“God and man exist for each other and neither is satisfied without the other.” – A. W. Tozer
This is a lady I want you to meet. Her name is Elena. She doesn’t know how old she is but we guess her to be in her 80’s. She goes way back to the days when our big neighbor village next door had slaves. She remembers being a slave. She is one of my dearest old lady friends and she likes to call me her daughter. Anthony and I go regularly to see her. She comes to church fairly frequently but it’s so that maybe she’ll gain favor with God so that He’ll heal her. She has bad cataracts in both eyes and because of that can’t see out of one eye. She has problems with her heart and yeah, several other problems that come with old age. She must have some faith in God because she tells me that she knows God can heal her. But after Anthony clearly explained salvation to her she said she didn’t believe it. But, in a more recent conversation with her Anthony made it very clear that she needs to ask God for spiritual healing more than physical healing. He had a long straightforward talk with her. It seemed to sink in a little more then previously. I feel a real burden for her. She’s an old lady and we know she won’t live too many more years. We so badly want her to come to know Jesus and believe in Him before she dies.
“God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.” – C. S. Lewis
This young man is one of our good friends. His name is Marco. He is another needy soul. He knows the truth and he knows what he needs to do to be a Christian. But, he’s not ready to surrender everything yet and give it all over to God. He has been showing up at church sporadically again. I think he’s close. But not close enough. He’s been facing some hard things lately and we pray that those things will push him closer to God. He needs your prayers.
Vismar. He was a Christian at one point in his life. But he let his relationship with God grow cold. He does not profess to be a Christian anymore as He knows he’s not. I don’t know what it will take for him to surrender his life to God once again. He’s fine on his own and doesn’t see his need for God. He comes to church every Sunday – to see the people there. He has a pretty easy life and good luck and things always just seem to fall in place for him. I think it’s harder for people like that to really recognize their need for God. His spiritual state lies heavy on our hearts.
“Nothing can take the place of the touch of God in the soul and the sense of Someone there.” -A. W. Tozer
These dear girls – Nelida, Tania, and Yami. Nelida is facing some health problems right now and that looks big and scary to her and all of us. She needs prayer. Yami is facing difficulties in town where she is currently living. She is a Christian but it’s hard to stand alone. She experiences a lot of pressure and she’s not sure how long she can stand it. She needs prayer for strength and for wisdom.
I don’t have a picture of Ed Yoder but he’s needing prayer right now too. He is the one who started the work here and who must of us call Grandpa. He’s been sick for a number of weeks now. He’s been to the doctor several times and they can’t seem to find anything wrong. But he keeps getting weaker. Please join us in prayer for him. God is the only one who can heal our bodies.
Right now a huge fiesta is starting here. Many, many people will spend the next two days drinking and dancing and being crazy. Children will go hungry while their parents drink away. Darkness will prevail. We’ll go on Tuesday to the big community next to us and give lunch to all the hungry children. The spiritual darkness will be so heavy we’ll feel it pressing us. It’s called Carnaval. It’s where Mardi Gras comes from if that helps give you a perspective. Many people will be trying to fill a huge void in their lives. They’ll try to make themselves feel happy. But they’ll only stay miserable. Only God can fulfill that void but in their ignorance they miss it. After the party is over and the alcohol is gone they’ll still feel sad. They’ll still feel that void. So many needy souls. Please pray that God’s light would shine brightly through us in this time of spiritual darkness. Please pray that the people around us would recognize that they are needy souls and that only God can fill their void.
“May my life be like the full moon on a clear summer night – brightly shining into the darkness.” -DJW
As I write this post I think maybe I should just put a picture of all of us in here. We all are needy souls. We all have so many needs. All of us are craving for God. I don’t know of anyone who is exempt. Only God can fill the needs in our hearts. How desperately we need Him!
“To know God is to live. To be ignorant of Him is to die. To be drawn into oneness with the eternal Father and Son and Holy Spirit – this is truly the highest purpose of life.” – Rodney Yoder
Rays of Joy 