What Stories Would She Tell?

I love a busy week...and this past one was all of the above.  So, this blog is going to be a little bit of a tour.  This past week really touched my heart in a new way.  From preparing classes, to ministering to the homeless, I really felt God’s presence move me. 

First, I learned this about myself...I have a gift for teaching.  I was given the job to teach our first year students how to study the Bible!  Please don't mistake this for pride, however, this is one talent that God has given me and has strengthened over time.  When I started preparation for the class I planed on giving them just a few notes of certain principles...but, my few notes turned into a text book of 24 pages complete with diagrams.  I wish you guys could have seen each of their eyes as I dropped four packets on the table and said, "Here are all of my notes."

I went through everything on hermeneutics; to how to find valid resources.  I went through how to find the lexicon (original word used in the Bible), and how to effectively memorize the Bible.  However, the most important thing I left them with was how God showed me to pray his word and why.  

                      1-You see, Peter had walked with Christ for many years but didn't truly realize who he was till the Father revealed it to him (Matthew 19:16-18).  So, we are dependent on the father to reveal himself to us. 

                      2- In Matthew 6:8-13 Jesus shows us how to pray and says, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..."  The blue print of God's kingdom is in his word.

                      3- Proverbs 18:21 tells us that there is great power in what we say.  We were made in God's image, and likewise, he has given each of us power in our tongues.  That is extremely humbling, considering that we are totally dependent on God...since it is His words that are life.

                      4- Isaiah 55:11 says that God's word does not return void.  Even though it is not said in this scripture, if we look at everything that happened when Christ or the prophets spoke, things happened...is it possible that it is our job to return his word back to him?

I then showed the students how to pray the Bible.  Some things are caught...not taught.  I learned how to pray from my parents and Godly leadership in my life.  Now, I'm not saying that you can say the wrong words in prayer, but their examples did show me how to pursue the presence of God.  First I prayed the Bible to discover God to an even deeper extent.  Then I prayed to apply his words to my heart.  Lastly I prayed for his words to be applied to those we have been reaching out to.

Please don't take this as pride...it just feels good to know that what God has done in me is now changing others.  My prayer is that God's word comes alive like it has never before, for these first year students.

Another day, we had the ability to talk with our Master's Commission family back home, XMC.  After our meeting, we were so pumped up that I took one of my first years, David, to evangelize on the street with me.  I just want to brag on him for just a second.  This guy took the initiative and poured his heart out to a guy who was very hungry for the gospel.  The man did not except Christ but they did exchange numbers!

After this, we passed by a homeless woman on the streets.  It was freezing cold that night.  My hands had gone completely numb in a matter of five min.  There was a thick fog and the wind worked all the moister into your clothing.  I saw her there, shivering, trying to stay warm...and then I remembered that we had an extra blanket, which we hadn't handed out when we did the “Covered With Love” project.

David and I quickly rushed back home, grabbed the blanket, and made our way to meet her.  We found her leaving her post, do doubt to find a warmer place.  She was bowed over with a heavy pack on her back, and shook with each step.  Her face lit up when we handed her the blanket.  She asked for our hands to kiss them, as people do when they honor the orthodox priests.  After her repeated request for our hands I asked David to translate something for me.  Who was I to receive honor?  Who was I that the elderly should kiss my hand?  I didn't come to be served, but to wash other's feet.  So I said, "If there is anyone to be honored, it should be you..."

I've really had a place in my heart, here recently, for the elderly.  I've been reading this book called "Tortured for Christ".  It's about the persecuted church of Romania, during the years of communism.  The things that these people went through were awful.  They were stuck with hot irons, had their teeth knocked out, tied to a crosses naked as excrement was smeared over them.  These people are now much older...and every time I see them with no teeth, painful eyes, or scars...I wonder, "Were you on trial for your faith?  Does it pain you to see so many young people claiming God, but living under the sway of the world?"

I remember an old woman who began to cry when she saw us young missionaries spreading the gospel.  As she cried she said, "Life is so hard..."  It all makes sense to me now, and I wonder what stories she would tell.

Man, I just want the power of Christ to spread here in Romania, now more than ever.  Beyond being commissioned by God to do so, I feel like it is also the only way to honor those who knew Him before me...and faced hell on earth for it.  Christianity will not die here under the beauty of freedom, it will grow...and I also will go to hell and back for it!