"God doesn't fail in his good purpose. Trust in Him and in His time He will open your mouth and give you the words to speak." I read that in a book once. It taught me to trust in Him. I don't have the gift to speak to people, yet Moses didn't either. God gave him the words to say and he was able to lead thousands of people out of Egypt, with God's help.
How is a 15 year old going to convince people that the One True God still lives. I have learned I don't have to, God will. All I have to do is plant a seed. God will water it and it will grow.
He taught me that when I went to Madeira ( an island off the coast of Africa). I have been there twice on an mission trip. I was challenged to start a journal from the moment I stepped off the plane to the moment I stepped back on.
I was in Madeira for a week and met some awesome people. Everyday we would go to two neighborhoods to teach the kids about God. Most of them came to us excited and curious, yet some were shy. A small two-year-old stood to the side. I went out and talked to her, than picked her up and brought her to where we were telling the story. Everyday after that she would stand nearby with her arms stretched out waiting for me to pick her up and bring her to where the group was.
The next year I went to Madeira, I saw her one morning in a broken window. She held her hand out to me and called my name. It was like an angel calling me. How would a two-year-old remember a person that came to her island for only seven days a year back?
The little girls in the neighborhood followed me around everywhere. One of them asked for me to show her a story in the Bible. When I showed her the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus, she was amazed. She asked for me to pray with her to receive Jesus the next day.
During a lot of the stories the older boys threw things at us and were loud, ditsurbing the others from hearing about Him. I prayed that they would go away or play Basketball with my dad. Three minutes later they got up and went to my dad, and he got to share his testimony with them. After that, even more kids came to hear the stories we were telling.
God gave me a voice to speak to the people. That year three people prayed with me to receive Christ.
The second year we went, God used the other people on the mission team to teach me stuff. My dad taught me that it doesn't matter who you are you can still speak to others about God. A Basketball player that went with us taught me that anyone can recieve Christ and to not lose hope when they don't listen at first. The director of our mission team taught me to not be embarrassed about talking to people about God but to take pride in talking to them about the best person ever.
So if you pray for a voice to speak and for ears to listen, God will answer your prayers. I had so many great memories I shall never forget. Here is my last diary entry:
"I am on the plane flying back to Lisbon, I honestly don't know how to feel. My heart is divided in two. The children on this island are so great and are open to hearing. It would be awesome to come here again soon. God bless every person, place and thing on this island. You really don't know how beautiful it is until you leave it. I know I will dream about the green mountains full of bright colors and the sunrise that I saw right before I was swallowed by the airport. Someday I will return to this island, yet until then I shall never forget this Atlantic Pearl."
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| The sunset I saw! |
