 |
| Half of the team! |
 |
| Max,Rave, Ladiwa,Josephine,Indepensia, and Chanteline. |
When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him...(Luke 10:17)
This is the verse that came to mind when I saw the faces of my children glowing in excitement and just the deep joy they were experiencing that moment when they returned from their homes after the outreach!
Many of them came back inspired with so much courage, and a deep desire to do it again.
Saturday was an amazing day for us and thanks be to God who made it possible and paved the way before us. With a few friends from church and my gr.5 students we met up at school, divided up in to teams and send those teams out in to the community; every child back to his/her own house in order to share the good news, encourage, and pray with their family members.
In this first out reach we aim for the students’ families. So we did home visits. We praying for them, encourage them, and just got to know them and sharing the Good News.
The reason why we aimed for the students’ families first is that they are the one we are most familiar with and keys to the rest of the community just as these students have been the key to the families. If we share The Gospel with them, disciple them and send them out, then they can start sharing the Good News with their neighbors and everyone they know within this community, people that I myself or my students will never be able to reach. And I thought it will also be easier for us to do some follow up and start with the training because we have a connection with them through their children. So the idea is to start cell groups with the families and continue disciple them to the point where by they can grow and through them we can reach the rest of the community. And I am also praying that for our second outreach these families will be able to join us.
I am deeply thankful for the different people both here and outside that decided to stand with us in prayers for God really did go before us and prepared the way. I had so much peace when I went out yesterday and for boldness; my children were bold and greatly inspired.
I can't fully express the love and deep joy that I am feeling deep down, I am so thankful for every one who showed up and who was praying.
Going out and just talking to all these families also gave me an idea of what most of them believe in and where they stand. Many of them claim to be Christians simply based on the fact that they were baptized when they were babies, that they do go to church on Sunday and they know who to call upon in days of trouble. And some are simply relying on their good work or the type of church they are in. Trying to explain the truth to them is quite a challenge because it only ends up in arguments that leads to this phrase: "it depends from what church you are from and what you believe!".
Some do totally believe that whatever the bible says it's true and it should be put in to practice, so I realized that the only way we might settle most of this matters is if we all sit down and truly study what the bible say and ask those questions: what does the bible say? and how can we apply that to our life today?
My hope and prayers, and what I am looking into right now is to start a Bible study right away. Two of my students' families are really open to that which I am truly thankful for. But this is just the beginning and I am really excited to see what God is planning to do in both the families of my children and the rest of community.
