Dearest Friends,
The Camden Blessing
It was amazing to be in a city like Camden that is in the bottom four per cent of cities in the US. It is known for violence , drugs, prostitution, and other terrible things. It is a place that people eagerly leave and do not return. It is broken. For almost a decade, I have been praying , asking the Father to open a door into this city. God kindly answered my prayers through our dear friend Andy Kim, that we partner with in Philadelphia.
We had 3 shows which became 2 shows and then ended up being sort of 3 shows. Let me explain. Our first show was in a park where, by God’s grace, a summer camp was meeting. They all came to the show and helped us set up. They loved it! One of their leaders recorded most of the show on their phone. When we got to the part where they could pray, one little boy began to pray in a loud, clear voice. Everyone followed him. Many children trusted in Jesus. Afterwards, children kept asking when we would come again. We gave all of them Jesus Storybook Bibles and Andy treated them to freezy pops. They were very happy! It was a sweet beginning in Camden.
Our second show was in a terrible place for children, but they were all inside because of the extreme heat. So, we set up outside a community swimming pool and began to pray that the children would want to leave the nice cool water . When we were ready to start, we had 1 mother and 2 children. I promised them if they were the only children who came, we would do a show for them. I opened and the puppets begin to sing. Before they finished, all the benches were full and a row of children lined the fence. The puppets are incredible! Even two homeless men listened nearby.
When I finished the story, I told the children that they could pray and ask Jesus to rescue them. A little girl raised her hand and then another. I never asked them to do that. They were just responding to the Holy Spirit. So many of the children prayed! It was so sweet that I wanted to cry tears of joy! Again, we gave everyone freezy pops, Bibles, and we also gave them balloon animals.
We thought we were done, but then many of the kids from the pool started coming out and asking for Bibles. This was a sort of third show. As the team packed, I explained to the children how they could trust Jesus. It was amazing! We ran out of English Bibles and started giving away our Spanish / English ones. Many of the children were happy because they said they had a friend who could read the Spanish side while they read the English side.
Thank you for praying! Thank you for giving so we could give away so many Bibles in Philadelphia and Camden! Thank you for carrying about a sea of children that people do not see!
We are in Baltimore now and have already started working, Please pray for us to be light in the dark!
In Jesus, Linda for Drake, Kelsey and Victoria