Glimpse of G0d’s Gl0ry #9

Greetings to you all and gratitude to our Father
for your journey with us in 2012!!

Since
January of 2011 and especially in the year 2012, the glimpses of G0d’s
gl0ry have been countless as He has taken empty hearts and filled them
with His joyful song!! In a culture where everything has a
rhythm, drums are played to celebrate and to encourage people as they
work, dancing is the highlight of the day, the week, the month, or the
year, and people break out in song at the slightest prompting, I have
watched G0d pour out His joyful song into the hearts of those who have
come to know Him. I have seen Him use His joyful song to teach them His
word and the truths that come from it. I have watched His gl0ry and
presence grow in both O and S0 as they learn a new song, as the LIGHT of
J.s.s reveals its truth, and as they find strength and understanding to
f0ll0w this new way of life.

His joyful song has not only impacted those who have chosen to
f0ll0w Him!! Some of the greatest glimpses of His gl0ry have come as His
servants and His children have simply allowed the joyful song in their
heart to be expressed in all that they do. Just a few of the glimpses:

• Singing His praise, sharing songs while we sell ice on Sundays,
  and watching as another woman stops her work for a moment and listens to
  the words of the song–even joining in on occasion.
• The day O’s mother began joining in our songs and quietly singing beside us
• The continual request from 0’s children to listen to a particular song on my phone
• The joy on a young girls face as I handed her my phone and let her listen to the songs of J.s.s
• The face of a child as they walk up and sing one of the songs they have heard
• The joy in a father’s voice as he shares how his son of 4 years was singing and dancing to one of the songs he heard us singing
• The hunger of a man to listen to the songs and worship his G0d
• The gathering of people outside the gate to our apartment as we sat with friends and sang songs of praise
• Daily
  being asked daily by O as we listen to a song–“Do you understand?” and
  then her proceeding to explain to me in simple Bambara what the song
  means
• Hearing the sound of O makes as a new truth or understanding is
  revealed to her about J.s.s or about what it means to walk with him, and
  hearing her ask me, “Is that true?” or hearing her proclaim, “That is
  true!”
• Watching a group of young people grab the drum and altogether sing one of their favorite J.s.s songs
• Seeing
  smiles fill the faces of those with us as we sing the song “Ala Ka
  Layidu” (The Promise of G0d) and placing the names of all those around
  us in t*/he line that says, “All of G0d’s promises for ___________ are
  fulfilled in J.s.s”
• Waking up in the mornings MYSELF with a heart filled with the BAMBARA songs of J.s.s

This
list could go on and on! The impact of music in the lives of ALL people
is huge…it is G0d’s design that our hearts be filled with HIS SONG!

I cannot end this glimpse of G0d’s gl0ry without sharing the
things that happened this week. During our thanksgiving celebration with
our M@lian friends, we did a LOT of singing!! O and D@n were leading
our time of singing while S0 was leading our time of storying from G0d’s
Word. Many of the people who came were friends and family of O and S0.
On the day after the celebration, O told us how her friends and family
were amazed by her singing and how she knew all of those songs about
J.s.s. She declared, “They know I am f0ll0wing Him!” Then one of her
friends, MM, came to sit with us on the street a couple of days after
the celebration. Again, we were talking about what a great time we had
together. So O and I began singing the “Ala ka Layidu” song. Almost as
soon as we started, MM blurted out, “O, I woke up with that song playing
in my head! I couldn’t remember all of it, but then it came to me. I
thought to myself, I can’t be singing this song about all of G0d’s
promises being fulfilled in J.s.s. Then I thought, if 0 can sing it, so
can I.” MM has been a part of many things we have done. Little by little
the walls are being broken down and she is experiencing a taste of
J.s.s. He is filling her empty heart with His song! I’m certain it is
not just MM’s heart He is filling…