Praying and Preparing

The last two weeks or so have been pretty chill with most of the children on holiday and back at their homes in the village. It was good to have my friend Claudia visit from home and to have a week of quiet before things pick back up again. The Good Lord knows what we need. These next two weeks I will be doing a lot of planning and preparation for the next few months as I will be quite busy until at least January.

Some things you can be praying for:

I am teaching one missionary child, Lydia, 2nd grade, two days a week (math, phonics and reading, spelling and vocab, and health)

I have joined the choir at my church

I will be leading two bible studies for Senior High girls who are boarding at a school nearby

Bena and I will be leading a bible study for 20 jr highers beginning the third week in September and lasting I think about 8 weeks.

Bena and I will be taking small groups of Sr. High and post sr. highers on short weekend retreats focused on identity in Christ and Character of God.

Preparing for freedom camps for children who have been affected by armed forces that will take place in December and January and figuring out how to follow up and give continuing support after that.

Wisdom every day

That the deep in me would continue to cry out for the deep in God

My heart would be aligned with His heart

That our team would be more and more a team of prayer and intimacy with Jesus

Thank you for praying, these are the requests, the bare facts, though I'm sure there are more, please also when praying thank God for the work He is already doing and how faithful He has been in answering prayers. We serve a big God, praise Him with me.

Please if you could commit to praying for at least one of these items either email me or post a comment to say which one you will be praying for so that everything is covered. Or if there's something else you feel led to pray for you could include that in a comment or email.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

when nature calls...

I had two girls stay the night last night, Betty and Abella. I’ve mentioned them before, both are right around 12yrs old and have parents who are rarely or never around. We watched a movie before going to bed and during the movie I suggested that we drink our sodas, as they didn’t want them at dinner but to have them with the movie. Betty said she did not want hers until morning with breakfast. I said, that drinking soda with breakfast is a bit strange and wondered why she wouldn’t want it with the movie. Then it was like a light went on in her head. She thought out loud, “Oh yeah, the toilet is inside here. Ok, I’ll have my soda now.” It’s just not something a twelve year old in the states has to think about. If you have to go to the bathroom here, for the majority of the children I hang out with, it’s a shared pit latrine somewhere outside. And the middle of the night here is dark and I mean dark. It reminded me that I am not in the states anymore.

sabotage

I was just thinking this morning about sabotage. Nice light early morning thinking...i know. oh well. One of the frustrating things I'm finding here is how out of jealous and greed already desperate people are destroyed further. It happens in the macro sense and the micro. Warriors in one tribe raid their neighbors for cattle. Both groups are barely surviving and yet they go after one another and both groups suffer more unnecessarily. And then there's the story of the boy that escaped from the LRA after 6 years of captivity and he goes to find his land, his parents had been killed in front of him so they're not there, his relatives deny him everything, they've already claimed his land and now this one who has suffered years in the LRA now suffers as a homeless orphan on the streets. Then lately there's been jealousy showing its ugly face among some of the children and their families that visit our house. The grandmother of one is accusing the grandchild of the other trying to destroy her reputation among the white people. And I know this sabotage is done in the states too and around the world. Why is it so hard to be happy for others and not want them to get ahead? Why do the poor steal from the poor and ruin any chance of anyone getting ahead? Why do friends break relationship over the other's good fortune? The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. We must pray for hearts of love and courage to withstand the attractive allure of the evil one. Oh that Truth would prevail and we would build one another up instead of tear down. That we would be wiser to the enemy's schemes and fight for each other rather than against. Precious Savior have mercy on us.