What is it about children? They are so innocent. Yet brave , and bold with little to no filter most of the time. They are not shy , they run up to strangers , thinking the best of eeveryone. They are blunt. Will tell you exactly how it is. They will love pretty much unconditionally even after you reprimand them , depending on the age of course hah. Yet there is so much we can learn from these precious little ones. Jesus even goes so far as to compare the standard of what our faith should be to children. Of all the things and people he picks children are what He goes for. This gives us a wide open window into the heart of God . The first thing you usually think of about children is their character of being like a sponge. They soak everything up wether good or bad. They question not for the purpose of arguing but to understand further and satisfy curiosity. Secondly they are dependant on their father (mother) for everything. From food , to protection, to guidance , and discipline. We have so much to learn from a group of people the world deems useless , incapable, and a burden.
Every Saturday Amani partners with some staff at Calvary Chapel Jinja to put on a mini VBS in the village of Bedondo. This is the same village that we visit twice weekly building relationships and inviting kids to come join us on saturdays. This village is predominantly Muslim community. The previous location that the club was meeting at was a school building , when the locals found out our group was teaching the Bible we were kicked out and left to find a new meeting place. Club now meets in an open field in another part of the village.
We play games with the kids , have a time of worship and dancing , then split off by age groups where the children are taught from the Word. I love what Paul Tripp says ," our job is to make the grace of an invisible God visible." That is our exact mission whether it's giving a child a hug, passing around the soccer ball, or helping out the family in practicable ways we want to be the visible hands and feet of Christ. Especially in this village with so much confusion and bondage tied to their religion and culture it is a field ripe for harvest and our avenue is these little children. They come weekly walking from miles and dragging smaller siblings half dressed by the hand. They come expectant , hungry and.desiring to participate and learn more about the Jesus of the Bible.
This week I was sitting with the middle age group, with about 4 kids crammed in my lap you could hear a leaf drop as we sat and listened to uncle Job teach us about prayer. We spoke about what we pray about , when we pray , and who we pray to. And my favorite part Gods response to us when we pray as children of God. We closed with a time of prayer and proceeded to sing I Have Decided To.Follow Jesus and a song about being clay in a potters hand ( completely in ugandan so thats all I understood ). As this group of 30 were singing at the top of their lungs a strong wind rose and filled the field where we were sitting. As if the Spirit of God decided to move in that place bringing a calm peace and presence as we sat worshipping together. It was soo beautiful and I just began to weep and pray for the Lord's protection and blessings over these children and the families they represented. That the Lord would move mightily through these little ones to bring salvation to these muslim homes.
Continue to pray that all obstacles would be bound in keeping the kids from getting to bible club.
Protection , that the Lord would be faithful to provide for their needs. (School fees, nourishment , medical)
That they would come to a saving knowledge of the Lord.
Families salvation.
The Lord would continue to provide workers to go lead and teach these kids every week.
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