Forgiveness

Today was the day I had been preparing for for weeks. It was my day to share my testimony and preach on Forgiveness and Grace. I knew this was going to be an emotional day as I would be sharing very difficult times from my past. Justin helped me prepare last night as I filled in any gaps I had in my lesson and write the questions for the small groups we do after the teaching. I went to bed last night feeling confident. I wish I woke up that way! After some prayer, I settled down and headed out for home visits in the slum. Upon arriving at the community center, there was no time to think about the lesson as we had a meeting with HIV positive mothers and handed out nutritional supplements. Soon the youth began to arrive and my nerves started up again. Fortunately, I have an awesome team and they gathered around me and prayed for me before I sat down to study. The time had come for the youth to gather in the meeting room for worship and the lesson. I took a deep breath and gave it all to God. After all, it was God's message, I was only the vessel He was using to deliver the message. As Justin introduced me, I stepped up confident and ready. I have to say, Kenyan children are the best audience! They are so excited to hear what you have to say and aren't disruptive when they're supposed to be quiet. If only youth in America could be such great listeners! I began with my testimony and shared honestly and openly about the deepest part of my soul. As soon as I shared about rape, my heart broke as I saw the look on some of the girl's faces that they knew that same pain. After I finished with my testimony, I went into my lesson on forgiveness and how important it is to our faith and and healing in our hearts, especially how forgiveness has healed me. I finished to a roaring applause and joy filled my heart. The highlight of the day was when a couple of girls approached me after small groups and asked if I could give them pictures of me so they could remember me and my story for the rest of their lives. Once again, I was reminded why God sent me to Africa and is fulfilling His promise that He'll use all things in my life for His good.

I also want to mention that the shoes that we purchased for all the youth arrived and it was such an awesome experience to see the joy on their faces as they received the shoes, many of which were receiving their first pair of new shoes in their life. It was overwhelming as kids hugged us and thanked us for such a gift. Yes, God is good!