HOW CAN I SHOW SOMEONE HOPE? 

Last week we started our ministry for the month.  Every Monday and Wednesday morning we are going to be visiting local schools to sing some songs and share a bible story or two. The kids ages ranged from 3 or 4 years old to 13 or 14ish years old. After that we go into the nearby slums with young members of Pastor Joseph’s church and get to know the people. We chat with them, pray with them, share the Gospel, and invite them to church everyday for prayer meetings and on Sunday mornings for church. Basically we are helping Pastor Joseph reach more of the local community and build a giant contact list so that he can truly get to know these people. Pastor Joseph has a huge burden for the lost and a heart for the broken. He reminds me a lot of my pastor back home. Pastor Joseph doesn’t care about profitable gain from rising numbers; that is not the drive for this month’s outreach. He truly wants to pack the church because he knows that the more he fits in that little building, the more souls he can win for Christ. His ministry is full-on serving the Kingdom of God.  God has placed on his heart to expand the church into a bigger building (currently in the process), and to get young adults more involved in church.

    So I look forward to school days. The first day we went to the school, my team split up into groups of three. In my group was Hope and Ricki. After our introductions, there was a bit of an awkward silence. That’s when the teacher asked us if we had a lesson or any songs to sing. Well we didn’t actually come prepared to do so but my group was amazing and we adapted quickly. As I grabbed my bible, Hope looked at me and we both said “Daniel and the Lions Den.â€� That was God given so I rolled with it and it ended up being a fun lesson. The girls followed up with fun, action-packed songs. So every Monday and Wednesday we go to two different schools and take turns with lessons and songs.

    The slums are what I expected, and worse. I expected them to be horrible living conditions but not exactly this horrible. The poorest of the poor in America are loaded and incomparable to these living in the slums. Muddy streets/walkways, contaminated/nasty water flowing through trenches filled with trash, infants and kids living in filth, and people working hard to survive and save up enough to leave these conditions. Some can leave but choose not to in order to take advantage of the extremely cheap living, but for most I believe it is the only thing they can afford. The slums are literally in the back yard of the church. Everyday we get into groups of 3 or so, go through the slums and try to just interact with people. Most speak English but for some we rely on the church members which interpret  for us. For the most part people are extremely nice and are very accepting. Maybe because we are Mzeungus (white people). Most people, according to Pst Joseph, are accepting because they think that we white people are bringing money. They believe that all white people are very rich. Which compared to them, most of us are. We pray with tons of people and even get an opportunity to share our testimony or the Gospel.
    
    Most people when they ask us to pray for them, they ask for help with finances. All of them in that area have some sort of small business or trade that they rely on for income. Another important prayer request is for family. So we pray for lots of people, for their finances to increase, for their families to grow closer, and for their sicknesses to be rebuked.

    THERE WAS THIS ONE LADY THOUGH….who we had originally passed up. She said she was busy so we respected and didn’t bother her. Well after turning around a little later, we ran back into this lady. Her name was Momma Chris. She had a little something to share with us. Momma Chris said that she did not want us to pray with her because she felt that prayers of healing and divine resolution of poverty just weren’t working. She said that all these people pray and ask for God to rid them of the conditions of the slums and the conditions that landed them there but that God hasn’t done anything yet. Me and Ricki were in a group this day, and Ricki told her that she has to have hope in God’s plan and to trust Him. Ricki told her that she has to surrender herself to Christ. Momma Chris wasn’t buying it. She asked us to show her HOPE. She asked us how we can give her hope. HOW CAN I SHOW SOMEONE HOPE?   I proceeded to tell her, while quoting scripture, that we cant hope in this world but only in the heavenly things that are to come; a place with no suffering, a place with no pain, a place with no sickness, a place with no poverty.  I told her we can hope in these things because of what Christ has done for us. In giving His life, He gave us life. I gave her one particular verse that I can remember which happens to be my favorite verse:
    “For I consent that the sufferings of this world are not to be compared to the glory that will   be revealed to us!â€�  Romans 8:18
That glory is heaven and all its marvelous splendor. And she agreed with me and Ricki. Momma Chris even pointed out several scriptures that said pain would be relieved in heaven. She then proceeded to tell us that she didn’t want to leave this world. I told her with that mind-set, she will surely not taste heaven (I said this in the most honest, loving manner as possible). We told her that if she didn’t acknowledge what Christ did for us, confess her sin, and live for God, then she would go to hell. That’s as easy as we could have put it. That’s as simple as it gets…until the mind, in its complexing ways, confuses it. She asked us to prove that there was a hell. Well that wasn’t too hard. At first I froze up but within a few minutes between me and Ricki, we had several verses using very descriptive words to show the existence and description of hell. She still refused to believe that a loving God (she admitted that God was extremely loving, which He is) would allow such pain and misery to  come to his creation. We explained to her why He would allow such things, but she refused. She then wanted us to tell her where hell was exactly. Like literally, where hell was. Of course I have no idea where it is. I can describe a glimpse of what hell is, but as for its location, I have no idea. I told her that if I knew that, I would have more knowledge than any man that every lived. Not much else was said after that. She told us she was done talking to us. I hope to visit her again soon to just show some love. But at least we planted a seed. I left discouraged that day, but my team rallied my spirits. They had consoling words and heartfelt prayers to cheer me up. Did I mention they were awesome? Did now. Then I read a verse that said:
    “ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants
     nor he who waters anything, but only God, who makes things grow.â€�
        1  Corinthians 3:6-7
So I walked away with a little more confidence after reading this verse. Sure im upset that Momma Chris acted the way she did, but I planted a seed by talking to her and pointing out some facts. Somebody else, possible pastor Joseph, will water her soul by pouring more knowledge and love into her, but only God can make her grow.  That’s what I learned in this God-given situation. Love you God.

                    ---HUNTER---