children - siblings - and a women. The parents of the children were injured.
About a month ago, another friend Deo (Deo and Rosa - CRIB), lost a cousin in the same neighbourhood, together with 3 other men. These are just people/situations that we know of; there are many where we don’t know the details.
We often hear gunshots during the day, but it’s night time that they are the worst. At night time you don’t hear just 4 or 5 ‘pops’; sometimes it goes on and on. I lie there in the dark and imagine the people lying in a pool of blood….., and I pray. It’s hard to believe, but Isaac and Colton usually sleep through it all, except if it’s pretty close.
Please pray for this country.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

New Creations in Christ

Spring is around the corner for the western world - yeah! Daylight savings begins today we were reminded by a friend over lunch today. Enjoy!!
I have the huge privilege of teaching Christian Education to 3 grades, and very often I also incorporate Christian teaching into the art lessons that I teach from grades 1 - 6.
One project that I did recently with some of my kids was making a bamboo scroll. I spent much time prayerfully selecting the verses that Jesus wanted to have me teach them. So once I had compiled them and  designed all the scroll ‘pages’ to match with the verse the kids would write on them, I started by having the kids memorize the verses in fun ways. Following that I thoroughly explained the meaning of each verse.
I get very passionate when I present the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit was so present. My heart’s desire is to see the students come to an experiential relationship with Jesus, and as I expounded on the verses, you coulda’ heard a pin drop. I ended by telling them that if they wanted to respond to what they had just heard, they could come and talk to me in my room any time during break time.
Well, in grade 3 there were 2 Muslim boys that responded with great sincerity, as well as 2 other boys that had already accepted the Lord. What I’ve learned is that sometimes kids think they have to accept Jesus again when their understanding of the gospel is deepened. I tell them that when they first opened the door of their heart to Jesus, He came in and closed the door behind Himself, and that He hasn’t gone out. This reassures them about their salvation.
Back to the 2 Muslim boys. Wow, there is hardly a greater joy than to see the Father snatch children from the clutches of satan. Isaac and I spend every morning in prayer for the kids (especially Muslim), school, etc., and to see God drawing these precious ones to Himself is so terribly exciting. I fully believe that there is not one Muslim student at The King’s School by coincidence. The parents want the English education, but God has so much more for them. I believe these 2 boys are going to influence many people for the kingdom of Jesus in the Muslim world.
I made sure that the boys understood and believe who Jesus is and what He’s done for them.The boys and myself  held hands as God’s kingdom grew by a few more chosen ones!!! What incredible joy to witness this!!
Right after we prayed and rejoiced, I told the boys that now that they were Christians, God had just given them a very special gift. I explained what speaking in tongues is, and I asked if they wanted to start using that right away, to which they eagerly responded with a ‘yes’.  I laid my hands on them, prayed, and almost immediately these boys where conversing with the Father in that heavenly language. Praise Jesus!!! Wow! Is there anything more fulfilling than that?
The following week another Muslim boy (grade 4) walked into my room. I went through the same steps as with the other boys, and him and I knelt down and this child also had his name written in the Book of Life!! He comes into my room now sometimes just to talk, and once we both just worshiped God together in tongues.
The 2 grade three boys came to The King’s School after school had started in Sept., and so they did not receive a Bible when Gideon’s distributed them last school year. I was able to bless them both with a Bible, and I love how they have special smiles for me when they see me now.
A few days later a grade 4 girl came into my room, and God performed one more miracle! This one was shy about praying in tongues. I told her that was okay, that she could do it alone at home, and that I’d love to know once she did. The very next day she excitedly came to tell me that she had!! How sweet is that!?!
I so love how kids believe and accept the Truth so readily. I think we as adults often underestimate their ability to understand and respond to Jesus. And I also think that sometimes we perhaps subconsciously think that there is a ‘junior’ Holy Spirit for children. Wrong!!! Jesus knew explicitly well what He was talking about when He said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Young children tend to have an unadulterated understanding of who Jesus is, void of religion and man’s traditions. I love that!! No wonder they can hear and respond to the Father’s voice when they hear Him calling their name.
So I want to ask you, please pray for the precious souls that have given their lives to the Master.
There are 2 other girls, both Muslim, that we’re praying for. I believe that Jesus is really touching them through the conversations we have a few times a week during break time when they come to hang out with me in my room.  Please include them in your prayers, and I can hardly wait to give you the good news…..