Wow. Where to begin. It has been a
very busy month, but in a good way. We had teams here from PL over Spring
Break, and I cannot express in words how encouraging and effective they were. I
give all the praise and glory to the Father for orchestrating such a time. I
was able to lead out with one of the teams in a way that has never happened
here before – a joint mission trip. It just so happened that the universities
here had the same Spring Break, and the student ministry was looking to go on a
mission trip as well. We were able to partner up as 5 new Americans, 6 locals,
and 3 on ground missionaries. It was groundbreaking for us. This wasn’t a trip
where Americans come, and we find translators to help them. No, this was 14
people walking as one in the Lord for the proclamation of the Gospel. I cannot
put into words the unity and joy we all found together, even though many of us
had never known each other before the trip. When Jesus talks about us being one
in Him, it is true! Despite color, culture, upbringing, and all of those
things, we walked as one. I saw and heard over and over how one would begin
sharing, another join in, and another finish the conversation. God would direct
each one to speak His will in tandem. God is good! Two stories come to mind that
I would like to share. One of them is in my words and demonstrates how God went
before us preparing fruit, and the other is from one of the volunteers that
came and displays the passion these local young men and women have to reach
their people.
One group walked into a yard and
started sharing the Gospel. As they finished sharing, one of the ladies said
that she wanted to be born again – to walk with Jesus on the path of life no
matter the cost. She then proceeded to tell them that she had skipped work that
day. She had just gotten up in the morning and decided she wasn’t supposed to
go. She finished by saying, “Now I know why – that salvation would come to my
life. I may lose my job, but I have found something worth far more.” Praise the
Lord!
In R’s words,“I will never forget
the day that N (Local university student), K, T and I went back to visit an
elderly woman who we had spoken with the day before. N had done most of the
talking and sharing with her the previous day, and at the end of our time together
she sang her a hymn in Setswana. Midway through the hymn she forgot some of the
words and had to cut the song short. The next day, N had a Setswana hymnal with
her and she simply told our group, “I have to go back to her and finish the
song. She needs to hear the rest of the words.” This story may seem trivial,
but it was so moving to me. Through the desire N had to see this woman come to
know Christ, she went back to her so she could finish the song. The hymn was
“Are You Washed in the Blood”, and N wanted her to know that the only way to be
spotless before God is to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Her
willingness to go back to this elderly woman and finish her song simply so this
woman could know the rest of the story convicted me to stop for “the one”,
whoever that “one” might be.”
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