Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Village of Hope

Last week as we drove away from a village of chaos everything in me never wanted to return.  However, everything in me knew that the battle being waged was not in the flesh and blood that surround us that day, but rather spiritual darkness in the unseen, that was screaming for the light of Christ to be gone.  We all came home with heavy hearts and minds and felt defeated.  This was the first time Gina led a group of her own and all around her was fighting and screaming.  Kids were trying to steal anything they could while parents with mental disabilities stood over us screaming for free diapers, water, more crayons and in the midst of this circus of crazy our boys were being treated similarly.

We put our kids in the car while the village kids reached into our pockets hoping to find something else to steal.  It was chaos, it was ugly, it was sin staring you straight in the face screaming "HOPELESSNESS! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME HERE! GO AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK!"

When I got home, my eyes read the verse hanging on the wall:
"Be patient in tribulation, Rejoice in hope, Pray constantly." Romans 12:12


The next day I spent a lot of time in Jeremiah and was renewed to demolish and destroy the kingdom of darkness that has taken root in that village and rebuild in the name of Jesus a new season of life in this village of chaos.  I also renamed the village "Village of Hope" because while we "are patient in tribulation", we will "rejoice in hope" as Romans states and we will claim hope over this place by God's power alone.

In the midst of chaos, a group of preteens followed me around begging to study together.  I told them it was impossible in that environment but if they could make a list of 10 kids and find a house I would return to study with them.  Before we left, that group of teens had secured a location and gave me a list of kid's names.  Today Cameron will go early and tell the people that if they want to study today, each house will need to form a group of ten kids.
The characteristic of this particular village is that there is a lot of disability in one section and the adults display similar mental disabilities.  When there is a large group it is hard to have any type of Bible study because high functioning adults are being pushed out by screaming, aggressive mentally challenged men and women who are also at times very intoxicated.

Here is how you can pray today as we reenter the Village of Hope:

1. House groups will be established and will function without interruption from those outside of the house group.

2.  We want house groups that have the mentally and physically disabled meeting but pray that there will be an abandonment of intoxication in these individuals as it makes for a very challenging situation.

3. Today the Lord answered a prayer without me searching for it because God is that good! :) We did not want to take our boys back to this village and today Micah and Ben's friend invited them over this evening to play and have dinner! I spoke to his mom and she knows we will be in the village for a couple of hours and is happy to have them over.  Praise God we will be able to work there today without worrying about the boy's safety.  Please pray that a permanent solution will arrive and alleviate us of this concern.

4. Pray that the Village of Hope will belong to the Lord and His children will be found there.

5. The end of Romans 12:12 says to "Pray Constantly" and this is where our brothers and sisters around the world are such a huge part of the work we are called to do.  Please never discount your place and importance in being a part of the ministry happening.  We need your prayers and we ask you to pray specifically today.  We are in Village of Hope every Wednesday and ask you to commit to pray for us there.

2 comments:

  1. I am so very proud of you all! I may not say it or show it enough but I truly am. I read this soon after you posted it & ment to comment that I would (and have been) praying for this village and for your safety. I love you all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so very proud of you all! I may not say it or show it enough but I truly am. I read this soon after you posted it & ment to comment that I would (and have been) praying for this village and for your safety. I love you all!

    ReplyDelete