–Romans 12:12
It's gonna take me a while to get everything from last month out on the table, which makes me nervous since tomorrow we leave for Swazi and, although we're staying at an AIM base with bunk beds, showers, and a kitchen, I have absolutely NO idea what our Internet situation will look like. Rest assured that at some point though, you'll be up-to-date on the incredible work the Lord did in me and through our teams last month at FBCCS and in the community of Lotus River. There are gonna be about 3 parts or so to the "Lessons" blogs, each one tying into the rest. The other parts will be up ASAP!
In my last blog I described to you our ministry from last month, but in case you didn't catch that one, I'll tell you again. My team and Team Lacham spent the month in Cape Town, South Africa working at a Christian school for kids grade R (equivalent to our kindergarten)-grade 7 from squatter camps and farming communities, about 70% of whom also have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Immediately at finding this out, I knew it was a month where I was going to be stretched and that my dependence on the Lord would be pivotal. At first, I was angry with the parents before I had even met them; HOW could they so deliberately cause their children to have the problems that come along with FAS? So, I prayed. In the name of Jesus I prayed against the anger and against the judgment, asking that it be replaced with peace, with compassion, and with understanding. But most of all, I prayed that we would make an impact not only on the parents, but on the children as well, that the food we served on Wednesday nights wouldn't be from us, but that it would be from Jesus, that the love and hugs that we would shower on the children wouldn't be from our own arms and hearts, but from the arms and heart of Jesus., and that instead of being seen as the white, rich American missionaries that we would be seen as Jesus.
That was just the beginning of this month's bold prayers. After the first music class that Sarah and I taught, a group of 6 grade R's that at one point were all down on the ground making hissing noises and slithering like snakes, we realized that we had underestimated the warning from our contact Chantel that the children liked to misbehave because of their FAS. And the constant prayers began! At the beginning of every day, Sarah and I prayed. At the end of every class, we prayed. In the middle of class, if we needed to, we prayed. In every break, we prayed. Back at ZEEP, our hostel, if we felt it on our hearts, we prayed. In our sleep, we probably prayed. Sarah and I declared over ourselves that we would be PRAYER WARRIORS, and that's exactly what we became (we even have a P.W. handshake)! We thanked Jesus that He is bigger and stronger than any toils that may ensnare us and that he implants that strength in us through the Holy Spirit. We thanked Him for choosing us and for having a purpose in sending us to FBCCS, even if we didn't see it yet. We thanked Him that He loves and died for the people of Lotus River the same way that He loves and died for us and for you. In the name of Jesus, we cast out our frustration and annoyance with the children and asked instead for patience and perseverance when we felt like giving up. We asked for discernment in the balance between disciplining the children with love and disciplining them with sternness. We prayed that the Holy Spirit would fill our room with focus, attentiveness, and an excitement to learn. Each prayer differed a bit, based on what we were feeling that day and how the classes were going, but one piece of each prayer always remained the same: that we would see the children and the people of Lotus River not through our own eyes, but through the eyes of Jesus.
This month, I prayed prayers and saw them answered in 5 and 10 minutes and even less. This month, I also prayed prayers and saw them answered in a few days. Some prayers took weeks, some, like the prayer to see the kids and residents through the eyes of Jesus, just got answered somewhere along the way, but I can't be exactly sure where, and some I am still waiting on a response, . But I've got something to tell you and I want you to read it very carefully. Truly soak this in and let it penetrate the walls of your mind and your heart: God hears our prayers, my friends. The same God who paints the sunset every night, who designed the very ground we walk on and every animal in the vast, deep ocean, who pieced each person on this planet together and knows every hair on every person's head, who created the Heavens and the Earth, who aligned the planets and set them in motion, who specifically placed each star in the sky-that same God listens to what YOU have to say to Him when it is said in faith. Better yet, He hears AND He acts. Our time at FBCCS was a clear confirmation of that and my new prayer will be that each of you reading now will come to know this truth as well. God LOVES you, readers. He wants to hear you, so just talk to Him. (:
