you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to
teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will
hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’
whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:20-21
Greetings to you all and gratitude to our Father
for your journey with us in 2012!!
“Go…make disciples…baptize them…teach them to obey all I have taught you…be sure of this…’I am with you always…'”
What a privilege to see someone put their f@ith in J.s.s! What a joy
to walk beside them! What an honor to see them walk in His ways and
begin share with others and teach others all that G0d is teaching them.
We have seen glimpses of G0d’s gl0ry in the lives of O and SO as they
have put their f@ith in G0d and begun to learn what it means to be a
f0ll0wer of J.s.s. Two of the greatest glimpses were watching G0d take
this f0ll0wers and use them as His servants.
At the beginning of
November, O went on her first m!ssi0nary journey with the medical team!
She saw first hand what it meant to be a servant of the Living G0d, to
impact the lives of those who were sick and in need–all in the name of
J.s.s. She had never seen anything like it and took in every detail as
we sat together making baggies of medicine to pass out through the
pharmacy. As we sat there, she burst into song changing the words to the
song to reflect what she was seeing and experiencing. We titled the
song, “The L0rd helps us as we do His work.” It expresses how there may
be troubles, tiredness, difficulties doing G0d’s work, but G0d gives us
courage and patience. The L0rd helps us as we do His work.” She still
sings this song when she remembers our time serving G0d and serving
others. Another amazing glimpse of G0d in His servant 0 was watching G0d
fill her with boldness and courage to go out and bless the people and
share with them the difference J.s.s has made in her life since she
started walking with Him. In this culture, giving blessings is how they
start their day, relate throughout the day, and end the day. O blessed
the people at the medical clinic with a blessing G0d had placed in her
heart mind months before …”May G0d take your sickness up to heaven and
may health and strength come to sit with you.” After sharing it the
first day with many people, she ran into the room where we were working
with great excitement and told us about how it meant so much to the
people. She herself was filled with joy to overflowing and said at the
end of the day, “Today, I am so happy to be a f0llower of J.s.s. This
work is just a miracle!”
At the end of November, S0 taught his
first story from G0d’s word!! On November 29th, we hosting a
Thanksgiving celebration for our Malian friends. We invited them to our
house, cooked a favorite Malian meal with a little Am3ric@n twist,
served water and soft drinks, sang LOTS of Chr!sti@n songs, shared
testimonies of our thankfulness to G0d, pr@yed, and shared G0d’s word.
S0 loves G0d’s word so much, so we asked him to share the story of the
10 Lepers who were healed. We spent the week before the celebration
telling the story to him, talking about it, and preparing him to retell
the story and lead the discussion at the celebration. It was amazing to
watch S0 take in the story himself, listen to G0d’s voice teaching him
what the story meant and how it applies to our lives, then watching him
tell the story with joy, animation, and excitement as if the story was
happening right before us. D@n, our M@lian partner, had spent time
telling the story to S0, and the next day, I sat with S0 and asked him
about the story. He was nervous and wanted to tell it exactly like it
was in the B!ble. He got his B1ble so he would not make a mistake. I
told him, “:First, just tell me the story as you remember it from
yesterday.” I closed his B!ble, and he told the story. It was perfect!!!
He missed no details!! On the day of the celebration, had I not known
it was his first story to tell from G0d’s word, I would have never
known. He is a natural story teller and discussion leader, and HE LOVED
IT!! Since the celebration, I have seen 5 of the people who heard the
story. All 5 have retold me the story without missing any details!!
Oh
the greatness of the glimpses of G0d’s gl0ry being lived out in the
lives of His Servants!! Again, what a privilege to see someone put their
f@ith in J.s.s! What a joy to
walk beside them! What an honor to see them walk in His ways, begin
share with others, and teach them all that G0d is teaching them!!!