Friday/Saturday: Wrapping Up & Heading Home

TODAY'S REPORT:

Last night I laid down next to Alex to help him fall asleep and guess what... I was out as fast as he was! Normally I post to this blog after he falls asleep, so it can show up in subscribers' email the next AM. As it is, I'm posting Saturday morning just as we pack the van to head home.

Yesterday was a long full day of prayer walking, VBS and the VBS Parents' Night party (followed by borderline gluttony at Connie's Pizza). The kids (the ones here and the ones we brought) all did great. As Rachael and I help teach Bible stories, it is amazing how many of these kids have never seen a Bible. Most do not own one. One little boy asked Rachael if he could touch my Bible. Then, when she looked up and showed a few children our memory verse, they acted as if they had just seen a magic trick: "Do another. Do another."

Another boy told Jim that he had looked up his Bible story from earlier this week in the one Bible in his home. When his older brother saw what he was reading from, he took the Bible away from him, threw it in the kitchen sink, and turned on the water, ruining the only Bible the boy had access to. The families in this area are mostly immigrants from southeast Asia, Africa or Latin America. A diverse mix of religious tradition & belief has accompanied them here, and not all are open to the truth we share.

However, the reactions of the children wanting to explore further are encouraging. We hope and pray their reactions mean they are hearing our message that this is no ordinary book. That it is written by the hand of God and therefore can be believed fully - unlike any work of man.

PRAYER NEEDS:

Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement. As we complete our portion of this mission, our prayers remain with the people of this area. Please join us in praying for:

• God's Word in the hearts and hands of these families. For those who don't know, our group was the second in a series of three groups from Second Baptist to conduct this project in Chicago. The final group will arrive next week. With them will come a Bible for every child. I firmly believe the stage has been set for many of these children to pour over the pages of their Bibles when they receive them. Pray that, after our work here, they would be ready to receive God's word, and that their families would not be an obstacle to their study of it. Pray also that their families might be influenced by the quiet faith and study of their children.
• The Harvest. God's word reminds us: "Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor (John 4:37-38)." As the middle group of three who will be here on this mission, we get to do a little sowing for the third group and a little reaping from the work of the first. Most importantly, we will pray for a bountiful harvest at some point to come from the work God is doing here through His people. Pray that His name would be glorified and that these children would become trophies of His grace.
• Safe return home. For Jim, Heather, Rachael and I, this has been an incredible blessing. Even our kids seem to have connected with the children here in a very short time and the older ones understand that God is doing an important work. We all are excited also to come home, and we pray for save travel today. Please pray the same.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we will be back together for our ABF class at Second Baptist. I'm hoping to get some time in the van today to refresh my study of tomorrow's lesson (I honestly haven't looked at it in nearly a week). We so are looking forward to seeing you all and sharing more (Both the Elliott camera and the Morrow camera have lots to share as well - I'll work to get pictures up on the blog later in the week, once we've had a chance to share with each other).

We love you and are so thankful for you. Thank you again so much for your prayers and words of encouragement this week (even this morning I received another Facebook note from Amanda Booth encouraging us and sharing what she is praying for us).

God's bless you, and we'll see you tomorrow!

Matt