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Sharing God's Love At Easter |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How I long to do as the
disciples did – preach everywhere, and see signs and wonders as the kingdom
of God is breaking into the here and now. We are told to walk in the same
anointing Jesus walked in, to do His works and bring glory to the Father. For
a king's glory is the great number of his subjects (Prov 14:28). He does not
want anyone to perish, but everyone to bow his knee before Him while they
still do so out of their free will, because they have been captured by His
love and want to serve Him for the rest of their days. Beloved, time is
short. How many have not heard the good news? How many have not had a chance
to say either YES or NO to the King of kings? How many would say YES if they
only heard? What if God gave us an answer to that question. What if He showed
us the person down the road, the person we pass on the street all the time,
the person in that store we frequently visit – what if He showed us that
person would say YES if only somebody TOLD them? What would our response be? What
would our response be if we say the hundreds of thousands of precious people
all over this world who are ready? Who are ready to say YES to the King and
surrender to Him? Would we act, would we live differently? Would we wake up
from our spiritual slumber and complacency, leave our comfort zone and
self-centered satisfaction, and GO and TELL them? What would the body of
Christ look like, if everyone did? I think the great end-time harvest would
come in very quickly, and Jesus' return would be hastened. Here I am in Mali,
desiring to be one of those people who are His reflection, His hands and
feet, mouth, eyes, ears and heart. To be a light-bearer, leading people to
our King of love and mercy. The King of Kings, Creator of the universe, the
only Lord, Lord over sickness and death, Lord of justice, who is slow to
anger and abounding in love, and who will do anything to reach the lost and
dying, He will use anyone abiding in Him and walking in His Spirit to bring
His kingdom to earth right now. The Easter weekend was
such an occasion to advance His kingdom in Mali. What a better time to share
His love with the Malians! Easter Party It was 7 p.m. and the
first few people arrived. I had nicely arranged the furniture on my porch, to
accommodate as many people as possible, since many of my students had said
they'd come. The afternoon was spent cooking two different dishes – something
Malians don't normally eat and would be an interesting cultural experience
for them, especially the students. Now everything was ready, as a few of my
neighbors and the school director walked in. Simeon was already here, as was
little Aisha (7) – one of the first friends I had made. I prayed aloud,
thanking God for this celebration of His death and resurrection, for the
friends that had come, and the food He had provided. The Muslim school
director and his friend, as well as the neighbors who are in the Unification
cult, listened and watched me intently. Then we had some food and talked with
each other. The director couldn't stay long, but students soon took his
place. All in all, five of my students showed up, three of them catholic, the
other two Muslims. And two of the neighbor's kids also showed up out of
curiosity, sharing in the blessing. Servant
Evangelism I had purchased six tins
of powdered milk to give away. Everyone needs milk (and that kind is the only
one there is), and it's expensive. One tin costs 2.7 EUR (3.3 USD). I was
already overjoyed at the thought of blessing some people that day. I had
spent a great time with the Lord in prayer, and was full of anticipation. There
is nothing I like more than going to the people, loving them and praying for
them. Simeon joined me in the last half hour of praying, before we left the
house. We started walking towards an area where there is one house next to
the other. Lord, which house do you want us to enter? We walked into the
courtyard and greeted the people sitting there – two women and a man –
"A ni wula." And I continued in Bambara, "Do you speak
French?" They shook their heads. So I continued in Bambara, telling them
we were Christians, and that we were celebrating Easter that weekend, and we
would like to show them God's love by giving them a gift. They looked
surprised, and offered us chairs to sit down. I opened my bag to reach for a
tin of milk, on the top of which I had written in Bambara, "Jesus loves
you. God bless you." When they saw the tin of good-quality milk, they
looked even more surprised, and passed it around among them, thanking us at
the same time. Then I said in my still rudimentary Bambara, "Jesus is
alive today and still heals today as He did back then. If there is anyone
sick here, we would like to pray for their healing." The lady shared
that her son was in hospital with meningitis right now, and she would love us
to pray for him. So we did. They were so thankful, as we said good-bye. Now we need to go back to
those same people, build relationships and find out how people are doing
physically today. Simeon also loved the outreach, and I'm glad he also wants
to do it regularly. It was a powerful afternoon, and it made me wonder, who
was blessed more – the people or us. May the gospel of the kingdom be
preached all over Mali, the lost be saved, the sick healed, and the oppressed
set free! This outreach was an
important step forward and upward, releasing more of the plan of God to be
known, enabling me to look forward and prepare for what lies ahead,
especially after my summer in the US and Austria. Once the much-needed car is
provided for, we will be able to go into the villages around Bamako to reach
even more people. And we are now praying
for a property we can build a simple structure on. That will allow people
touched by God's love, those we pray for, and those who need prayer, to know
where to find us. At times it overwhelms me
when I think of what lies ahead, and the enemy is also trying hard to thwart
God's plan, but as long as I stay close to Jesus' heart and look to Him for
everything, I'm in a safe place, and I can do everything He wants me to do. Please
pray that I will remain in Him at all times! I know that He will
provide what is needed to make His vision for Mali a reality. I'm
curious and excitedly looking forward to how He is going to release the
finances. Like a little girl I'm looking up to my Father, watching Him do
everything. Please, join me in what has been my most fervent plea to heaven – send the
laborers! Whether a husband, or a partner in ministry, or even people who can
come for three months, or one month! Everyone is welcome! What else? School – School is slowly drawing to a close. One more week of
classes, and then two weeks of finals, and it's over for this year. I've
always loved teaching languages, and in spite of frequent frustrations with
students and the system, I've come to love my students and teaching German.
I'm gonna miss them. However, at this point it looks like I'm gonna teach
there again next year to get a visa. Simeon – Please pray for Simeon. He has been growing quickly, and
it has been excited to watch him. God is frequently speaking to him in
dreams, and he is getting more of an idea of what God has for him in the
future. Right now, he is going through character refinement and adjustment of
his beliefs, and needs much prayer. Please pray also for me for wisdom and
patience and unconditional love and forgiveness. Summer – Five more weeks and I'm leaving Mali to go to Kansas City.
I'm looking forward to this break – right now the heat in Mali is nearly
unbearable. I'm expecting many things from this summer in Kansas City and
Vienna, and am praying for many divine appointments. I know it will be a time
for Him to set things in place and equip me further for what is ahead. At
this point, I don't know yet where I'm gonna stay either in Kansas City or in
Vienna. Quick overview of important dates: May 14 – last day of school and my birthday I'd like to see many of you during my vacation, to share personally and
show you pictures, but most of all to be a blessing to you. I miss many of
you, as life here can be rather lonely at times. That's why your emails are
so very precious. As I leave you for today, I want to pray this beautiful prayer over each
one of you. I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and
that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with
all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of
Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be
filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:17-19) All for JESUS, Claudia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tel. (+223) 220 0311 Cell (+223) 636 6727 IMPORTANT: Don't write my name on
the check, but add a note that it's for me. In Europe: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=office%40glorywebservices.com&item_name=Claudia+Wintoch&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD |