Paul once wrote I long to see you. The older I get the more and more I understand this. My teammate Katy asked me, "Does saying goodbye get any easier?" My response was that it only gets harder. The more times you see them the more you long to be with them when you're not with them. That longing is deepened when you don't know where their eternity is.
This last week we were in the village of Koliganek. Tears come to my eyes as I put the past tense instead of the present. The Lord has been good and working. Let me share with you what I know to be true.
In the summer of 2016 we met a girl at the playground. She hadn't had the easiest life and we invited her to VBS. She came the next day and even wrote down the memory verse on a paper towel. Then she didn't come back the following years until this summer. In the Lord's greatness he fulfilled the longing of getting to see her again and continue to build a relationship with her and answer her questions about faith. Getting a hug goodbye from her I almost didn't let go. What a joy it was to tell her that we've been praying her and we started on the first day that we met her.
In the summer of 2018 we met a boy at the playground. In my Bible I had a piece of paper. I wrote his name on the back along with the kids that I invited to VBS that. day. He didn't come. That paper stayed in my Bible for over a year as a reminder for me to pray for them. This summer he came to VBS. He LOVED it! We got to share the gospel with him and later on in the week he was sharing it with other kids there. As we were leaving the church the last day he called out, "Goodbye, I miss you already." (Yeah, that went straight to our hearts).
This summer we met a boy at the playground and he came this year! He LOVED it! He was only able to come to one day of it but I'm praying he comes back next year. I long to get another chance to share the Gospel with him.
There are some things I don't long for in this world. One of those is jumping into the freezing cold river. Carl and Emily we both brave enough to do it. That water will take your breath away. I don't long to be attacked by the bugs that swarm the villages. A nice wind will take the bugs with it!
On a change of pace here's what also happened this week. We had a successful teen night or as one of the teens called it, "VBS for older kids." Katy got introduced to dutch blitz. 2 kids put on a puppet show for us that was hilarious. Human battle ship is still a popular game. We had 20 kids come to VBS.
This next week we'll be in Igiugig. We're excited to see how the Lord has been working there. Thanks for all the prayers!
Yorumlar