PVBC Day 6…

Wow! What an amazing day! We had the opportunity to go back to Preskul to share more of the Gospel and play some games with the citizens of that village. As we wrapped up our time in Preskul, we went to the center of the village and created a video of each of us sharing some of our impressions of Preskul and the prayer requests told to us by those who live there. I believe the plan is to share the videos with students during Solid Rock.

As I listened to each of us share, I was reminded of a book I read a little over a year and a half ago: The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, the US president of World Vision. The book is about how missions needs to be more than just sharing the Gospel. It needs to be about “feeding and clothing the widows and orphans” as well. Stearns shared about a time when he was sitting in a hut in Africa hearing the story of a young man who was 13 years old and was the “man of the house” because both of his parents had died. He didn’t know where tomorrow’s food or water was going to come from…things most 13-year-old boys in the US don’t worry too much about. Stearns was convicted about how as Christians we need to be meeting material as well as spiritual needs because it is really hard to talk about eternity when meeting tomorrow’s needs seem to be out of reach for those in that situation.

I thought about this as the students shared on the video about how the citizens of Preskul wanted a doctor to come to the village because the 3 hour walk to the Mole was a very long way to go with a sick child, how they wanted a pastor to come and conduct church on Sundays, and how they wanted to be able to develop small businesses so they could make money. These were the prayer requests of the citizens of Preskul.

As a Christian, I am challenged by what I am to do about that. I’m not sure I have an answer today, but I know that God has planted in my heart the desire to be a part of filling that “hole in our Gospel.” So, I challenge you, as you read this, to ask yourself the question…what will (or can) you do to fill the “hole in our Gospel?”

With Love, Brian

***

Hey family and friends,

You know how some of the sweetest moments in life are unexpected and unplanned?! The girls and I experienced one of those times today. After returning from an incredible morning in Preskul, we set out with one of the translators to prayer walk in the Mole. He asked if we were going to hut to hut, which we hadn’t planned to do…we were just going to walk the streets and circle the Mole in prayer as we are last team here with Jody and Jose for a little while.

The translator mentioned that he had told the mother of one of his friends that there was a group here praying over families in the Mole. This woman had asked him if he would bring us to her home to pray. So, we turned around from where we were headed and walked to this home. We were greeted by the most precious woman! She insisted that we come and sit…she brought white wrought iron and wooden chairs out of her home and put them in a circle for us to sit in and pray. We joined hands with her and one another and each lifted her requests to the Father. She has nine children, no husband and wants to provide for her family and be a good mother. One of her older sons was living there as well. We prayed thanking God for his heart and for how he was honoring his mother by helping her lead their family.

We asked if he could join the circle and let us pray for him. He said yes, but could he bring his wife and newborn baby outside to join us. We were so excited! He went and got them and we sat in a circle and prayed that God would protect their marriage, that they would be strengthened and encouraged as they raised their new baby to know and love the Lord. We also thanked God for the precious gift of their baby!!! He asked if we would please continue to pray for them when we returned home. We assured him that we would…we really wanted to take a picture of them to remind us to lift them to God daily, but all of our camera batteries were dead. They asked if we had a charger w/us b/c they had electricity in their home. So we charged my battery for a few minutes to enable us to get a beautiful photo of our new friends. Oh, and I forgot to mention that as we sat and prayer (and had our prayers translated) we were each holding one or two little children that had followed us up the hill…so they got to hear us praying for families, marriage, and all the beautiful things God loves to see for his people. So thankful for God ordained moments like that!

PS Lindsey is feeling better 🙂 Thanks for praying!!

With love,

Marla

+++

Please feel free to leave comments. We will read them at dinner.