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With Every new year comes BIG suprises!!! Well, my family spent Christmas back in Rowlett, Texas. We visited our extended family and my grandparents. I also found out some big news... My family is moving back to Texas. The basic reason for this dramatic decision is my dad got a new job there. We are moving to a city called Rockwall, which is located right next to Rowlett. I'm not excited about moving because I have more friends that are my age in Colorado. But I miss my friends in Texas and the weather.
For Christmas, everyone wants the new best thing! And I can't blame you. Everyone is thinking for themselves this year because our economy isn't doing so well. But, not many people are thinking of the kids in third-world countries that have never even seen a brand new pair of shoes, while we rush around the mall looking for the best deal on the Wii. That's a sad thought but it's the truth and as a Christian I want to help change that. Many of my blog posts are about boys in Kenya that were orphaned and now they are blessed by a local church in that community. Well, this is another post similar to those before. Except this is not just about me. This time it's a team effort! At my church, there is a group of middle school age kids who helped raise money to buy Bibles for the boys in Kenya. That was about a year ago. Now, we are trying to raise money to send seven of those boys to high school. It's about $500 per boy. That fee covers supplies, 1 year of schooling, and uniforms. So by giving money that my parents would spend on my Christmas, our family decided that we would rather bless those boys instead of pampering ourselves. I believe that the money that anyone can give to help some else this Christmas will bring that person more joy than it would to yourself. I encourage you this Christmas to do anything you can to bring joy to someone's life who needs it. By doing this you are doing it for Christ and there is no greater honor than serving the Lord.
A few weeks ago I tried out for the school play with a friend from church. I had no idea that he had signed me up for the play until he told me a day later. We only had three days to learn a short dialogue and song "A Whole New World" from the Broadway play Aladdin. When the tryouts came for the school play "A Broadway Revue", we did amazing. The director said we did an awesome performance, but [being who I am] I had my doubts. I prayed everyday until the day of the results. My friends went and looked at the cast list and my name was printed in bright bold letters for the part of Jasmine! I was elated and so excited I screamed [accidentally!] during lunch. I was thankful to God for giving me wonderful gifts and for helping to be my best. I also became stronger in my faith and learned to trust God through that experience! He will take care of the ones He loves because he is a loving and merciful God!
Last Sunday a few people from the Kenya team talked in front of the whole church about their experiences in Kenya. And I just happened to be one of the few people who talked at Plum Creek Community Church. At first I REALLY DID NOT want to stand up in front of the entire church and totally embarrass myself! I've talked in front of a lot of adults before on a stage with a mic, but I had a friend with me so it wasn't so frightening. So, the team meeting before we had to speak, Joe, [my neighbor, great friend, and a guy who went on the trip with me. It was his second time to Kenya.] talked me into speaking by telling me what he was going to talk about. He reminded me of when we were sitting in the back of the bus in Kenya and I was looking out the window. Suddenly I saw a bright blue neon church. On the side of the church was painted the words "Knowing God and Making Him Known." I turned to Joe and told him of the bright blue neon church [which he had some how not seen!] and the cool phrase on the side. He told me to remember that. As we were driving to our Kenya meeting as Joe was helping me relive that moment. He said that the trip for him was exactly that phrase: "Knowing God and Making Him Known." I felt the Lord telling me that I was supposed to speak on Sunday and that He would give me His words so that He can use me as a tool so that someone may come to know Him.
As it turned out, God followed through. He did everything and more. So on Sunday I prayed with Charles and Erin [people who were speaking during the same service as me and had really impacted me during the trip.] that God would give us His words so that someone would come to know Him. After we finished praying, I walked into the church service and started worshiping. The first song was Here Is Our King and I just fell apart. Every time I sang the words Here is our God who's come to bring us back to Him, I just wept harder and harder. I continued to weep throughout all of the follow songs. Especially a song that goes Where the spirit of the Lord is, There is Freedom. Then again in that same song it would continually repeat Freedom reigns in this place, Showers of mercy and grace, Falling on every face, There is freedom. Those two songs really impacted me because I felt as though God was specifically talking to me. I had felt so different after visiting the Slums. I felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over me, but when I sang those songs to the Lord, and when I cried out to Him, He lifted that cloud away and set me free again. He is so full of love and mercy for us it simply amazes me!
First Erin went up to speak and of course I cried. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I got up and heard my dad introduce me to the church. I grabbed the mic and my heart was poured out to everyone as I cried and relive my short experience in the Slums. I don't need to say much I kept thinking. I didn't even remember the words I had spoken as soon as I stepped off the stage because they weren't MY words... No, they could NOT have been my words for not I alone can save a soul... Only Christ can bring someone to Him... So , those words were His. And that is something I can't take credit for... I'm only a twelve year old girl who God, the savior of the universe, used to to touch someones heart. I stepped off the stage, handed my dad the mic, gave him and Charles a hug as I walked back to my seat in tears. Luckily, I didn't say much because Charles finished the story without crying. His story was about how encouraging I was when he was in tears in the Slums. I was so happy Charles was on that trip because he impacted me in a way he can't even imagine, so I just want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for being there to listen to me in my time of need and for challenging me to be my full potential every day.
I relived every moment I spent in the Slums as I talked about my experiences and as I listened to Erin and Charles. God did a mighty work in me in the Slums, and He is continuing to work in me every day!
On the trip to Kenya, I found God in the most depressing, dark, and hopeless place: The Slums. Most Americans have never been to a "Slum" so the best way to describe it is quite the opposite of America. Piles of burning or burnt trash strewn across the uneven dirt road. Animals eating little scraps of food found in the trash and then people will eat those animals in hopes of staying alive. Young children running around with no parents and no shoes. When the rainy season comes the river water will rise and flood many homes with tra
sh and illnesses found in the water. Many mothers with multiple children and no father. The families have next to no money to pay for clothing, food, toilets, bus fees, school fees, and the eight dollar rent. You don't want to venture out of your home in the Slums at night because not even the police do.
And in all of this I found God. I mean-I always felt like I was a Christian, but when I visited the people living in the Slums they had more faith in God because they needed more from Him. A lady that we visited named Enice had the Lord living in her! She was infected with AIDS and she was praising God for what He had given her! She also had a small child named Morgan [her only child] who was also infected with AIDS and that little boy will never know his father. That family may not eat for three days at a time, but I guarantee Enice will not give up hope in God because He has rescued her from death! Enice has truly impacted me and each day I pray that God will continue to impact me so that I don't go back to who I used to be, but that He transforms me into who He wants me to become!
Then the day after the team went to the Slums we went to visit a boys home called Fountain of Life. I had already been to this home two times before and I have deep and long-lasting relationships with a few of the boys. That day I went into the boys dorm and I compared the Slums with the way the boys are living and I almost cried! The boys each have their own bed and a trunk with a lock to keep all of their special stuff. They have a man who watches over them at night and a lady who cooks all of their meals! They all go to school, they learn about God, they each have their own Bible, and they set up and participate in the Fountain of Lif
e Church! God has taken each of these boys from being glue sniffing street boys to being boys with a future and knowing they are loved! I am continuing to pray that God will reveal His plan for my life because I feel like I am supposed to be a missionary in Kenya and work for the Fountain of Life ministries. I love the people of Kenya and God has placed a calling on my heart to be there. I am hoping and praying that my entire family will be able to go on next year's trip to Kenya. I found God again because of your support!
Thank you all soooooo much!
