Saturday Morning Questions...

Well, I get to type a quick blog entry after having my first shower in six days!

 

Just kidding. 

 

This will be a long blog entry.

 

It’s Saturday morning here in Bangui, and it’s already the hottest day during our time here.  We’ll probably push 100 degrees Fahrenheit today.  I bet you can Google it and find out.  I cannot.  You can, though.  But I can’t.

 

This morning, some of our team members are visiting with the orphan children that they personally sponsor.  What an awesome opportunity.  Most members of our team sponsor an orphan child through this Project Hope & Charite’, and some are visiting them at their homes. 

 

Our family sponsors a child through Vision Trust and ICDI.  We are working to schedule a time for me to meet Ursulla and her mother.  Ursulla is probably 5 years old now, and lives in the Boy-Rabe village here in the city.  On Thursday when we were driving through the city, I did see a street sign that basically said, “Boy-Rabe >>>”  so her village was probably out that direction. 

 

I think I posted her information and a brief testimony/commentary about her in a previous blog post, probably in mid-September.  Dave Martin (from our church in Delaware, OH) was here in September when Ursulla and her mother were brought over to visit, hoping to meet me here. 

 

I look forward to meeting her and seeing her smile.  We are grateful for the opportunity to help her and her family out in this way.  Certainly, I believe it is worthwhile, and it’s the right thing to do.  At the same time, we pray for God’s blessing on her life and her family.  We pray that she would know the great love, compassion, attention, and rescue offered by her heavenly Father.  We pray that she would grow to be a healthy, cared-for, growing and learning young woman… but that she would see and love God’s hand in all of this. 

 

Interesting… we pray the same thing for Allie, Luke, and Julie.  If we try raising our own kids without God’s help, strength, guidance, wisdom, and love – is there any lasting or significant value in that?  The same goes for Ursulla, if we “sponsor” her, but don’t prayerfully seek and encourage God’s Spirit to guide, protect, love, teach, empower, and lead her…

 

Sponsoring a child does feel good.  It is the right thing to do.  Food, clothing, shelter.  We all should do these kind of things – not to make ourselves feel better or less guilty or whatever… but because OTHER PEOPLE REALLY NEED IT… Even more, I strongly believe God wants us to do it.  Even more (?!?!!) is the belief and opportunity that this sponsorship is part of God’s eternal work in me, and part of His eternal work in her – Ursulla Dewensse. 

 

So… two prayer requests.. (1) Pray that I’ll get the chance to meet Ursulla, encourage her, and be some small reflection of Christ’s love and compassion to her.  (2) If you would be so bold… pray about how God may want you to do something for somebody else… ask God to sharpen your heart to the needs of others, and to help you develop a generous and compassionate heart like His. 

 

And, back to the beginning of my e-mail… I was kidding about the shower.  The truth is, I did indeed take a shower.  However, I have indeed showered more than once in the last six days. 

 

With love from Africa,

Pastor Gary