Greater Things Have Yet To Come

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20

I cannot begin to explain how alive this verse has become to us over the last couple of days. So just let me begin to tell you a little bit about what has happened…

I have told you about our friends from Canada. Well we were going to eat with them Thursday night because they were leaving on Friday. As we had gotten to know them we did not think any of them were really Christians, so our desire for the night was to tell them about Christ. We prayed before they met up with us that the Lord would open their hearts and lead our conversation. Well one of the first questions asked that night was about the church. Then Turune asked us about the differences in Protestants and Catholics. Alex jumped in some with a few questions about the church and its history. So we thought we were getting somewhere, but it was to only get better. Alex began asking us a million questions about the Lord and our relationships with Him. She wanted to know how we know He is real. She asked us when we became a follower and what the Lord meant to us. We spent the entire and I mean entire meal talking about Christ! It was at least 1 ½ hours and the conversation never changed! Not to mention that before this they had never asked us a question about the Lord. We came to find out that Missy is Catholic, Kate is a Christian, Turune is Muslim, and Alex believes Jesus was a man, but says she cannot believe in God. She said she loves to ask questions and really wants to know about the Lord, but wants to know for sure that he is real and not just by faith. She said she did not grow up in a family who believed in the Lord and that is why she struggles so much to believe because she has heard that there is no God all her life. So please keep these people in your prayers! We are so excited to have started a relationship with them and have the opportunity to talk to them about Christ! How great is HE who gave us that opportunity and did even more than we expected! The entire night was about Him! I know at home my friends and I can have a conversation and it only be about the Lord, but to sit with unbelievers and talk about the Lord with them for hours and the conversation never change is incredible! There is still more…

Friday we met up with a young man named Joel who is a teacher and evangelist in a slum near Kabalagaga. He was going to take us around the slums so we could share Christ with people and help clean up some more cuts that the kids had. We started off at the school. These kids had never had a white person come visit them so they were screaming and yelling, jumping up and down, and running to us as soon as we walked in. This school was one of the poorer schools we had been to. Joel was telling me later that they had very little help because the community is so poor so he will often have to pay the teachers with his own money. Note that this man is 23 years old and is trying to make a living too. We helped bandage some of the kid’s cuts and then went to the classrooms and told them about the Lord. Joel said they were so encouraged because white people came today and told them about the Lord. Since we were white he said that the children will go home and tell their parents that we came and tell them what we said. This means that the knowledge of the Lord will spread into their families!  After this we went to where the market is and prayed over a mother. Then we were telling this man about Jesus and he said he would become a Christian later so Lauren asked if she could pray for him. After she prayed over him he told us that he accepted Christ while she was praying. When we were talking to him a Muslim woman came up and wanted to know what was going on, so we told her. She said she wanted to know about the Lord and also became a Christian. We continued to walk down the street talking to people, encouraging those who knew Christ and telling those who didn’t. Then we came to a group of men and Lauren and Shanna talked to them while I went with Joel to talk to this single mother. She said she was a Christian so we encouraged her and prayed over her and her home. Then Joel and I had a chance to talk. He asked me what is something that encourages you and helps you when you do not feel that the Lord is answering you. What are things that help you? I told him that I have to remind myself of the strength and power of the Lord and remember that He can do immeasurably more than all I ask or think. I told him to remember the Lord’s faithfulness and stay surrounded by people who will encourage you, then we looked at Ephesians 1:15-23 and Ephesians 3:14-21. He began to tell me that he was struggling because he was not sure why the Lord would call him to this community to do what he is doing when he has very little support and the community is so poor they can barely help themselves. He said that he had been praying for the Lord to send someone and that He was about to lose all hope. We talked more and then he said to me, “ You have encouraged me more than you know. I was a bit fearful to come out into this community alone and just walk around telling them about Jesus because I knew they would be hostile and not welcoming. Then you guys came and said you did not care at all, lets tell everyone. I am now not afraid at all and once y’all leave I will continue this.” He continued, “ I have been praying that the Lord would send me encouragement and help and He did! He went all the way to Alabama in America to send me people to this small slum in Uganda! How great is the Lord! How faithful is He! The Lord tells us to be careful who we talk to because we could be entertaining angels. I do not know what you are, but I know you being here is a miracle from the Lord.” Isn’t this awesome! That the Lord would take us from Alabama to a small slum in Uganda just to encourage this man and he will now go out and tell all about the Lord. If this is the only reason the Lord sent us here it is enough! See His faithfulness. He answered this man’s prayer in a drastic way! He is Lord! After we talked for a while and Lauren and Shanna finished we continued to walk down the street. We passed by a place where a group of 8-10 men were drinking, a few of them were drunk. Joel asked us if we wanted to minister to them and we said yes. We tried to talk to one man at a time and to those who were more sober. As we were talking to this one man he became very interested and asked a lot of questions. We all walked with him to the side of the store and talked more. He told us that He wanted to be saved so we prayed with him and as we did another man walked up. We talked to him and prayed over him then he said he wanted to be saved. We encouraged him and told him more about the Lord then prayed with him and as we did that two more men walked up. We told them about the Lord and guess what as we did that two more men walked up. Before we knew it we had a small crowd gathered in this tiny area in between two stores and were telling them about the Lord. Not all of them came to know the Lord, but the Lord asks us to preach His word and the heart is His to change. Joel is going to keep up with these men because they all wanted to know more and guess what…. Two men got redeemed from alcohol today and became our brothers in Christ! All that was done today was through the Lord and for the Lord. None of this was us, we are just vessels used to spread the word and bring Him glory.

The past couple of days have gone way beyond what I thought would happen which is why you never keep the Lord in a box because you have no idea what He will do! Please pray for these men and women who came to know the Lord. Pray that they will be encouraged and continue to seek him on a daily basis. Pray also for our friends in Canada. Pray that they would continue to seek out answers about the Lord and that the Lord would surround them with Christians.

We don’t want to come home now! Haha.

Hebrews 11

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2