April 12, 2009
Dearest Friends,
THE PIED PIPER
There is an old fairy tale of a piper who charmed all of the children in a village with his music and they followed him. Today, God poured out His Spirit on Sam and Silas and they led several hundred children and adults to a church for a puppet show. Muslim children followed them, as well as church kids and children who never came to church.
Two of the children played drums; one was as big as the boy who carried it. They sang as they gathered the children and we heard them coming long before they arrived. I got some of the most incredible pictures! More than 50 children trusted Jesus! The Lord blessed us and blessed us. We love this work!
THE MOST WONDERFUL GIFT
We have been given the most wonderful gift. We are in the Northwest, traveling to villages in remote areas. The roads are all dirt, rocky, and very dusty. You cannot imagine how rough these roads are. We are all thrown about in the car. It’s a day long roller coaster ride.
Today, when we came home, my white hair looked light brown. We were all so dirty! Sam and Silas were especially dusty because they had ridden to some shows holding onto the back of the land rover. We all prayed that they would not fall off. Silas said it reminded him of his childhood growing up in the mountains. When he was 8, the back of the land rover was his spot. Sam was a farmer before he became a puppet director, so he counted it a lovely ride. I confess that I really wanted to try it, but I was wise enough to know this adventure was beyond me.
We know such great joy! Today, we traveled to even more remote places. We have met with children sitting in the dirt, on benches carried from churches, and many stand. They watch us from the moment we arrive until we pack the last box. They consider it all part of the program. These children are very dear. No one tries to crowd us or grab equipment like we have experienced in other countries.
At one show, high on a mountain, over looking other bigger mountains, over 140 children and adults walked to the show. Some of the children were very small and all were so dirty and so very poor. Honestly, I was not happy with the job I did telling story, but at this place dozens of children prayed loudly to receive Christ.
All of us were reminded that it is only God’s Holy Spirit that calls children, not anything we do. Though we always seek to do our best, it is only our Father who should ever receive any praise!
They gave us banana’s to thank us. None of us wanted to eat anything. The children looked so hungry, but we did not want to disrespect their gift. We ate a banana and then broke all the rest in a half and shared them. I had told the children how Jesus multiplied the fish and the bread for the crowd. I was praying that He would bless the bananas too!
I WANT TO SEE
We arrived at our second show at 12:00 and found out that the children had been waiting since 8:00. There had been a miscommunication with the schedule and all of us were confused. I am so blessed by Sam, Silvana, Anna and Heather. They were hungry but when they found out how long the children had been waiting, they did the show and ate later. There were no complaints, only joy as we watched a precious few trust Jesus. There were more than 250 people gathered outside the church. Please ask the Father to call the people of Wanti to Himself. Please ask the Lord to bless these children with deep faith. They wanted to see so much that many walked great distances over very rough ground.
Prayer Request
Tomorrow is Sunday and Sam is preaching. Also we have an opportunity to do two shows in a tribal palace area. Please pray for these opportunities and ask God to make us very wise.
In Jesus, please keep praying.
Linda for
Sam Assistant Director
Silvana
Anna French Director
Heather