Pastor Randy and Karen have to be so proud of these two young ladies who came to Honduras together for the first time. Welcome our return sister, Addison and this year she was able to bring her baby sister Payton. These two were work horses. They never wavered and persevered everything which was placed before them. The first morning I put them in charge of helping Mr. Mike cut the 120 blocks for the week. I turned them loose and off they went. They helped Mr. Mike keep the flow going until it was all completed. There was just nothing they would not do.
They came prepared with a phenomenal devotional the first evening upon arrival. I asked their parents did they do this themselves and the answer simultaneously was yes they did. They shared circumstances and situations in our lives can often be of a "story" nature. Sometimes, it can feel like all we do is survive one storm, just in time to experience another storm. In some ways a mission trip can be like a string of storms. The days will be long, the work will be tough, things wont go right and frustrations will rise. Although most us know each other's names, as a group we are not yet a team. So there will be the bumping into each other that comes with getting to know each other, learning to live with each other and making decisions together, that can always be stormy. To reduce the effect of the storms that each day will bring one we encourage you to find time alone with our Lord. To be still and be in His Presence. They show a story out of 1 Kings 19:11-16 to share about Elijah and how he had storms all through his life. In verse 11, after God says that God is passing by, what passes by FIRST!!! A very large great huge earthquake and a forest fire, some sort of fire. Did Elijah hear God in those storms? No he did not, the bible goes as far as to say that God is not in the storms. In verse 12 what does Elijah experience after the storms. Sheer silence!!! IN that sheer silence, what does Elijah hear? God's voice!!!! God asked Elijah why are you here? God have him tasks to perform which brought great concern to Elijah and his title.. Lessons from this story are storms are powerful things that force us to react to them. They destroy our material items, they scare us and we have little control over them. In the story we just read, we see what God desires for is NOT in those storms. God does not desire for Elijah to be the last prophet or for the people of Israel to lose contact with God. But if Elijah doesn't listen for and in the silence, then the only force or power that Elijah can respond to is the storm itself. And this is why the silent part in the story is so important. It is in the silence, in the quiet time that Elijah becomes aware of God's desire for him and for the people of Israel. This is so true for us as well. There are stressors that will occur this week that will result in storms, possibly internal or external this week. They might be storms of anger or frustration or sadness or things not going right or things getting lost. So our challenge for the week is to do what Elijah did, that we make time and space to listen to for God's voice in the midst of the storms. This folks was a devotional prepared and shared by a 16 year old young lady and a 18 year old young lady. There is hope for our future as Christians when you hear two teenage girls share such an inspiring devotional for us all.
They took charge of making the sandwiches for the team that week. I showed them one time what needed to be done and off they went. They got it done and put everything out on the porch ready for their team to have a yummy lunch each and every day. They were amazing with the children at VBS as well. They were a natural with the children who do not speak their language. But the language of love is prevalent everywhere. I have never been more proud to work beside to precious young ladies as these. Thank you ladies for being the hands and feed of Jesus this entire week.
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