“Therefore, brothers,
by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the
good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)
working with the “Transform” program together that I.C.M. (International Care
Ministries) conducts. I.C.M. gives
the pastors of the areas that they travel to the opportunity to choose 20
families that can be recipients of this program. It lasts 6 months and during that time they take classes on
health, livelihood, and God’s Word.
They will learn things such as how to plant a garden, how to plan
healthy meals, malnutrition, family planning, etc. I.C.M. also provides them with enough rice to feed their
families for a day or 2 each week as a blessing to them for coming and
participating.
(He’s carrying the bag of rice to where we were working that day.)
We have only gone with them for 3 days, but it has been such
a blessing to interact with the people, share our testimonies, and sing. (Yes,
I have been singing in front of people and they haven’t run away screaming
yet!) As Joy, Jeff, and the
pastors from each place speak for hours it is so amazing to me how respectful
and content the recipients are to listen.
They are excited to learn and it is so cool to see I.C.M. meet their
physical needs alongside their spiritual needs!
waiting for our bus to pick us up and take us back to the office of I.C.M. The pastor asked us to play another
song, and listened so intently as we sang and Taniuska played. Then I playfully got up behind the
pulpit and stood there while we were talking and then they said, “Oh, Lyndsay’s
going to give us a sermon!” So…we
gave mini-sermons! I just talked
about my favorite verse, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, and then said it was important
to me because I feel like I am not really good at anything, but with the power
of Christ inside of me…I can be used by God to do great things! Then Taniuska tagged onto that a story
about when we were hiking and how she had to depend on the team to carry some
of her weight in her pack and how in her weakness God had to be her strength
when our minds and bodies were exhausted after a 6 hr hike! The pastor soaked it all in and hung on
our every word! It was so
encouraging for me to see.
My prayer is that the people in this Transform program truly
would be transformed according to God’s Word.
“Brothers, my heart’s
desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation!” Romans 10:2
