This is a post by Alex Ryals:
God is so good! This week he has revealed to me that my reasons for coming on this trip were not his reasons. I was coming to get that joyous feeling of winning souls to Christ, but I learned that God wanted me here to simply plant seeds. I have been working with Janie Davis in the remote village of Rumisapa all week and we have not been able to convey to these people how much God loves them. There is much spiritual warfare going on and I have been getting very discouraged. We had a rally last night in the town square and half of the town shoed up (250 of 500), but not one person prayed to receive Christ. I started to wonder why we were here. Last night as I lay in my bed, God gave me a peace that we were not here to win souls for Jesus, but to plant the seeds that would be harvested by someone else. I was finally content with that answer.
Today, we went back to Rumisapa for a short visit in the morning and we spent that time doing follow-up and discipleship visits. The pastor asked us to be back at his house at 12:30pm for lunch and good-byes before the car came at 2pm. My team finished our second visit at 12:25pm and I told them it was time to head back to the pastor’s house. One of my team members, Luis, said that we had to visit one more house. I told him that we didn’t have time and needed to head back. He insisted that we needed to walk across town and up a hill to visit an old man. I started to say no again, but God gave me a quiet whisper that said to go. When we walked into the house, there were pictures of Jesus all over the walls and I thought to my self that we were wasting our time because he already knew Jesus. As we talked, it turned out that this man knew a lot about the Bible. He answered almost every question we asked correctly. I was thinking that we needed to wrap it up, but God told me to keep going. Finally, I realized that I was assuming this man was a Christian, so I asked him. He responded that he had never asked Jesus into his heart because he had many illnesses and thought that Jesus gave him this pain as punishment for his sins. I was able to share some scripture with him and show him that God loves him and wants to take care of him and not harm him. In the end, he asked if he could pray with me to ask Jesus into his heart. After the prayer, he was very excited. I almost cried.
I am ashamed that I was discouraged earlier in the week because our trip didn’t seem to be going according to my plans. After I confessed that to God, he was gracious enough to allow me to see a small part of his plan for this village. It is definitely true when the Bible says that “His ways are higher than our ways”.
God is so good! This week he has revealed to me that my reasons for coming on this trip were not his reasons. I was coming to get that joyous feeling of winning souls to Christ, but I learned that God wanted me here to simply plant seeds. I have been working with Janie Davis in the remote village of Rumisapa all week and we have not been able to convey to these people how much God loves them. There is much spiritual warfare going on and I have been getting very discouraged. We had a rally last night in the town square and half of the town shoed up (250 of 500), but not one person prayed to receive Christ. I started to wonder why we were here. Last night as I lay in my bed, God gave me a peace that we were not here to win souls for Jesus, but to plant the seeds that would be harvested by someone else. I was finally content with that answer. Today, we went back to Rumisapa for a short visit in the morning and we spent that time doing follow-up and discipleship visits. The pastor asked us to be back at his house at 12:30pm for lunch and good-byes before the car came at 2pm. My team finished our second visit at 12:25pm and I told them it was time to head back to the pastor’s house. One of my team members, Luis, said that we had to visit one more house. I told him that we didn’t have time and needed to head back. He insisted that we needed to walk across town and up a hill to visit an old man. I started to say no again, but God gave me a quiet whisper that said to go. When we walked into the house, there were pictures of Jesus all over the walls and I thought to my self that we were wasting our time because he already knew Jesus. As we talked, it turned out that this man knew a lot about the Bible. He answered almost every question we asked correctly. I was thinking that we needed to wrap it up, but God told me to keep going. Finally, I realized that I was assuming this man was a Christian, so I asked him. He responded that he had never asked Jesus into his heart because he had many illnesses and thought that Jesus gave him this pain as punishment for his sins. I was able to share some scripture with him and show him that God loves him and wants to take care of him and not harm him. In the end, he asked if he could pray with me to ask Jesus into his heart. After the prayer, he was very excited. I almost cried.
I am ashamed that I was discouraged earlier in the week because our trip didn’t seem to be going according to my plans. After I confessed that to God, he was gracious enough to allow me to see a small part of his plan for this village. It is definitely true when the Bible says that “His ways are higher than our ways”.
posted by Jacob at 2:28 PM
2 Comments:
Bob has pointed out many times that God doesn't need us. He can change lives and hearts on His own. It's His world. What a blessing when we get to be a part of His plan like you have been this week and when you are wise enough to know that you are part of the plan even when you are not always the final part of the plan. I am so excited for all of the things that have happened to you this week! I Love You!
Get some rest when you get home Saturday, sport. You have to know I'm gonna ask you and Melanie to speak.
The book lesson is "The Thrill of Victory".
Coincidence, anybody?
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