On Friday, we led an extra session in the morning that we had not planned to lead (we are flexible!). A few teachers came and we were able to talk to them in more depth about their Sunday School programs and the challenges they face. Many are in churches where the leadership does not value Sunday School or children’s programs. These teachers have a deep passion for children, even leading Bible clubs with 60 children in their homes (because there is no space at church) or caring for children coming from difficult situations. Their heart for children inspired us and we were able to encourage and pray for them, as well as work together to come up with some practical ways to help. Pastor Kamar from Nandi Pentacostal Church was especially encouraging and has committed to speaking to pastors about the value of children and Sunday School.
Before our training, Phoebe led our group in a wonderful devotion that turned out to be so timely. We wanted to share it with you:
Dealing With the “Nothing Phase” of Your Prayer
1 Kings 18:42-44: Ahab got up to eat and drink. Elijah went to the top of Carmel and bowed down on the ground to pray. He said to his servant, Please go back to Mount Carmel, and look toward the sea.” He went up, looked, came back, and said, “There’s
through six seasons of prayer until finally “a little cloud like a man’s hand” appeared. We are not told how long it took this warrior of prayer to bring down rain after three and a half years of drought and famine but I can tell you, it did not take less than six hours of continuous prayer even after God had promised to send down rain. Elijah knew how to deal with delay in his prayer
life.
Please PUSH in prayer for these teachers – that they will not lose heart and will put into practice what they have learned. Pray for the pastors and elders of their churches to understand how valuable children are and how important it is to teach them. Pray for the children in these churches to know that God loves them. Pray that God will give even us a passion for children that will match these beautiful teachers.
A verse that came to me is "on your journey, take Nothing" and is part of my two hand-written journals. I typed all this in over two nights after our return and the writing is a "new book" in MS Word format. I am still proof-reading. We had a total of eight on our team. Half (four) had been previously (to Kenya work camp).
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