Our lesson to the women and kids today came from 2 Corinthians 5:17 "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
Praise Jesus we have all been made new!!
We taught the moms that we are made new in Christ, and first and foremost, that means that we have accepted Him into our hearts and lives. Accepting Him means that we know, trust, obey, and believe in Him! Most of us already know the foundation of our faith, but for me, it is always so refreshing to be reminded how much God loves each of us...that He was willing to send His Son to die for me and you!
We related our old selves and our new selves to an egg and a chicken. (There are tons of chickens running around Haiti, so we knew that they would understand!) Our old selves are like the egg. We have no protection, we are lost in the world, we lack wisdom and purpose, we are in a growing process, and we need Jesus, but we do not realize we need Him because we cannot comprehend it at that time. Once we receive Christ, and we surrender to the Holy Spirit drawing us to Christ, we become like a baby chick. We are transformed, protected, found, growing in wisdom, and teachable. We are learning to submit and surrender to God's Will for us. We begin to grow and mature as well as make a difference in the world around us. People can see a noticeable change in us, and we are following God knowing that He has a purpose for our lives and that He wants us to lead by example! He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 that He knows the plans He has for us, and they are plans to help us not to harm us. He wants to give us a hope and future!! We just need to surrender and accept His Will! We gave some examples of ways of thinking and actions that can take place when we are in our old selves. For example, our old selves would think failure, fear, and pride. Our old selves would act sinful, selfish, and we would lie. Then, we explained how we should act in our new selves by telling them what God's Word says in regards to those areas.
We wrapped up the lesson with John 14:6 "Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.'" We made sure the moms and kids understood that the only way to become new and live a new life is to first accept Christ!
Stacie and I both taught the moms while Fritznel translated, but then she celebrated Mother's Day (which was yesterday in Haiti!) with the moms while I taught the kids! It was definitely interesting, but a lot of fun! We had both the moms and kids repeat 2 Corinthians 5:17 ten times, so that they would memorize what God says when they are struggling with the temptation to return to their old selves!
I stated in a previous post that I did not think it would be long before I became a human jungle gym to these kids, and well today that happened! Thankfully, they were not jumping on me or climbing over me. They just wanted to lay all over me, hold my hands, and play with my hair which was all totally okay with me!! :)
Continue to be in prayer for the moms and kids as we share God's Truths with them. Pray that His Message would sink in, and that their lives would be transformed by His Word! Unfortunately, most of the moms cannot read, so they cannot go to the Word of God like you and I can when we face trials. So please be in prayer that they can memorize key phrases from God's Word that will help them in their struggles because satan attacks each of us, and they need to be able to fight off his flaming arrows.
I have to share a sweet story of one of the little boys in the feeding program. He is probably 3 years old, and he belongs to one of, if not, the poorest families in the program. He has the biggest brown eyes, and he is so precious. But, he probably only gets to eat whenever we have the feeding program on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He cries a lot because he is so hungry. Well today, I had something on my shirt, and this little boy watched his mommy wipe it off for me. The next thing I knew, he had his little hand on my arm (because he realized after his mommy touched me that it would be okay for him too)! So I reached out and rubbed his hand, then I got brave and tickled him (normally if someone gets too close, he cries). He started grinning, and turning shy! It was so cute!
I share this because, yes, Jimsley is adorable, but also because the money you all donated for me to get here is helping feed this precious little boy!! Be in prayer for more sponsors for Empowering Haitian Moms, so that these kids can eat more than 3 times a week and that other kids can be able to eat as well. Maybe you would like to donate money to EHM for the feeding program, or maybe you would like to sponsor a child's schooling? Please be praying about ways you can help EHM!
Check out their website for more details...empoweringhaitianmoms.org.
Thank you all for your constant prayers...they are definitely being felt! To each of you who are reading my blog and praying for me and Haiti, I thank you so much! I do not know your names, but God does! And I am praying for each of you to be strengthened and ministered to through my experiences here! I know my heart and soul are being refreshed each day that I spend here! The laid back pace of life helps me to appreciate God's Beauty more and more, and I love it!!
Blessings and Love!
Ashley
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