“Then He called his disciples and the crowd to come over and listen as he said… If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?”
This is our last week in the beautiful home we call Nsoko. And what a perfect ending to a place that has changed us each so drastically. I think I speak for our team when I say each one of us will never look at life the same again after living along side this inspiring community of believers.
The perfect ending started Friday when a lovely couple from Florida came to do a special art project with the children from the area. The man named Bob works for Delta, and their company decided to hold a coloring contest where each child got a piece of paper and a pack of crayons, donated by Crayola, and they got to color a picture of anything they wanted to. At the end of the time Bob and his wife Pattie collected the pictures and took them home so that the CEO of Delta could pick the best one (although every paper was beautiful) so that Delta could auction the best drawing off on eBay. Hopefully this project will generate a ton of income so that a children’s village can be built on the property we are now currently staying on. Our teams is praying daily for this project to be successful and are asking for ya’ll at home to pray about this incredible project with us. Thanks!
As for my life God is making BIG CHANGES! And I could not be more thrilled about them.
He is truly showing me what it means to put aside all selfish ambitions, desires, thoughts, and anything else that is selfish in my heart. I have seen just how far and wide God’s love spreads, and it is CRAZY! I feel that most of my life I have lived as a lukewarm Christian who never truly wanted God more than anything else. We listened to a song by Lifehouse and the words are “How can I stand here and not be moved by you…Your all I want Your all I need your everything.” The words hit me like a ton of bricks! How often do I compare God’s worth with other things in my life on accident… for example so many times I choose friends or family or items or money or stuff over God. How could I think for even a second that something on this puny little earth compares to the Creator and Sustainer and Savior of it all…
For the first time in my life I feel like I am willing to say “God you can have wh
atever you want, a wholehearted commitment to you is more important than anything or person in my life. Nothing I do in my life matters unless it is about loving you and loving people!”
I am falling so much deeper in love with my maker and I could not be more excited and ready to shout it from the roof tops! Like Psalms 63 says God’s love is better than life itself! I want to experience true satisfaction and pleasure and joy in my relationship with him. I want to love Him more than ANYTHING on this earth; I want to treasure His kingdom of heaven so much that I would be willing to do ANYTHING in order to get that. I want to stand here and be truly moved by him.
My darling grand daughter, I am so proud of you for allowing God to work His purposes out in your life. Most of us do not know how much courage that takes.
PRAISE THE LORD !!!! I AM SOOOOO PROUD OF YOU AS I KNOW SO MANY OTHERS ARE AS WELL. MOST OF ALL YOUR WORK AND YOUR HEART FELT SPIRIT IS MOST PLEASING TO THE LORD. WE ARE ALL PUT HERE TO BE SERVANTS IN OUR ON WAY AND TO BE USED AS A VESSEL FOR THE LORD TO HIS GLORY ALONE !!!! NOT FOR WHAT WE HAVE THOUGHT WE HAD TO BE OR WHAT WE MADE IMPOTANT IN THIS WORLD ONLY TO FIND OUT HOW FALSE AND UNIMPORTANT THOSE THINGS AND PEOPLE REALLY ARE IS ALL APART OF OUR OLD LIFE AND THE DEAD ME BEFORE BING BORN AGAIN. KNOWING THAT YOU AND I ARE CHILDREN OF GOD THE ONE WHO WANTS NOTHING BUT THE BEST FOR ALL OF US AND CONSTANTLY POURS OUT HIS LOVE AND SUPPORT FOR US REGARDLESS OF ALL OUR FAULTS IS NOTHING MORE THAN AWESOME !!!! WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY LIVING THIS LIFE OF FAITH BUT HAVE OUR LIFE TO GAIN BY LIVING IN IT. THAT IS WHAT MAKES US WANT TO SHARE ALL THIS HAPPINESS AND JOY WITH THE WHOLE WORLD !! IF EVERYONE ONLY KNEW THIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD WHAT A WORLD WE WOULD LIVE IN !!!! I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I PRAY FOR YOU AND YOUR WORK DAILY AND THAT YOU KEEP THE SPIRIT ALIVE IN YOUR HEART AND HE WILL CARRY YOU THROUGH EVERY OBSTACLE THAT CONFRONTS YOU THE REST OF YOU LIFE !!! GOD BLESS !!! YOUR BROTHER IN CHRIST, JUNIOR
My boys! I’ve had so much fun with you girls. Thanks for letting me be a part of the team for the past several weeks.
Bailey, we love the updates, and your writing is incredible!! We miss you tons!! Natalie and I watched the UGA vs Auburn game–…yeah, Georgia has won 4 years in a row now, but who’s counting…–at your parents house and Luke was there, so that was fun. i wasn’t too obnoxious about the game!! But your name was mentioned a lot, and we are all excited about you coming back, although, we continue to be so proud of you and the work you are doing with your team!! keep up the good work, and know that there is a whole group of people praying for you back home!! See you soon!!
Hey Bailey,
We’re proud of what you’ve been doing.