I am excited to tell you that my time in Clarkston, GA is amazing. The weather's hot and beautiful and refreshing. My flight to GA on Sat was great. Thanks for your prayers because it was a concern but God brought me great peace. On the plane, I sat by someone who was flying for the first time. I had prayed for someone to sit by whom I would enjoy their company. Truly God had answered my prayer. This woman was great and full of life. We talked shared about our reason for flying and encouraged each other. She shared her life and explain the difficult things that were happening. She had a knowledge of God and explained her church life. She went to LCBC and explained how she felt encouraged and welcomed by the church family. The pastor's messages spoke to her heart but she didn't go further with it. She explained that she's not an extreme Christian but I think that she had some of a relationship with God. I told her about my walk with God but I'm not sure if she saw me or viewed me as an "extreme" Christian. As we talked, I felt like God was telling me to pray for her and what she was going through. However, I held my tongue and now I wish I had. Those moments when you know you should do it and you don't. It's definitely a teaching moment to notice and hop on the opportunity, especially when God tells you to do it. It's an act of obedience. I think I was scared to do it because she kept saying that she doesn't believe in "extreme" Christianity. As I look back, whether she viewed me as an "extreme" Christian or not I should have stilled prayed with her. I did pray for her quietly but it's not the same. My hesitation to pray with her shows me that I can't allow what their own perception of Christianity to hinder me to do what God is asking me to do. It's a way for Satan to stop me from obeying God.
When I arrived in GA, I met my team and leaders whom I instantly fell in love with and knew that only God could put a great team together. Meeting the new interns that I would interact with for the two months was an experience in itself. We began to bond over a Wal-Mart trip and Chic Fil' A and through testimonies. This week was orientation and getting to know each other and beginning the training has been exciting and a growing time for me. This week we girls slept on cots in one room which was a great way to know each other and sharing a small bathroom definitely was a test to be patient and show grace toward each other. I can say that everyday was a chance for me to learn about teamwork and living with a team and interacting with a team on a daily basis. The teachings on Cat and Dog Theology expanded my mind and then splitting into small groups to talk about it. Then having ESL training, and then actually going out into the community of refugees to ask if they are interested in English classes that we teach was awesome. One of my favorite is the program that I do everyday and that is the community garden where different refugees have their own plot. We get to interact with refugees who are there but then we go into the community and do prayer walks and meet families. This is an amazing experience for me. It was awkward at times but the joy of meeting Nepali, Butonies, Burmees, and Chin refugees is incredible. The love you have when you meet them is God's love flowing from you. This was how I felt and I just fell in love with the people. On a prayer walk, I got the chance to be invited into a, I think Nepali, family home. Taking my shoes off at the door and receiving food and then talking with a Christ Believer was exciting. Then I got to pray with the family.
I also experienced going to a Hindu Temple which was hard but amazing at the same time. The brokenness I felt overpowered within me because their religion is so hard to persuade otherwise. I mean, I had to be careful to guard my heart because when they explained their religion, I could almost believe them and it made sense. Yet it was not true. Their belief that they are monotheistic and not polytheistic just blew my mind. They are a hard religion to witness because of what they believe. Seeing a mom and her daughter worship a god and my heart broke for the young girl I wondered how early a child is taught to worship an idol.
For the first couple of days I experienced intense Spiritual warfare which was hard for me to ignore. Satan began as well as my own flesh started to taunt and tempt me that came all of a sudden. Every time it happened, I would ask God to guard my heart and my mind because I wanted and still want my focus completely on God and his plan.
So, a few prayer request I have are:
- My mind and heart to be guarded and focused on God
- For God to give me increase of strength to overcome the spiritual attacks
- The refugees I interact with that they will see the love of God
- Learning more about teamwork
- God will bring scripture to my mind everyday at every moment
- Obey God's promptings whether audible or silent instantly
- For Divine appointments everyday
- Being ignited with the Holy Spirit's dwelling within me
Thank you all for your prayers and can't wait to share more with you. God bless
Until ALL have heard.
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