Well, we have arrived. Team JoHoLo and Team Benkadi arrived in Belgrade, Serbia Sunday morning. This month is really special because this is our first Ask The Lord (ATL) month. We prayed into where God wanted us to go this month and we ended up in Serbia. It was slightly more complicated than that but I won’t bore you with the details. Bottom line God has us in Serbia. He has us here because He is the God of this city.
Our ministry this month will be representatives of the World Race and Adventures in Missions. The World Race has never had anyone in Serbia, so we are here to make contacts so potential teams in the future will be able to com here and serve this community and country.
This month is full of God proving His faithfulness to us again and again. The following is an excerpt from one of my friends that lives in Alabama. Her name is Brandy Brendle and I think that she should be a writer…
“The Lord spoke to me the exact words he spoke to Joshua.
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. (success that I desire is offering peace and salvation) Do not let this Book of the Law (now, Jesus and his commands) depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” 1:6-9.
Then the Lord continued to instruct me by the words Joshua gave to lead his servants:
“…you are to help your brothers until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them… (salvation)” 1:14-15. Hmm… so when do we stop caring and helping??
2 Corinthians led me to journal this which I feel is adequate to share:
The comfort I find in Christ can be used to overflow and comfort others. When I am comforted, it produces patient endurance in others who are around me. In my heart, I DO feel their pain and the death they experience without Jesus. This feeling in my heart happens SO THAT I might not rely on myself but on GOD, who raises the dead! I realize that without feeling this hurt and death in my own heart, I would feel able to do or heal others. But since it impacts me, too- I realize that I can’t heal them. I can’t help them. I can’t solve these problems. I can’t stop pain. I can’t change lives. I can’t explain evil. I can’t take back what has happened. I can’t ensure a future. I can’t offer hope. When my heart aches, I realize that I, too am vulnerable, frustrated, and weak BUT…
I KNOW A GOD WHO CAN. He can! He can heal a victim of rape. He can be a parent to these orphans. He can replace substance addiction with an addiction to Himself. He can provide food and shelter. He can stop violence. He can comfort those abused. He can say the right things at the right time. He can love the widow and the abandoned. He can right the wrongs. He can work it all together for good. He can provide answers and reason. He can establish peace in the depths of Hell. He can promise hope. He can ensure an eternity where there is NO MORE hurt, pain, injustice, or social problems.
And…
HE LIVES IN ME.
Therefore…
I CAN.”
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
