Sri Lanka

This is Anula and me at church. I was dressed in the traditional wear of Sri Lanka called a Sari (spelling?). Just before this was taken I explained to Anula that I wanted to post her picture on my website so America could hear her story. She cried thinking about it.

I am in Sri Lanka safe and sound!! Internet access is limited so my apologies for not writing sooner to inform you I am safe.
I have had the most wonderful time here. The Pastor here is Dishan and his wife is Stephanie. I am staying with Dishan's mother, Rosemary (aka Rosie). We live with Rosey's mom (Ulga), sister (Ester) and daughter (Sonalli).
Tuesday and Wednesday I went with Rosie and another lady from the church to do home visiting. Each day we visited over 15 homes...in a tri-shaw!! It was awesome! Over the 2 days, we got to share the Gospel with 10 new people. Each time we entered a home, we would listen to and pray for them. The people we visited are those who have visited the church previously, but are no longer constant in attendance. We go to encourage and strengthen them through fellowship and prayer. I have really seen the importance and need in making home visits. I will tell you just one of the many stories we experienced:
Anula lives with her husband and child. They live in a small flat surrounded by apartments. In those apartments live her brothers and sisters. No one in her family is a belever. Only she. Each day she cooks and cleans and never leaves the home. She has no Bible to read and no fellowship. The last time she came to Pastor Dishan's church (Bethany Church) was over one year ago. The visiting team always tried to find her home, but never had any luck. They had been trying since she visited the church last to find her. By God's grace, we were able to find her. When she heard we were from the church and had come to visit her, she began weeping. She told the story of how all of her family opposes her. How they are having such financial difficulty and how she is so alone. She also has a health problem. Her foot gives her such pain..not sure what disease it was but it looked painful. Anyways, she expressed her desire for her husband (who was standing in the room with us and is Buddhist) to become a believer. So we prayed all together in a circle. She cried and cried. And looked at me and said "Oh I am so thankful to God that yall came. No one has ever visited me before and I am so lonely." My heart was touched by her testimony. She lives in poverty and is having so many troubles, but in the midst of it all, she could say she was thankful to God. She also told us how she had been having an angry spirit lately and how she wanted it to leave. We explained how she needs to read the Bible each day in order to be protected from attack..and thats when we found out she had no Bible in the house. Just like our physical body needs food, so our Spiritual body needs food to survive. The Bible is food to our souls. So, she AND her husband said they would come to church this Sunday. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. I now see the importance of visiting the new comers of our church. It is a very much needed ministry that I will become involved in when I get home. Christianity, and ministry is not all about you. There are people who need to be encouraged. There are people waiting for you to visit them and pray for them. They need a touch from God in human form. Just an ear to hear them speak. Just a mouth to pray for them. Just arms to hug them. Thats all you need. There is nothing super spiritual about it. If you have an ear, mouth and arms, you can be used to help others.
I thank God for teaching me the importance of home visiting.

PS- Here is the church website: http://bethsrilanka.com/

Alone and Addicted

I have seen a terrible thing. Yesterday as we were driving in a taxi (at 10 AM!) I saw through the window two young boys sitting down against the wall. The older boy, who could not have been older than age 11, had a plastic chip bag that he was puffing in and out. I observed that the more he puffed the bag in and out, the heavier his eyes became. This young boy, living on the street, was getting high on shoe glue.
My heart stopped when I found out exactly what he was doing. I could not believe. I have never seen this before and became deeply upset.
Then this morning we were walking on our way to breakfast and a young boy approached us. He was begging for money. Dirty as could be and mumbling as he held his hand out to us. Then I saw to my left a group of young boys who had been sleeping on the street together the night before. This young boy was probably one of their friends. Once again I was reminded of the terrible condition of the young children who make petty money and use it to buy shoe glue. How could anyone would sell them the glue? They know what the children are going to do with it!!
Can you imagine seeing this with your own eyes? These kids have NOTHING. No parents, no money, only one change of clothes, no food and no bed and are filthy dirty. They are addicted to getting high and are sleeping on the streets. And they see a foreigner and run after them begging them saying things like "I have no food. Please feed me."
I have a younger brother, Nicholas, who is about 11 years old now. I can not IMAGINE him on the streets like this. How could he provide for himself? Who would look after him? He would have no one to show him love, but his friends who were in the same position he was....alone and addicted.
Its such a sad thing to see here. My heart is breaking for these children. Still I am deeply disturbed by what I have seen...

Not far from you...

Acts: 17 22- 28.

“Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him--though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.'"

“From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him--though indeed he is not far from each one of us.” WOW. God is so personal isn't He?! He allotted the time and place of our existence. Of yours, of mine, and of every single human being!! He allotted or planned where and when they would live. And He did it all so that they would search for Him. That is HARD for my mind to grasp. How can a God so big, a God in charge of everything in the entire world, be so personal and concerned with my life, with your life? How can a God so big be ‘not far from each one of us’? Did you know that God is not far from you? Did you know He is waiting for you to search for Him and find Him? Why does He care so much about mere man? What can we offer that will benefit Him? For He has everything and needs nothing! Mere man. Sinful man who desires only things that please him temporary and leave him unsatisfied and unfulfilled. Stupid man...with his selfish thinking...tempted in every way…and only concerned about his needs, our wants, our desires…And then there’s God…with His loving and merciful heart for this man. For all peoples on the face of this earth. Every tribe, every tongue. Accepting man as he is. Bettering man and guiding him in the way he should go.
Oh I don’t understand this. But I am thankful. So thankful that we, man, are loved by God. I am so thankful He takes notice of us. I am so thankful that God has a specific purpose and plan for our lives. To each person it is different. But for all it is the same in the end, to know Him and make Him known.
What God cares enough to heal a broken heart? What God is moved with compassion when He hears your prayer? No other God but our God.
I am so thankful that He has made it available for us to know Him and serve Him.
I will give the rest of my life to show Him how thankful I am for His love and mercy. What kind of a person would die for someone who hates him? What kind of person? Only one full of love, mercy and forgiveness. Jesus, make me more like You. Refine me as silver. Take away all the impurities. So that Your reflection may be seen in me.
Jesus, I will proclaim Your name to those who are worshipping things that cannot save them. I have counted the cost and will follow wherever You would have me go, whatever You desire of me. Im so thankful to You for placing me where I am, with purpose and vision. If not for grace it would not be so.
"You are in the place and time you need to be in. God did not create you one second earlier or later, or did He put you with other parents or in a different ethnic group, or with different family situations for no reason. Your experiences are His goals for you to get to the places and do the things you need to do."
For God has created you with a purpose and a plan for your life. FIND IT!!