Dearest Friends,
They Have Lost Everything
Yesterday, we spent a very cold and windy day with refugees on the border. I met Akbar, Omar, William, Nour, Solomon and so many more children. On one side of the border people lived in fear of their lives. In their country there is a civil war and so many have fled across the border seeking hope and safety. They come with nothing. They must find a place to cross where their own country’s soldiers are not guarding the borders or they can pay them a lot of money to look the other way.
In their great poverty, God is calling many to faith. Because their country is falling apart, they are beginning to ask hard questions. These people are Muslims but Islam is not meeting their needs. Their great loss has given us a great opportunity. We went as close to the border as we were allowed to go and met with hundreds of children and adults.
Our plan was to do 6 or 7 shows for around 400 children, but God had another plan. Even though we had our paper work in order, they stopped us at the last check point, and required us to go and meet with another official. This visit delayed us a couple of hours so we arrived very late. Many of the children had already gathered and had been standing in the cold for hours. More were coming. We decided to do one big show outside even though it was very cold. Otherwise, the children had to wait for us as we did a show for 65 children at a time in a very small room. It seemed the best plan was to just be cold together!
The wind was blowing so hard and it was really cold, but no one seemed to notice. I watched the children’s eyes as I told them about Jesus. You could see that their hearts were warming to the story of Jesus. I wish you could been there. Your heart would have warmed to see Muslim refugee children so excited about the Gospel.
All of them had very hard stories to tell. I held one mother in my arms as she told me about the murder of her 11 year little boy! Another child’s face was horribly burned! These people have a good heart! They wanted to prepare a meal for us, but had no money. Khaled went to his mother and asked for money, but she had nothing to give. It is very humbling when a hungry man is more concerned for you than he is for himself.
Please continue to pray for these dear people to put their trust in Jesus. We are working with many refugees while I am here in the Middle East and they need your constant prayers. We gave the children Christmas Boxes , balloons, and hats. Their gratitude warmed our hearts. We are praising God for this great privilege !
The Street Show
We set up many chairs, expecting a large crowd. Today, the weather was warm and the sun was shining. However, the children kept coming and three times we had to go and get more chairs. Before we begun our program, we prayed, asking God to pour His Spirit on our work. There were many mothers wearing burkas in the crowd. This was a Muslim crowd that was captured by the wonder of the Cross. As we began to lead in a prayer of faith, adults began to pray out loud. Quickly they realized they could be heard by other Muslims and finished their prayers quietly. It was a fantastic show!
Since these people were also refugees, we passed out Christmas Boxes and literature. We have great children literature that is easy to read and well illustrated. I have seen many children stopped to read the books before opening the box!
God Is Teaching Us!
This afternoon we had a very sweet lesson. We were all very busy as we were preparing for the show. We did not take time to stop and pray. Quickly I realized that something is not right in the room. The children were not responding to the puppets and story as I would have expected. God showed us our mistake and we stopped and prayed. Immediately there was a change in the room. As always, we can do a wonderful job, but unless God pours His Spirit on what we do, nothing happens.
There is a famous quote that I will paraphrase. I thought about these words today … attempt something so big for God that it is doomed to fail unless He does it!
In Jesus,
Linda for a very wonderful national Puppet Team.