Hi all,
The talk to the whole student body at the private school in Gaborone went well. Thanks for any and all prayers. Afterwards the principal told me he could tell the students enjoyed it and were impacted. He invited me to come whenever I want and speak to the whole student body...and the principal is also a pastor and wants me to speak to his whole congregation on some Sunday! Praise God.
And a teenage guy came up to me afterwards and asked if a Christian has fallen into some sins whether they can still be accepted by God? He said he has fallen into some sins but wants to stop doing them and follow God's way again. He asked if, once he stops doing those sins, will God accept him back? I told him he doesn't need to fix everything and stop sinning in order to come to God. No, he can come as-is. He can just confess and agree with God that what he's been doing is wrong...and want to turn from those things (repent) and ask God to help him stop those bad habits. He doesn't need to "fix" himself all up first and try to be perfect before coming to God...but if his heart's desire is to change, he can come back right away. "You come to Him just as you are." I told him if he is a Christian, Jesus has provided the forgiveness through the cross, and the Holy Spirit lives inside of him and can help him to change and turn from those things. If/when he may slip up and fall back here and there, he can confess and repent and come to God again for a fresh start.
As I was speaking to him, his eyes were lighting up and a genuine smile was breaking across his face. Here is a kid who had evidently been thinking God won't accept him back until he quits sinning and gets everything perfect...who was grasping the God of grace. I could see the truth just impacting his heart.
I continued by asking him if he knows the story of the Prodigal Son? He nodded. I asked, "Did the son clean himself all up and fix everything and become perfect before he came back?" No...he came as he was. And was the Father mad and looking forward to when he could punish his son? No...he was waiting in hope that his son would come home...and when he saw him, he didn't get mad...No, he ran out to meet him, embraced him, kissed him, threw him a huge celebration, killed the best calf because he loved and rejoiced that his son had come back to him. I told him God isn't hoping to punish him...He is waiting to embrace him and help him walk with Him again. He was smiling as what I was saying was 'clicking' and resonating in his heart... It was like this verse was happening before my eyes: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). I just felt like those few moments set him free to now run back to his Father. He thanked me and headed off to class.
A couple other girls thanked me for coming and sharing the really moving story, and a boy in a wheelchair came up to me and opened his bible to a verse I had shared in my talk and read it aloud again excitedly. All in all, it was such a beautiful opportunity. I love sharing how awesome God is, and then watching Him work in other people's hearts. It's such a privilege. God is so good.
Fighting AIDS with…Harvard!
Yesterday, I attended another collaborative meeting with leaders from different sectors and organizations who are all interested in fighting AIDS. We heard a presentation detailing the Mochudi Prevention Project that has just started by the Botswana Harvard Partnership (BHP). The 5-year project’s goal is “To reduce the number of new HIV infections in Mochudi by promoting all proven prevention tools and investigating, in addition, the use of a new prevention strategy.” The same BHP representative met with Youth for Christ leadership earlier this month and will be presenting to all the staff in October, as our promotion of abstinence is one of those prevention tools. The new aspects are a community approach with home-based testing; and working with drugs to reduce the viral load (a higher viral load spreads HIV more easily). This is the first time in the whole world this has been done, and Mochudi could be a model for HIV prevention in Botswana and worldwide. It is quite exciting that Harvard for some reason has chosen our village of all places on earth to join in this fight.
Hungry for the Word of God
This is something I forgot to ever share, but will now. Schools resumed Tuesday, September 7 after about a month of holiday. Several students are working on the follow-up discipleship bible study course YFC does, so we collect their finished studies and give them the next few at the Scripture Union clubs. One of the girls in the Scripture Union club didn’t want to wait until school resumed to turn hers in (and apparently didn’t want to, or couldn’t afford to mail them in either), so she and her little sister walked an hour and a half each way to come to the YFC office during the school holiday to turn in her follow-up studies! Once I learned how long they had walked, we corrected them right then and gave her the next studies. But wow…walking 3 hours in the heat of the day just to get some bible studies to work on. That made me think, How hungry are the rest of us for the Word of God? How hungry are we to grow in our faith?
Inconveniences sometimes work out for the best!
Last week I was waiting in my car for what seemed like an eternity to get the change and receipt for my gasoline purchase. As I sat there in my car, a taxi swung around and I heard, “Emily!” It was Kagiso, the taxi driver I had met with in February and had talked with about God for several minutes. We hadn’t seen each other in all the months since, and yet he recognized me and remembered my name and our conversation. He said he should stop by the YFC office sometime and maybe I could tell him more about God, like last time? Yeah dude! See, sometimes inconvenient delays work out for the best!
Off to Cape Town!!!!
I need to go home and pack now…we are leaving at 5 am to drive for two whole days (1700 kilometers) to go to a Youth for Christ Southern Region [of Africa] staff conference for a week. Please pray for our safe travel. Really. The vehicles have been breaking down even this week…and were both taken in to be fixed. Please pray they work smoothly and that we drivers (I’m the back-up driver for one of the main drivers) stay alert through the 20 hours of driving. It’s a public holiday weekend in South Africa, so the roads will be busy as well. The retreat center is apparently beautiful…on the ocean!!
Blessings,
Em
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