We have begun to see fruit in the church, and I believe it is a direct response to prayer. It is work only the Lord can do & I have been delighted to see Him work. It has been a huge blessing to me and I have grown more in my journey of learning about prayer.
One of the things we have been praying for is that the people would be hungry for God and for His Word. We prayed that they would be faithful to read the Bible and that they would be growing in their relationship with the Lord. As part of that, we gave Christmas presents to every family and we also gave out Bible reading plans, beginning with the basics - John, Genesis, and other foundational books. And, we continued to pray. As we visited with people in their homes and at church, we began to hear about their excitement in what they were reading & learning from the Scripture.
I was visiting Esteban & Blanca's house, and they were both telling me what they were learning. Esteban got so excited. He went and got the reading plan & his Bible. He showed me the chapters of John that he had been reading. (In each chapter, there is a phrase they have to find & then write down the verse number they found the phrase in.) He told me that as he read, he would get so involved in what he was reading, he forgot about the phrase & all of a sudden he would realize that he was half-way through the following chapter. So, he would go back & read it all again to be able to find the phrase. Sometimes, he said he read the day's portion three times so as to understand it better.
Part of our Sunday night prayer meeting has been opened up to let people share what God is teaching them in His Word. It has been a blessing to me to hear what God is doing in their lives, and as God's Word never returns void, it has been a challenge to me also in areas that God needs to work in my life.
God is revealing Himself to them through His Word. He is at work, doing what only He can do - changing people's hearts & drawing them to Himself. I rejoice to see Him in action - magnifying Himself here on the lake.
We have also seen a growth in the youth -
in their understanding of God, in their trust in Him, and the difference that He makes in their practical life. One quick example: One of the girls, Brianda, was a cheerleader. Since she had become a cheerleader, her attitude was different - more sullen, tired, not participative, depressed. Seeing the change in her and how she was affected by her environment, several of us were praying for her. When I returned from Christmas break in January, I talked to her about her break, school, etc. She told me she had quit cheering. I was surprised, because I knew it was important to her. I was rejoicing when she told me why: she saw the effect the other cheerleaders had on her and how her reputation as a Christian was affected just for being associated as a cheerleader, even though she was trying not to be like them. She knew that God wanted her to quit cheering because it wasn't a good atmosphere for her, and she obeyed. She is back to her old self - smiling, joyful, compassionate, praying for her classmates who don't know Christ. God is alive & working! Rejoice.
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