In my last blog, I was trying to figure out how a community
driven by fear and brokenness could ever be changed, and today God revealed his
answer to me! It is the joy of his salvation that brings hope back to a
community, and his love that overcomes fear and heals brokenness! I know, I
know… I should already know this, but it is one thing to know it and another to
experience it! I’m so excited to say that Marlynn, the thirteen year old boy
who stole our stuff, gave his life to the Lord today! My team and I spent hours
yesterday praying for him and I honestly wasn’t expecting God to answer our
prayers so quickly! Thank you for your
prayers too! Now, let me give you a
little background as to what all went on this past week.
Since our conversation with Marylnn about the break in, we
have not been able to get rid of him. He is one of the first faces we see in the
morning and one of the last we see before we go to sleep! Just like all the other kids, he is starving
for affection and touch, and it wasn’t long before we fell in love with him.
But two day ago we ran into a problem with him. We had decided to take a bunch
of teens to the beach for our last day and my team and I were divided on what
to do with Marlynn. We knew it was going
to be a huge problem, but we decided it was best if he didn’t come.
Well, this didn’t go over so well. We tried to have the kids keep it a secret,
but word spreads fast when kids have absolutely nothing to do. Yesterday, Marlynn came up to me and asked me
about the beach. I tried to play the
“no entiendo” (I don’t understand) card but it wasn’t working. Again, my heart
broke for him because he was so hurt by our decision. So today, Krystle and I
decided to seek wisdom form Linda. She
said she would talk to him, and when she was finished she came running over to
me with a huge smile on her face and said he just became a Christian! So, I run
over to him and just threw my arms around him… and I broke down and invited him
to the beach.
Marlynn said that after he broke into the clinic he was sad
and worried that we would never forgive him. He explained that he wanted to come back sooner to apologize but he was
scared that the people at the church would stone him. When he finally did come back, he was shocked
that we not only forgave him but we loved him and made him a friend. Linda, taking this opportunity, said that
what happened between us and him is a picture of what God does for us. When we accept him into our lives, he
forgives us for all our sins… past, present and future. Not only does God forgive us, but he loves us
more than we could ever imagine. After
Linda said that, he said he was ready to give his life to Christ!
Marlynn on my right… both were singing praises to God. That’s when God gave me my answer. God is bigger than fear and brokenness. He is going to defeat fear by bringing the
most feared to himself, like he did with Marlynn, and he is going to ease the
pain of brokenness, like he did with Anthony. God has blessed us tremendously this month by answering so many of our
prayers. All the teens that had really
been on our hearts to pray for have turned their lives around over these past
three weeks! We love this teens, and
there are going to be many tears tomorrow when we say goodbye!
