After meeting with some of the gals that volunteer here at Door of Faith, we decided that we would fast and pray today for the orphanage, staff, and concerns of friends nearby. I am very humbled to say that these young ladies love God's word and have a devotional life that surpassed what I had imagined. We also discovered that we all love Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost For His Highest". It was like being united with kindred spirits:)
It's been so cold here that I've had a difficult time rolling out of bed at 6:00 a.m. as I had started 2 months ago. So, I decided if I could get myself out on a prayer walk, the cold would keep me alert enough to pray. Wow! It made all the difference in the world. I could pray or sing as loud as I wanted. It was just me and Jesus walking around the campus of the orphanage.
As the ladies had agreed in prayer that we would avail ourselves to what God had for us, His plan began to unfold. We had discussed that "being" was the goal and "doing" was not. We purposed that we were going to acknowledge the LORD throughout the day and listen for His direction.
Just before lunch time, a man came to the orphanage and asked Lynette if he could have something to eat. It was apparent that he had been drinking alcohol, but it was also apparent that he was very broken in spirit. He had a huge infection in one of his legs, he hadn't eaten for a few days and was asking for help. We called one of our friends that runs the clinic at the church and she agreed to meet us at the clinic that afternoon.
Three of us gave the man, Veronico, a ride to what he called home. It was an old feed store that was out of business. He had a mattress on the floor and that was it. He had no place to store food, no water, no heat, no electricity ; all he had was a mattress.
When we went that afternoon to pick up Veronico he was not in his home. We found him at a street market. He had been drinking again and he was dancing in the streets. When we talked to him later about how we found him, he said that drinking made the pain go away so he could be happy and pain free.
We took him to the clinic to have our friend look at his leg. It was full of infection. He told us that he knew Jesus was his Savior. He told us how he knew that Christ died for him on the cross for forgiveness of his sins. He also told us that he was ashamed and wanted to stop drinking, but then his leg hurt when he stopped drinking. After the doctor gave him some medical attention and explained to him that he was unable to stop his drinking on his own, he began to cry. She told him about the Christian rehab nearby where he could receive help. We prayed for Veronico and then he began to cry out to God.
I've never experienced anything like today before. Here was someone that had at one time trusted in Jesus for forgiveness of sins, yet he had returned to a very painful existence. All I could conclude from this was how much we need each other in the body of Christ. All of us are hurting during sometime in our lives. What if we had no one to look in on us or encourage us in our walk with God? Or, what if we thought we could follow Christ all on our own?
We need each other. We need each other to encourage our walk with God through prayer and fellowship. Serving and praying alone doesn't cut it. We were designed to serve God together.
It's been so cold here that I've had a difficult time rolling out of bed at 6:00 a.m. as I had started 2 months ago. So, I decided if I could get myself out on a prayer walk, the cold would keep me alert enough to pray. Wow! It made all the difference in the world. I could pray or sing as loud as I wanted. It was just me and Jesus walking around the campus of the orphanage.
As the ladies had agreed in prayer that we would avail ourselves to what God had for us, His plan began to unfold. We had discussed that "being" was the goal and "doing" was not. We purposed that we were going to acknowledge the LORD throughout the day and listen for His direction.
Just before lunch time, a man came to the orphanage and asked Lynette if he could have something to eat. It was apparent that he had been drinking alcohol, but it was also apparent that he was very broken in spirit. He had a huge infection in one of his legs, he hadn't eaten for a few days and was asking for help. We called one of our friends that runs the clinic at the church and she agreed to meet us at the clinic that afternoon.
Three of us gave the man, Veronico, a ride to what he called home. It was an old feed store that was out of business. He had a mattress on the floor and that was it. He had no place to store food, no water, no heat, no electricity ; all he had was a mattress.
When we went that afternoon to pick up Veronico he was not in his home. We found him at a street market. He had been drinking again and he was dancing in the streets. When we talked to him later about how we found him, he said that drinking made the pain go away so he could be happy and pain free.
We took him to the clinic to have our friend look at his leg. It was full of infection. He told us that he knew Jesus was his Savior. He told us how he knew that Christ died for him on the cross for forgiveness of his sins. He also told us that he was ashamed and wanted to stop drinking, but then his leg hurt when he stopped drinking. After the doctor gave him some medical attention and explained to him that he was unable to stop his drinking on his own, he began to cry. She told him about the Christian rehab nearby where he could receive help. We prayed for Veronico and then he began to cry out to God.
I've never experienced anything like today before. Here was someone that had at one time trusted in Jesus for forgiveness of sins, yet he had returned to a very painful existence. All I could conclude from this was how much we need each other in the body of Christ. All of us are hurting during sometime in our lives. What if we had no one to look in on us or encourage us in our walk with God? Or, what if we thought we could follow Christ all on our own?
We need each other. We need each other to encourage our walk with God through prayer and fellowship. Serving and praying alone doesn't cut it. We were designed to serve God together.
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