October 07 Newsletter
God hears all our prayers, both big and small. Some are answered, most are not. But just how “small” is a small prayer? I believe God answered this question for me this month. Deborah approached me early one day in the week and in her “Chinglish” (Chinese/English) said she needed to take a worm to school on the Friday afternoon. “No big deal”, I thought, I’ll just go down to the gardens in our Medical College compound and dig up a worm on Thursday.
Thursday came and went and all of a sudden it was lunch-time Friday and I found myself digging for worms with Deborah, container in hand, standing by waiting to catch her shuttle bus in twenty minutes time. I was under real pressure to perform, and was disappointed I had not given myself more time. I began digging under the roots of a large tree but to my dismay I found the soil far sandier than I had anticipated, and with many small shells in it even. My confidence began to wane after digging for ten minutes so I commenced another hole nearby. I could just imagine Deborah being the only child in her Grade 5 class that afternoon without a worm, and even contemplated downloading a photo of a worm off the internet for her to take.
The minutes were ticking away, and as a last resort (isn’t it always) I prayed for divine intervention to rescue me from this predicament I had got myself into. A couple of minutes later I glimpsed what appeared to be part of a slug of some sort. Closer inspection, and more probing, brought a big fat juicy worm around 12cm. long. Deborah was so excited, but in spite of much cajoling on my part there was no way she was even going to touch that “thing” let alone hold it. So I simply placed the worm in the container, which she then placed securely in a carry bag. I kissed her good-bye and she wandered off with a smile a mile wide to catch the bus. God is good.
Our Saturday afternoon Bible class held at our church still has new members coming each week. From an average attendance of around twelve for the past two years, one Saturday this month we actually had nineteen present. It is difficult to judge how much the Chinese learn in the classroom, and an environment where it is not customary to ask questions. All we can try to achieve is to sow seeds and let God do the rest.
Our Sunday afternoon class at home is a breath of fresh air by comparison. Comprising mostly doctors, dentists, and medical college students, a number have been coming for quite some time now and while their original intention was to simply improve their English, they are showing great interest in hearing from His Word.
Praise Points:
Praise for Suzanne’s new teaching opportunity and the much reduced stress level this entails.
Praise for our friend, Maggie, who attended a weekend retreat and received the H.S.
Praise for answer to prayers.
Prayer Points:
Pray for Ray as he travels this coming month to attend the EMA board meeting.
Pray for Deborah as she still faces some taunting at school about her legs and her ungainly walk.
Pray for our walk with Him.
