A Leap of Faith

In about 3 weeks time, I will be living in a new house, next to new neighbors, in a new city, helping my husband start a new church.  Exciting? Incredibly!  Nervous?  Absolutely!!! Scared (out of my mind)?  Yes.
On our recent trip to Iquitos, Peru, God gave us a house.  While it doesn't have the yard and the avocado tree we have been praying for, it has exactly what God wants for us to have for our house - a place to start a church.
Exciting?  Incredibly!  We have neighbors.  We have neighbors who have children.  We have families all around us who need Christ.  We have the opportunity, the privilege, and the command to reach out to these families for Christ.  And the Deaf?  Absolutely! We have the opportunity to reach more Deaf and their families for Christ.  We are so excited about all the possibilities!
Nervous??  Scared??  Yes.  I battle with the fears of the unknown.  I struggle with the anxiety of packing and shipping our things to a new location.  I feel concern for my children as they leave behind friends and playmates.  I worry about bugs and other creepy crawlies (Note:  How is it I could be so brave and invincible towards bugs when I was a single missionary, but now that I am married and have my own children "every thing that creepeth upon the earth" sends me into an orbit of panic and terror?!?!?!?)  I feel sad to leave behind people who have become as dear to me as my own family.
Yet in the midst of all these feelings, my mind echoes with the beautiful verses of Romans 8.  It is no accident God led me to study this precious chapter during this month.  He knew I would need those verses - those verses of comfort and strength.  Verses of hope and encouragement.  Verses that remind me of His unfailing love and grace.  Verses that tell me that no matter what happens, He is in control and He allows everything for my good.  Verses that remind me that I am MORE than a conqueror through Christ!
I rest in the comfort of knowing that as I take this step leap of faith, God is with me.  He is holding my hand and walking with me.  He is already there in the future, waiting to catch me as I take that leap....yes, into the dark unknown.  But more than that....into the next part of His perfect plan for my life and the life of my family.

Faith Rewarded

"But without faith it is impossible to please him:  for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and

that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."  Hebrews 11:6

I want to tell you about Celeste, Ian and Martha's friend from Callao.  Ian has been praying for Celeste's salvation for quite some time.  About a week or so ago, Martha started praying for Celeste as well.  Saturday night, she told me she would like to use her "Witnessing Book" and talk to Celeste about how to be saved!  Can you imagine what that does to a Mommy's heart?  I still marvel at how God is working in the life of my little girl, and how He uses her!
We talked to Celeste on Sunday.  Martha started out, but got stuck (it was her first time to witness to anyone after all!).  I had the joy and blessing of finishing witnessing to Celeste.  Today Celeste is a member of God's family, because on Sunday, she prayed and asked Jesus to save her!  What a special joy it was to see this 6-year-old girl ask Jesus to live in her heart!  The added joy is that now her whole family is saved - Grandparents (her Dad's parents), Dad, Mom, and now Celeste!  I look forward to the day her baby sister (who is due any time now!) gets saved as well!  My heart was certainly full, as God rewarded the faith of both my children, and Martha in particular had a part in sharing the Gospel with her friend!

Daniel on the left holding the small boy

Ian is still praying for Daniel to be saved.  Daniel is a Deaf man in Kenya, Africa.  I copied this picture from my friend Jessica's blog!  What a blessing to see my son praying for the salvation of others - even though he's not yet saved himself!
Martha has been faithfully praying for Mr. Nishio (or as she says, "Mr. Nishi-OH!") to be saved.  I laugh sometimes - not at her prayers, but at the way my children think!  You know, we work with the Deaf, and so Martha's natural question to me was, "Mommy, can 'Mr. Nishi-OH!' talk?"

My Two Little Missionaries

How I praise the Lord for the tender heart He has given her.  She has added her classmates from school, Mateo and Benjamin, to her salvation prayer list.  She was praying for a couple of the girls recently also, and one day very boldly asked them if they were saved!  I think they were a little shocked at the question, but they both said they were saved, and I rejoiced at the boldness of my daughter!
I count it a joy to teach my children the blessing of praying for others!

The Faith of a Child

Last night we took turns praying as a family before bedtime.  Do you ever stop to think how precious the prayers of children must be to our Saviour?  All prayers are precious to Him, but I think the prayers of children must be extra-special.  And oh, the faith that children show!
Martha has been praying for Mr. Nishio to be saved.  Mr. Nishio lives in Japan.  Last night when I reminded Martha to pray for him, she asked incredulously, "He's not saved YET?!?!?" It was so sweet to see the attitude of expectation, the attitude of the whole matter is already settled, the deed is done.  Wow!  What faith!  To be convinced that our prayers are already answered!  We should be convinced! But so many times our "grown-up reasoning" overrides "child-like faith"!
Last night, Ian prayed for Daniel (a Deaf man in Kenya, Africa) to be saved.  Today when I thanked him from Aunt Jessi for praying for Daniel, Ian immediately prayed for him again.  As soon as he had finished praying (he always gets right to the point in his prayers), he informed me, "He's (Daniel) saved now."
How convicting it is at times to see and hear my children pray!  How precious it is to see their faith and know how pleasing it is unto the Lord!  Oh, that I would always come to my Heavenly Father with such simple, child-like faith!

Steps of Obedience and Faith

As some of you may know, we had our first Wednesday night service with the Deaf in Callao this past Wednesday.  There were so many people praying, and God graciously answered those prayers!  

We started the service at 7 with just our family and the Pastor's family from the Hearing church.....but no Deaf.  Every buzz of the front entrance bell sent Matt flying to the door!  About 7:30 we had one Deaf man, Coco.  We were grateful for the one and continued with the service.  When I brought the kids back from the bathroom, I saw that Irene had arrived.  About 5 minutes later, Raul came in with two friends!  Then about 10 minutes later, Josimar, a young man, came in....he had also brought a friend!  God gave us 7 Deaf for our first Wednesday!  Omar, one of the men that came with Raul, is a fisherman.  He told us that he can only come to church on Wednesdays!  Do you ever think about all the wonderful things God does for us and has in store for us when we take those steps of obedience and faith?

We finished the service about 8:30...a little later than we had planned, but God was in control of it all!  I think the Deaf were surprised that we were going to go back to Villa El Salvador that night...it was getting late!  After explaining to them that I had to teach school the next day, they understood and walked with us back up to the corner where we get on the combi (small bus).  On the way to the corner, someone suggested Coca-Cola and a snack!  (I love Deaf culture!)  So we all went to a small store and had Coca-Cola and crackers!  (My kids were so happy!!)  The Deaf wouldn't let us pay!  What fun we had sitting around talking and laughing together.  How I treasure those moments!  We felt so incredibly honored to be invited into and have a part in their world!

When we were finished, we continued on to the corner.  I thought about how God promises to protect us.  I thought about how the center of His will is the safest place in the world to be, no matter what the circumstances are.  I felt like crying tears of joy as I thought about His tender care of His servants.  How strange it must have seemed to see a white family walking down the street with a group of Peruvians - all our hands going as fast as possible as we talked in true Deaf style!!  But God showed me something precious that night - yes, God did set His angels 'round about us...and those angels were Deaf!