When
the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.
John 16:13
There are times we imagine life back home and wonder how we
managed to survive the rat race or the busyness of doing life. The holidays are especially hectic and
stressful, trying to manage shopping, working, family, and working around the
house. Parts of this we don’t miss a
bit, but some of it we do.
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| A view we are blessed to see from our home |
We woke up the other day to the sounds of a rooster crowing
at 5:30am as the sun started to shine on the mountain across the Nile
river. Everything was starting to come
to life. There is a nest of hawks in the
palm tree outside the compound where we live.
The hawks were calling each other as if they were planning the day’s
hunt. We could hear a variety of smaller
birds whistling in the distance. The sounds of small birds faded and were
replaced by heavy footsteps of cattle walking up the hill and the sounds of frequent
moos as the cattleman would direct them to turn the corner and nudge them
towards the Nile.
We enjoy waking to these sounds each morning, or other
mornings to the sight of lightening from a storm with thunder pounding in the
distance. The rains come down slow, but
heavy. The sound of the rain is so heavy
that it drowns out all other sounds. The
local people say it is during these rains that thieves try to break into homes
because they can make noise and not be noticed.
It is comforting to know we are in God’s hands.
Janine and I will often talk about friends and family and
how we long to hear their voices or how we would love to give them a hug. Yes, there are things about home that
constantly come to mind. The holidays
are the worst. The weather here is hot
and sunny. No snow! No freezing rain! No slippery roads! No friends and Family! It just doesn’t feel
like the holidays. I say all this because I realize that we are not alone in
these feelings. We all have family and
friends who have moved away, are living in a nursing home, have joined our
Armed Forces, or have joined the mission field etc. I ask that you lift them and us in your
prayers during the coming weeks. We
realize God calls us to different areas of ministry and life. We decided to answer the call and to go where
God is leading. When one is away from
family and friends there is a void.
Please pray that God will fill that void for all of us in the absence of
loved ones.
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| Always surrounded by Little Ones |
I will share briefly about the work being done in the
village. There are many days I find
myself doing administrative work like setting up our ministry direction for the
next school year and trying to oversee ministry and make sure money gets to the proper person. This includes
getting money to the builder, the store clerk to buy lunches for the school, to
pay salaries, and to pay the general
bills for the Afayo Project. It is
amazing how time consuming this can be, but how necessary this is.
This past month I was able to speak to a large group of
children ranging from ages 8-14.
I…realize…the…best…way…to…communicate…is…to…speak…slowly. If you know anything about me you know how
hard this is for me to do. I have so
much to say. LOL. I was able to share
how much God loves them and how He has a plan for each person. I shared how important it is for them to have
confidence in themselves and don’t listen to the negativity of others. Trust in God and know He created them for a
purpose. By the looks on their faces I could
tell they were connecting.
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| Installing Solar Panels to a home in the village |
Janine loves teaching the women sewing and beading. She is using this time to connect with them
on a more intimate level. They share
with each other the ups and downs of everyday life in the village. Janine is able to share her perspective on
life from a Biblical worldview. One of
the greatest joys Janine gets during each class is the opportunity to hold and
love on an infant. The women are quick
to pass off their child to her so they can focus on the task at hand.
Don’t get me wrong; these women are very resilient and
determined. Janine shared a story one
day about the sewing class. One of the
women was sewing while breast-feeding her child. She had the child in one arm and used her
other hand to spin the wheel to get the sewing machine going in the right
direction and then would pump the peddle and grab her material to guide it
straight to sew.
It is obvious these women want to learn.
It is hard to believe they had never seen a
straight pin or used a pair of scissors before these classes. Janine tells the
women she will be in the village on a certain day at a certain time and the
women come to practice. I have to force
the women to leave so we may drive home before dark. The women are making great progress.
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| Some of the 12 women learning to sew |
We as believers are obedient to sharing the love of Christ
with everyone we come in contact with.
Janine and I wish we could share that many, or some, have recently given
their lives to Christ, but the truth is most are on the same journey we were
before accepting Christ. I feel the
teachers in my Bible study are close and the women Janine is ministering to are
understanding and learning more about Christ and their need for a savior. The fact of the matter is, Jesus Calls us to
share, it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convert the heart. We have to be obedient to share and let God
do the rest.
“It is
the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to Love.”
Billy
Graham
