Matters of the Heart

” If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world
would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no
longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it
hates you.” John 15:18-19
Greetings to you all!!

First
of all, THANK YOU ALL for your support of C@therine in her journey here
with HS! in M@li!! It has been awesome to walk alongside, to work
alongside, and to watch the work of G0d in and through C@therine! He has
impacted many lives through C@therine as she has surrendered to Him and
He has lived His life through her! Please continue to pr@y for her as
she walks through these next 2 weeks…they will be tough in so many
ways as she shares her heart, her life, and G0d’s plans with those to
whom she means so much! Please pr@y for her as she returns home as
well…it will not be easy re-entering a culture that is familiar but is
no longer fully her own…her life has forever been altered by the
culture and people of M@li! 

Secondly, I come to you because I woke up this morning very
early…my heart heavy for the people of M@li. First of all for the
people with whom we spend time with daily. During the visit of our
friends this past 2 weeks, we had 2 more confess that they want to
f0ll0w J.s.s. and one who is being pursued by G0d with passion and
purpose. She too has recognized tr.th and is making a decision about what she will do with this tr.th.
My heart was heavy because those who have chosen to f0ll0w are
experiencing very real and personal p3rsecut!on. Their families and
their work companions are expressing their dislike and hatred for the
choice they have made to f0ll0w. While I know and understand and give
great thanks to G0d for His gift of s@lvat!on and et3rnal l!fe, this
morning my compassion and empathy was on overload and my heart was
crying out to G0d on their  behalf!! I know that the struggles of this
life do not compare to the joy of His Presence With Us moment by moment
as well as for all et3rnity! Still my heart hurts alongside them as they
walk out the reality that the w0rld now hates them and doesn’t mind
showing it. Yet, I consider and contemplate the GREATNESS of being
chosen to come out of the w0rld, to walk daily in the light of His
Presence, and to know the joy and peace of His s@lvat!on!!!

Thirdly, I come to you because my heart was also heavy
this morning for the country of M@li and ALL of her people! Since March
and the C0up d’3tat, M@li has been unstable as a country and has become
an open field for the influx of extreme !sl@mic r3beI groups. They have
taken over the northern 2/3 of the country and are trenching themselves
in for the certain battle that will take place. Their goal…to make
Mali an !sIamic state, impose Sharia law through the country, continue
their open field of drug, gun, and human trafficking through the S@har@
desert, and whatever else they want. There has been movement of the
r3bels over the last few days…movement toward the south. Most say this
is a show of muscle because there are meetings tomorrow and this week
about how to resolve the problems of M@li. We have begun to see some
protesting in the city…protesting the lack of action by the government
to free the people of the north.

Thanks for being the people I can come to with the matters of the heart…i thank G0d for you all!