A little faith

"Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

"And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 

"And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God."

Acts 2:6-8 KJV

If only that faith existed today. If only we confessed the name of our Lord Jesus Christ like that. Imagine the miracles! Imagine the witnesses and testimonies! The lame man jumped for gladness when he was healed. He praised God. Imagine the revival that would sweep through the nations if such happened in 2013.

Indeed, we hear of certain miracles once in a while and blessed if we have a chance to witness one. It takes great faith and the first of the Christians had such. What then became of it? The Bible says if we were to have faith the size of but a mustard seed we could move mountains. It truly causes us to take a hard look at ourselves and question where we stand in our walk with Christ.

Some may argue that it was only while Jesus walked the earth that such miracles did happened. But have you not heard that He is with us now? Even unto the ends of the earth. We may not be able to see Him with our eyes but He is ever present, and we can witness His work in our lives if we just let Him lead... if we but have a little faith.

Be not afraid to proclaim His name. Be not afraid to pray for the sick. Pray and have faith. Dare to speak such words as "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." For it is when we do that, we will start to see miracles happen. We will start to see mountains move. We will start to see Christ ever existing and working in our lives and in our midst.

So dare to have a little faith!

I want to do it ALL

When I first decided to go into overseas medical all I wanted to do was aid in the most critical and emergency demanding situations. But today while looking for a picture to add on the Voice of the Voiceless, I couldn't help but ache for every man, woman and child that showed up on the screen.
Faces of those who couldn't escape suffering. Their pain and sorrow echoing in their eyes as their weakening bodies bore the burdens of illness and hunger and abuse. How could we have it so easy and they from birth be dealt such a terrible hand? So many didn't even have a chance to save their lives.
What I wouldn't give to wrap them in a warm blanket or feed them a bowl of hot soup or give them to drink a cup of cold, clean water. What I wouldn't give to put a smile on a child's face.
Suddenly I realize, I want to do it all. It doesn't matter anymore if their life is on the line at that very moment. They've been waiting their whole lives to be loved. Who says they have to wait until they are dying?
I want to be like Jesus. I want to show them His love. I want to shower them with it and watch as His joy anoints them and His hope rains down on them. The promise of a new day. A better day. I want to be there when they smile and find out that Jesus loves them. I want to be the one to tell them. I want to hold them and tell them that I love them.

Swaziland - A Voice for the Voiceless

Its Monday 29 of July and today, while searching on the web, I stumbled upon the name of a small country surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique. I have never heard of this country before but as I started reading I found it to be in dire straights and suffering tremendously with HIV and AIDS, as well as Tuberculosis. Thus, I found the country I should pray for. Here is just a portion of what I discovered about it:

"The Kingdom of Swaziland is one of the last remaining monarchies in Africa. Home to 1.1 million people, it's where the world's highest HIV/AIDS infection rate lives (26.1% in adults and over 50% of adults in their 20s). It's estimated that by 2050, Swaziland may cease to exist... Young orphans are scattered throughout this nation in desperate need of attention..." Says one article from an international ministry organization. "Swaziland is critically affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic, which is now a major threat to its society. As reported in the 2012 CIA World Factbook, Swaziland has the highest HIV infection rate in the world (25.8% of all adults; more in other reports)... Life expectancy has fallen from 61 years in 2000 to 32 years in 2009... Tuberculosis is also a significant problem, with an 18% mortality rate... 83% are co-infected with HIV." Says Wikipedia on the matter.

Here in America we hardly ever hear of these things that are happening. We live our lives as though "life is good" and "the world is a good place". But is it? Beyond our boarders and across the seas lies millions of people struggling to keep their lives. They fight for their lives. They don't know what it means to be safe. They have never experience what it feels like to be stuffed from eating too much. They can't even imagine a world without pain or sorrow.

In Swaziland such is a place where people do suffer day in and out. Not just from hunger or drought but from illnesses that wreck their frail bodies and steal away their loved ones like a thief in the night.

Will none help or come to their rescue? Let us therefore hear their cry today. Let us give of our time and care to raise a prayer for them to our Heavenly Father. For the Lord sees what we cannot see. He sees their affliction and heartache. Can we not at least intercede for them in prayer and beg mercy and healing?

Let us stand and be the people of our Loving God. Let us be the servants we are called to be. If we cannot stand with them in person and hold their hand, let us at least commit to pray for them. Let us pour a little love on this world.

When He prayed for us...

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 

"As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 

"And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;"

John 17:15-20 KJV

Many people know this chapter as the passage where Jesus prayed unto His Father concerning the Church. Laced within every phrase is Christ's love for us manifested. He was on His way to Calvary and despite the little time before Him, He took the time to pray for us.

Imagine the prayers He speaks to the Father now? Even as He sits on the right hand of God, in full glory and majesty, still He hears us and sees our struggles. He prays not for us to be relieved from the pain and sorrow of this world, but for us to be delivered from the evil of it (vrs 15). We are His children and the sheep of His pasture. He has sent us into this world but not that we should be swallowed by it. For we are not of this world - we are of His Kingdom - only ambassadors of the Gospel of peace.

We are to be sanctified through the Truth. And what is that Truth? The Word of God. Let us therefore be sanctified through His Word. Abiding in His Word. Taking it to heart and letting it change our lives. Strengthening us and equipping us for the task at hand; to share the Gospel to all we meet. To seek out the chosen and show them the way to Christ, to life eternal.

Christ did not pray for our deliverance from heartache, but rather as He was on His way to Calvary, He prayed for us to be strengthened. He prayed for us to be courageous, to carry on the mission that Jesus Himself had begun... in bringing the Gospel to all. Even unto the ends of the earth.

A new dedication...

Ok so I have an idea for this blog. As you know I have decided to join MSF (Doctors Without Borders) when I finish my degree for nursing. Only that is four years away and too long for me to wait. Thus, I dedicate to pray for a country each week. To research on something that they are struggling with and to make time to go to God in prayer for them. I may not be able to be with them in the flesh but I will do the next best thing.

This week my prayers will be for Uganda. Northern Uganda to be exact. Over 3,000 children are currently suffering from an illness called Nodding Disease. The medical teams still are unsure of exactly what is causing these breakouts as the children will experience physical stunting, seizures and brain damage from it. They believe it has something to do with a deficiency in vitamin B6 and the parasitic worm Onchocerca Volvulus, which causes river blindness and is carried by the Black Fly.

I will be posting weekly these countries and would be over joyed if you could join me in praying for these people.

We are so blessed to be safe and warm, with a roof over our head and food in our bellies. Our life may not be perfect and we may even lose a job or house, but compared to these people we are abundantly blessed. 

Let us therefore, join hearts and hands to be a voice to the voiceless. Let us take a stand and seek our Lord and Savior on their behalf. Let us love this world as Jesus did.


For more information on the Nodding Disease in North Uganda see below -

http://www.ebony.com/black-listed/wellness-empowerment/ugandan-children-suffering-disabling-disease#axzz2ZiSziubS

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/19/world/africa/uganda-nodding-disease/index.html

In the blank spaces

We all experience times in our life when it seems that our days are wasting away with no purpose or fulfillment. Many times it is our doing because we are afraid to take a leap of faith and follow the calling God has set before us. Yet many times, it is God who calls us to these seasons of... waiting.

I recently experienced one of these some time back. At first it was terrible. I was so anxious. I wanted to do something with my life. I wanted to go somewhere and now. I didn't want to wait even another day. I was restless and worried. Most of all I had my eyes focused on the past with no hope or care for the future. I was honestly convinced - I know it's weird - that the Lord would return in the year 2012. I thought there was no point of planning a life past that because it would never exist. As you can imagine my surprise when January 1st 2013 rolled into view.

I realized that I had wasted so much time just sitting around and refusing that there could be a year past 2012. I realized that it had kept me from coming to know the calling God had for my life. It kept me from pursuing this calling. It kept me looking back and wishing I could turn back the clock of time, sure that time was soon to be up. Boy was I wrong.

So what happened after I realized I could have a future? I saw myself helping the poorest of the poor and most needy in unnamed villages of far away places... yet I didn't know how to get there. I didn't know where I had to start.

I prayed for months seeking guidance. I searched the web for organizations and programs that would get me out into the mission field. I dreamed dreams and sought the advice of other missionaries. While many roads presented themselves, none seemed right. I thought I was just being indecisive and unmotivated. I thought I would lose interest and eventually give up searching. I prayed but it seemed no one answered. Until I finally typed in the url to a link I had received - and later forgotten - months before.

DoctorsWithoutBorders (MSF). While not Christian, they do bring hope to the most needy. They are the voice of the voiceless. I realized that I could do that and, with shining the light of Christ, be a witness to so many.

But I needed training. They were not amateurs in their field and neither could I be. I needed four years of training to be exact and another two of experience. Thus I start my journey of becoming a nurse, beginning with my generals at the local community college.

I am excited to begin in the fall and with this new dream ahead of me I can now look ahead instead of behind. I still cherish the past dearly but I do not live in it. I do not desire to bring it back but rather to take on tomorrow.

My point brings me to, first off: DO NOT ASSUME THE DAYS OF YOUR FUTURE BUT RATHER EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. Don't be narrow-minded of what you think tomorrow holds, keeping you from truly understanding what could and what God wills to happen.

Secondly: WHEN YOU SEEK HIM AND HIS ANSWER IS "WAIT"... THEN WAIT. Do not take your life into your own hands. His timing is perfect and those seasons in your life when it seems like all your doing is waiting for an answer, don't lose hope. These are the blank spaces of your life. But in truth they are more important than we can know. They are to prepare, to equip, to strengthen and to draw us closer to Him. To wait on the Lord is to seek Him and yearn for Him. It means to abide in Him and lean only on His understanding. It means to trust.

Don't take these times for granted. Don't waste them. Use them as an opportunity. Fill these blank spaces with a passion to seek God and shine His light to all you meet.

Take heart therefore. Be not anxious or impatient but anticipate the wonderful plans God has for your future. He does have plans for you. Plans He wrote out before you were born. Plans that He is overjoyed to begin in your life. So rejoice! Take joy that you have a promising future with Him.

IYC...

It has been way too long since the last post I published here on ThotSimplicity. I deeply apologize as my computer has been under repair for sometime. Long story short, the screen cracked but it was replaced. =) I am glad to be back.

In the last post I mentioned something of an Indian Youth Camp where my sister and I were going to volunteer as room staff and counselors for the kids. Indeed, it was well worth the time off work. We went to bless the kids but I believe we got blessed in return. I could just feel the Lord moving in that camp.

One of my girls got saved! And was able to let go of the sorrow she had carried with her for so long. Another was finally able to see that the power of God is much stronger then the Devil's and that she could be safe in the arms of Jesus. A boy from another dorm was miraculously healed while at worship one evening. He had broken his leg and was unable to walk, yet moments after he was prayed over, he stood up and told his testimony to the crowd. Left and right kids professed the name of Jesus and so many saw the hope of tomorrow and were stirred to live whole heatedly for Christ.

It was our third year and Lord willing, I will do anything to return again. I love those kids and over the years I've begun to develop relationships with them. Friendships that go beyond the borders of camp and last longer, giving us the opportunity to continually speak into their lives. God bless those native children. God bless them abundantly.