Sharing From the Heart

A single mother from one of our supporting churches was here this month visiting our teammate, Lisa Newland. Megan and her son Blake came to experience the ministry here in Tanzania. To see what life is like. Little did we know that she would come to have a great impact on our pastors'/leaders'  wives. 

It was kind of a last minute request of mine to invite Megan to give her testimony at the ladies meeting planned for August. I knew she would be there, and I actually moved the date up so she could attend. However, it wasn't until meeting her that I asked her to share what the Lord has done in her life. (Sorry about that Megan! More notice would have been appreciated, I'm sure.) Lisa told me later that Megan had spent many hours preparing for what she was going to say. She prayed and asked the Lord to give her just the right words to speak into these ladies lives. The Lord answered her request in a special way. 

As Megan began to share of her past and how the Lord saved her it moved all of us there. After she finished speaking there was opportunity for the ladies to share themselves. To be honest, I didn't expect them to say much. They rarely do. However, Megan's transparent testimony stirred the hearts of these ladies. One in particular shared her heart, with her face contorting in pained memories and tears threatening to spill, how her mother had died when she was just a little girl and how her father was an alcoholic and on drugs. He beat her until she finally ran away from home. She lived on the streets for a time but eventually went back home. The people in her village thought she had lost her mind and treated her as such. She wanted to go to church but her father wouldn't allow it. She has suffered much and can come across as being very harsh. Hearing her story helped me to better understand her and have more compassion. It also opened the hearts of the others present. I could see it in their faces as some wiped away tears - tears of empathy, and just maybe tears of understanding as they too have suffered. 

It all started with Megan being willing to open up and share from her heart. What if she had thought her life too messy to share with these women? What if she would have smoothed over the rough places and just talked about our loving, heavenly Father? It sure would have made her look better. But it wouldn't have spoken to the dark and messy places these women have lived. Megan's willingness to be transparent allowed these women to feel they weren't the only ones that had a past. It also didn't point us ladies to herself. No, the forgiveness, mercy, grace, and victory all pointed back to God. It reminded all of us that day who our God is and what His Son Jesus did for us. We were reminded of the mighty power of God to save us and transform our lives.

Hiding God's Word in Our Hearts

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

Psalm 119:11

Memorizing God's Word is an important spiritual disciple for a Christian. I've been working on memorizing 1 John myself, which hasn't been easy. There are so many things that vie for my time and effort. Psalm 1:2 challenges us to meditate on God's Word day and night. What better way to meditate than through memorization?! 

For the past two months I have been teaching the pastors/leaders' wives about biblical love. I challenged them in April to memorize 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. For those who could memorize it I promised a laminated Subway Art Print of the verses in Swahili. I was thrilled when six ladies quoted the verses! There were a few more who tried, but didn't quite get it. I've given them one more month to earn the desired Subway Art Print. 

What are you currently memorizing? I'd love to read about it in the comments!

Sunday School Teachers Training Seminar

We are blessed to have Lisa Newland working with us in Tanzania. Earlier this month she held a Sunday School Teachers Seminar. We are greatly encouraged to hear of Mama Odetta's willingness to be used of the Lord in teaching children! Below is Lisa's blog post about the seminar:

Mama Gervas, Mama Odetta, and Lisa Newland

Mama Odetta

49 years old.  Widow.  Mother of 4.  Saved as a child, though didn’t grow much in the Lord till she joined our church over 10 years ago, and even then her attendance/ growth has been up and down.  Mama Odetta was one of our 11 seminar participants this year.

She shared a testimony at the end of the week:  When I found out that my daughter couldn’t go to the seminar, but that I was invited, I thought, “I don’t know how to teach kids.  I wouldn’t know what to do.”  When I asked my friends they all said, “You should go.  We’ll take care of things at home for you.  Go.”  I felt led to come, but still didn’t think I would be able to do much.  Then in our session on teamwork I learned that if I taught Sunday school, I wouldn’t be alone.  I would be joining a team of teachers, and we could help each other.  That’s when I thought, “Maybe I can do this.”  And now, if my fellow teachers will help me, I want to try to help out as a Sunday school teacher.

AMEN!  We all cheered.  Justa, the pastor’s wife at Mama Odetta’s church and the head Sunday school teacher, said,“We will help you for sure.  We are so happy to have you join us!”

Mama Odetta teaching about the rich man and Lazarus

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons of the seminar, Justa and I taught a demo class.  We had 15-20 neighbor kids each day.  We sat them down in front of all the seminar attendees and taught an hour-long class (including songs, Bible lesson, review questions, and memory verse).  Then on Thursday we split the 11 seminar attendees into 4 groups, and gave them a Bible lesson and 1 ½ hours to prepare their own 1-hour long class.  I was so blessed to watch Mama Odetta teach those kids.  She got right down on their level and told Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus.   How that living the good life now isn’t that great.  Instead, God is looking for people who will walk by faith.   And this taught by a women who has suffered and struggled and kept her faith in God.  

His name be praised!!!!!

Soaring

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that 

the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends 

of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no 

searching of his understanding. He giveth power to 

the faint; and to them that have no might he 

increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be 

weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:  But 

they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 

strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; 

they shall run, and not be weary; and they 

shall walk, and not faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31

While at a friend's house a  storm came up.  Becky called me to come out and look at the lake. The  thick storm clouds  made the  lake dark,  and there were white caps from the boisterous winds. As we were  admiring God's power  in the wind, we saw a  fish eagle  trying to fly. The wind was so strong that even this powerful bird was  finding it difficult.  But he wasn't giving up! We watched on as he spread his wings and  flew victoriously.

Some days  life  can be like that dark storm. Like the wind is pushing us and keeping us from moving forward. It's like the proverbial  "two steps forward, one step back." Some days it can seem like we'll never get anywhere. Like it's time to give up and let the wind have it's way.

As I watched this fish eagle struggle against something   he could not control,   it made me think of the struggles I have in a world that I have no control over. It made me think about  the One who does have control.

Most all of us know  Isaiah 40:31,  but I love the verses that proceed it, too. They remind us of who our God is. It reminds us of His strength   and   wisdom.  PRAISE GOD  I don't have to lean on my own ability. He knows the storm I'm in. He knows I am but dust; a weak vessel.  He is my strength!

Hello, Goodbye

I recently read a post from a lady in our hometown of Greeneville, Tennessee. What a blessing to read it and see how she has grown from a teenager in our church youth group, to a newly married, godly woman. With her permission it is copied below.

"My life has been a series of hellos and goodbyes. Jesus gives me blessings disguised as people, jobs, and activities…only to ask me to give them up. At times, the aftermath pain seems worse than the initial joy. But I have come to realize that while I thought I had to have that thing, I didn’t really know what I wanted. Jesus always knew what I needed and wanted better than I did! Whether it was a person, or a possession, or an experience, I found that true fulfillment came when I was driven to find it in the Lord instead of getting it from something material. 


I was sipping coffee with a friend on Thanksgiving eve and discussing with her what I considered to be my losses. I was dropping phrases left and right like, “I gave up” and “I lost” and “God denied my request…” Despite the obvious Cara-centered problem, I had allowed multiple idols to take the throne of my life. With their granted powers, they had overtaken my priorities, my passions, and consequently, my joy. 


She opened her Bible (so cleverly concealed in her large suitcase purse) and turned to Jonah 2:8. The Lord warns that when we focus on vain idols, we will throw away our hope of receiving from God. When I look to my blessings for my value, I am, in actuality, refusing the Love that I so desperately desire. Blessings do not love back; they simply point to the Ultimate Blessing. If I depend on my blessings to satisfy me, they become an idol to me, denying the supremacy of God. When my Savior, in His perfect omniscience, withholds something from me, He promises that I don’t need it. If having that “treasure” would have fulfilled His plan for my life, He would have given it to me. In abundance (see Psalm 84:11)! 


What appears to be a loss suddenly takes on a new light when compared with the gain that I have received in Him instead. With my idols gone, I find myself crawling back to my Savior, back where I belong. And in its place, I have gained something far more eternal and permanent than I could ever have received from the thing that I lost. The times when God said “No, my Child,” were painful, but in the long-run not nearly as agonizing as if He had granted me my desire. When He denies a request, He permits His divine plan to continue in motion, uninterrupted. As Beth Moore puts it, God’s ‘no’ is just making room for His ‘yes’. 


I imagine it like this. God has a box with my name on it. His omniscience and goodness determined before I was born the things with which He would fill my box to make my life complete. Every time I create my own idol and place it in my box, I am, literally, boxing out God’s plans for me. The more I try to stuff my own box, the more I crowd Him out. And the less I give way to Him, to that extent I will experience less of the fulfilled life He has for me.


Every time the Lord takes something away from me, He always has a replacement in mind. And it is ALWAYS better than what I was clinging to for dear life before. 


Because, usually, it is more of Him."


 Cara Michelle Cobble, 2009