Ten Years Going Strong
There are two sides of the coin. There are kids here that are so apathetic to what they are being taught here, and then there are kids who are so sold out to Jesus at such a young age here. I want to share with you two stories about two different children who are so sold out for Jesus here even at a young age. I hope this encourages you to realize that if children are lead into a relationship with the Lord that is mature and not discounted as “too young to understand” they really can live a life for the Lord. Lead you kids to love Jesus like these kids.
Pritam: Pritam is a seven year old boy who looks like he is 5. He is such a sweet baby. He likes to sit in your lap and loves to joke around. Almost every day here he takes our scarves and puts them over his head and says, “AUNTIE! I AM JESUS!!!” with his squeaky little mousy voice. He melts your heart when you look at him because he has such a gentle and kind face, but his story melts your heart even more. He was born into a Hindu family. His mother is young single and is a maid. She can’t afford to keep Pritam at home so he stays at ASHA. His mom lives close and loves Pritam so much, so whenever he has a break from school or is sick she always comes to get him. His mom is not a Christian, but Pritam was introduced to Christ when he came to ASHA. Apparently the Lord really changed his heart and he grasped the simple message that Jesus is Lord and our God is the only God. When Pritam went home a few weeks ago because he had the chicken pox, his mother wanted to take him to the “Poonjah”, which is the word for a Hindu priest here. Parents take their children whenever they are sick or need guidance in an area of life. However, Pritam refused to go this time and said that God would heal him! Pritam’s mother called Pastor Sam and said, “What should I do? Pritam won’t go to see the Poonjah.” Pastor told her to be patient and that God would heal him, and He did! Pritam’s faith shined forth even more when he took all of the idols that his mom had in their home and threw them away and said, “THOSE ARE NOT REAL!” If a seven year old boy who was raised in a Hindu home can have that much faith and be that sold out to Jesus, why can’t your son or daughter who was raised in a Christian home?
Suboth: Suboth is a child of God in every way. He is 10 years old and seems to be 25. He loves to read the Word. He trusts Gods perfect plan. Today when I asked him what he thought I should do about a certain situation he said, “I don’t know what you should do. You should ask God what to do.” I was seriously humbled by a 10 year old. The Holy Spirit doesn’t know age. Suboth has been gifted with the ability to do things that only the Holy Spirit can give to a person. He has prayed for people who needed serious healing and they have been immediately healed, he learned English somewhat recently and was given the ability to pick it up so quickly and in being gifted with that, he has used it to translate for us almost every night at prayer when we preach. He is always willing to pray for anyone and wholly trusts that God is sovereign. He has wisdom well beyond his years and is a strong spiritual leader among the younger boys. He lives his life by love. All of the other children bicker and pick fights, but I haven’t seen Suboth do anything but love. He is often the mediator between children when they argue and you can always see him spending time with the younger ones. He loves all of the people who pour into his life. He recently had me write emails to his previous aunties, Alise and Olivia. Every time someone prays for him, which has been more recently because he has been sick, he is moved to tears of praise. If you meet Suboth, you can see that something is different with him… and it is the Holy Spirit that he has allowed to guide and direct his life. He wants to be a pastor when he grows up and share the Word of God with the people of India. This child is 10 YEARS OLD! He encourages me without even saying anything to seek the Lord every day with prayer and spending time in the Word. His life is an example of Christ.
Also, this week we had a talk on spiritual warfare and what it looks like to be living in darkness and what it looks like to defeat the darkness with the light that is Jesus living inside of us and then we had small groups after the talk. Four boys in my group decided to accept Jesus this week and have started their journey in faith with Him! My heart grows closer to them each day and it brings me the most joy to see them desiring to have the light inside them that the Lord provides when we seek Him. Although it might seem sad to most people that they are living apart from their families… these children are being raised in a home where they are being taught the Word of the Lord every single day and their faith WILL increase. They are counted as rich in the kingdom of heaven.
This blog was pretty short, but I just wanted to share with you the incredible ways that the Lord has been working.
We come home in just 5 short weeks. Be praying that we continue to seek Jesus in this time so that we can come home desiring to live out a life of grace because of the grace that we were taught by our Lord, Jesus Christ!
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