Does your heart leap for joy?
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.” Psalms 28:7
The phrase "My strength comes from the Lord" is a common expression of faith rooted in biblical scripture. Many verses highlight God's role as a source of strength and support for believers. Today’s story is an example of a couple that illustrates this truth to us. They are a picture of Psalms 28:7. I had a conversation last week with them, they lead and direct one of our ministry sites. We have been working in this slum since 2010. So many amazing changes have happened here for girls and families. When you have believed your entire life in false gods and have prayed to them and nothing has changed it is hard to believe any god will answer you. Then one day someone comes and tells you that they pray to a different God and He is the one and true God, and He loves you; how likely would you believe them? You can see how difficult that would be. One day in 2010 God opened a door for us in a large slum where most children did not continue school after second grade, children had gone missing, poverty was extreme, and an average of five family members live in a 10x12 room. Things would seem hopeless. But we know we serve a God that is Hope. A young Christian man we had met came to us and shared he felt God calling him to reach the people in this slum. He said children have gone missing and no one knows where. He asked if we would support him for three months to see what would happen and then decide whether to go forward or not. That three-month trial period was fifteen years ago and since then, the gospel has been shared with thousands of people. We began a tutoring program to get children in school and keep them in school. We now have 60 children coming for tutoring and Bible stories after school. We have 30 teenage girls in a life skills class and 30 teenage boys in another life skills class. We have students graduating high school, with some getting good jobs and some continuing to college. The ministry is growing spiritually with more and more people attending our Sunday School program and Church. Our staff intentionally visit twelve homes each week. Every Wednesday we have a prayer meeting in a different home, people are asking us to come to their home, and they are inviting their neighbors. They are beginning to believe in Jesus. In the last couple of months, we have had eight new believers. We have seven wanting to be baptized. There are so many stories behind each of these. One of our families whose two daughters came to our tutoring program since they were eight-years old have completed college, gotten jobs, became believers, and now the family can afford to move out of the slum. What an amazing example to the community of how God works in our lives and things change. Also, what an amazing example our staff have set for the entire community as they tirelessly give or their time and talents to improve the lives of those that live here. They will tell you their strength and encouragement come from the Lord. They have always believed that God wanted to use them in this community and now they can see the fruits from their labor. As they spoke you could hear the excitement in their voices over sharing how the Lord is working in the lives of the people in the community. They have no doubt that many more will believe! Pray for them; for their strength, wisdom, health and protection as they seek the Lord in all they do.