My God is so BIG!

I have struggled to choose joy and express gratefulness these past couple of weeks. But Decker's email came at just the right time to remind me that God is bigger...

He's bigger than my anxiety of the unkown, bigger than my forgetfulness and the gap in my organizational skills, bigger than the barrel of missing qualities I imagine will make me the perfect missionary or Christian, and bigger than the unwelcomed loneliness that swoops down on weekends.

He is big enough to take me to a mountain, big enough to reach His arms around me when I stand in the middle of a vast field and big enough to hold up my head on a bustling street.

I am back doing the activites I enjoy in Parika -teaching Ody, doing church stuff, connecting with kids and grown-ups in the community, and watching (a few minutes of) Nigerian movies with Tim and Beeno.

Construction has picked up again -when we decided to continue building, God started providing the flow of funds. It is satisfying to see the work move forward in a physical sense.

I'll be in Florida for a global missions conference from Jan.27 – Feb. 3rd. http://www.call2all.org/ Hooray for high-speed internet, washing machines, and Starbucks! I'm sure the conference will be good, too.

God bless you. -Em

Job 38:12-13
“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?"
...
“For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” Psalm 95:7

In the Village

She came to us with arms waving frantically, telling us that she was fed up with her grand-daughter and ready to leave her at an orphange. The girl repeatedly bit at her arms and often cussed-out her grandparents while running out on the road. She had been at our VBS (children's church) that morning but now she had run away again. Her grandmother was at her wit's end, worried that the police would arrest her and her husband if they picked up the girl on the road again.

We offered to look for her and a few minutes later, returned to our ministry house with the girl and her grandmother. I can't imagine the horror this young girl has experienced in her 10 years -being thrown out by her mother and rejected by her step-father -to the point where he cut up her face numerous times, leaving deep gashes on her cheeks, lip, and ears.

Allie's face was expressionless and eyes blank but as we prayed for her, even her eyes changed, becoming bright and focused and the best part was when she slowly turned her mouth into a smile. Beautiful, though crooked because of the scars.

The next day her grandmother reported that Allie was different – and we encouraged grandma to speak words of life and blessing to her grand-daughter -to help her know that she is not abandoned and rejected but incredibly special and loved.

Aleesha hugged us all the day we left and clung to me sobbing. I don't think she had ever felt so valued before we came.

So, we ran a VBS in a village near the Suriname border last week and we had evening service every night and lots of people came -but if Allie had been the only one to show up, she would've been worth it.