The Power to Win the Battle
I'm back!
What a week it has been. I have to say that our God is amazing. 1 week ago I left for Missouri with 12 kids, knowing none of them very well and feeling a little overwhelmed. Today I sit here praising God for His faithfulness for He is fighting for the hearts of my students. I watched this week as each of them broke down, realizing their wrongs, and understanding the truth of God's love for them. I grew in my relationships with these 7 girls to the point where they began to open up to me, telling me of their worries in returning to the reservation and confessing their sins to me, asking me what to do. My heart broke for them but my spirit soared because God was ripping off the layers they tie so tightly around their hearts and bringing them to vulnerability before Him and their peers. God was tangibly in this place as they worked through years of pain and sin. God even spoke into me and brought me to raise my hand during a session with hundreds of native teens to tell them of how God changed my life in bringing forgiveness into a heart filled with bitterness and pain towards my sister. The next day I was approached by a girl who felt God was telling her to talk to me as she too was dealing with a tattered past and the need of forgiveness for the wrongdoings she had done to her sister. After talking for over an hour I was absolutely broken-hearted for the pain this girl had been through, but I was so blessed because God had brought us together and allowed my story to speak into hers.
Coming to the reservation I wondered if I could have an impact here. My life has been privileged, my needs have been provided for. But at the WLS conference God showed me that my story does have value here and that I am here for a reason.
The thing I kept telling my girls over and over again this week was I am proud of you and I love you.
These kids have just come back to the battlefield. Yes, God has won the war, but the fight is not over. My twelve kids need prayer warriors fighting for them. Fighting in prayer that they would not give into the addictions of drinking and smoking. Fighting in prayer that they would change their friends, change their attitudes, and be bold in their faith. They need people to fight for them because on this reservation all they have to lean on is themselves and God. Well, that and a beautiful ministry called Apache Youth Ministries, and a place called the Kennel, where they can come and be loved and valued. Where they can be taught in the ways of Jesus Christ and taught all the things no one ever bothered to tell them.
After one week I love these twelve kids. I know you don't know their names or their specific stories, and maybe one day I will share them with you, but for now I am asking you to love these kids too. Love them enough to pray for them and fight for them. Love them enough to be on your knees for them.
What a week it has been. I have to say that our God is amazing. 1 week ago I left for Missouri with 12 kids, knowing none of them very well and feeling a little overwhelmed. Today I sit here praising God for His faithfulness for He is fighting for the hearts of my students. I watched this week as each of them broke down, realizing their wrongs, and understanding the truth of God's love for them. I grew in my relationships with these 7 girls to the point where they began to open up to me, telling me of their worries in returning to the reservation and confessing their sins to me, asking me what to do. My heart broke for them but my spirit soared because God was ripping off the layers they tie so tightly around their hearts and bringing them to vulnerability before Him and their peers. God was tangibly in this place as they worked through years of pain and sin. God even spoke into me and brought me to raise my hand during a session with hundreds of native teens to tell them of how God changed my life in bringing forgiveness into a heart filled with bitterness and pain towards my sister. The next day I was approached by a girl who felt God was telling her to talk to me as she too was dealing with a tattered past and the need of forgiveness for the wrongdoings she had done to her sister. After talking for over an hour I was absolutely broken-hearted for the pain this girl had been through, but I was so blessed because God had brought us together and allowed my story to speak into hers.
Coming to the reservation I wondered if I could have an impact here. My life has been privileged, my needs have been provided for. But at the WLS conference God showed me that my story does have value here and that I am here for a reason.
The thing I kept telling my girls over and over again this week was I am proud of you and I love you.
These kids have just come back to the battlefield. Yes, God has won the war, but the fight is not over. My twelve kids need prayer warriors fighting for them. Fighting in prayer that they would not give into the addictions of drinking and smoking. Fighting in prayer that they would change their friends, change their attitudes, and be bold in their faith. They need people to fight for them because on this reservation all they have to lean on is themselves and God. Well, that and a beautiful ministry called Apache Youth Ministries, and a place called the Kennel, where they can come and be loved and valued. Where they can be taught in the ways of Jesus Christ and taught all the things no one ever bothered to tell them.
After one week I love these twelve kids. I know you don't know their names or their specific stories, and maybe one day I will share them with you, but for now I am asking you to love these kids too. Love them enough to pray for them and fight for them. Love them enough to be on your knees for them.
I do believe my heart now belongs to the rez.
...what a perfect "indpendence day" post...the freedom of forgiveness from past sins is like no other...and to have that first glimpse of freedom because of what Jesus has done for us...to come to know how we are loved...and how we can love others...they have your heart...you both have mine...and my prayers...blessings... and love...hugs... elaine/ ccww
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