The Seeds

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only GOD who makes things grow.�

As we sat in a circle doing team Bible study this morning, I read these words and they have been stuck in my head all day. They are the exact words I needed to hear now (God likes to do that). On the race, we encounter many people and we come across many opportunities to share the Gospel or even just pray for someone. We have dinner with families, visit students in their village, preach sermons at church, or just find children and show them love. Sometimes we have a day with a person, sometimes a week, sometimes 5 minutes, and sometimes a month. Either way, I usually find myself wondering if they have listened to what I have to say, if they will one day accept the message, or if they have seen the love of Christ through my actions to them. What Paul writes in Corinthians is the answer that I am looking for. It is our job to plant seeds, and to water them… but it is God who makes them grow. I don’t need to worry about the people I’ve met or shared the Gospel with because only God can grow them by sending them the Holy Spirit. Like Paul says in Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it…â€�  

One great example of this great faithfulness that God showed us this month here in Africa is through the ministries that we have established here. After about 2 weeks of spending time with the kids here at Coffee Bay, we noticed God moving in them and starting His work. Every day before the kids play or surf, we get together and share the Word with them, pray for them and just encourage them. Then, they get together in a circle and pray before each activity. One day, we were running late for surfing ministry and when we arrived at the beach, our hearts filled with joy because the kids were standing in a circle, holding hands, and praying for the day. They didn’t need us there to prompt them or to even pray with them. We could already see the way Jesus is in their hearts and He is growing them! It gave us such hope for these kid’s future because we know that when we leave next week, they will have to stay strong and encourage each other and grow in their faith through the Holy Spirit only while Mandy waits for another team to volunteer here (it’s a brand new ministry). We even got news from their school principal that some of the kids who attend our ministry have come to her and asked for prayer time during school and asked for Bibles! (we are working on getting those).

Yesterday, we held baptisms for the kids who decided to give their lives to Christ while we were here. It was such an amazing experience! The kids were so excited and we had a chance to really explain things to them and have some one on one time. Each World Race member was asked to chose one child and kind of be his mentor (only boys showed up). The boy I’m looking after is named Buhle. I’ve seen his hunger for the Lord since day one. I’ve had the honor and privilege to pray for him and encourage him over the past few weeks. Watching him get baptized yesterday was one of the highlights of my race.  This is one of those circumstances that I really have to put my full trust in the Lord that He will pour into these little boys after we leave… and I do because He has been faithful in every way in my life. Please join me in prayer for these boys who gave their life to God, that they will find a church or local Christians to disciple them while there are no teams here. We are also praying that we can start a ministry for the girls such as volleyball because they are too timid to play soccer or surf.  

The following are photos of different situations I’ve been in on the race and these are the people who I know God is working on and in their lives. I don’t know whether they have accepted Christ, but I know SEEDS were planted, and now it is time to TRUST and PRAY. It’s a huge lesson that we are all learning on the race. We now know that we are not always going to see direct results, like 20 kids getting baptized, or men and women praying to accept Jesus, but we do know that God is faithful, and that’s all we really need to know.  

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the FAITH.� 2 Timothy 4:7

Chong, Cambodia:  This beautiful woman is dying of tuberculosis. We visited her several times and prayed for her, but she would not pray with us or let us lay hands on her… on the last visit 2 days before we left, she bowed her head and let us lay hands on her….. we believe God is going to heal her.

Richard, Australia: This man showed up to church every Sunday and Wednesday drunk. Every time he gave his life to Christ and wanted prayer. We believe God is going to break his addiction.

Ping, Thailand: This beautiful lady was under contract to work in bars in the sex industry. We believe God will fill her life with His love and give her a new direction and hope.

India (name unknown): We shared our dinner with this woman and her daughter. We believe that she will come to Christ one day because she has experienced His love through others.

Students, Nepal: We visited the homes of our students on a daily basis. Some of the kids are saved, even though their parents are not believers. We believe that these kids are going to change this village.