13 Birthdays

13 Birthdays

At first, it looked like a birthday party like any other… there were people laughing, food and drinks were being passed around, the “Happy Birthday” song was sung, and little gifts and cards were being given to me, the “Birthday Girl.”  

And then… the room fell silent.

The majority of you know that I’m not one who is normally at a loss for words. Give me a crowd full of people and a microphone and you’ll see that you’ve put me right in the middle of my sweet spot.  Nothing energizes me more than being able to spiritually motivate people from a stage.  But we all have our insecurities.

Here in Brazil, my top two insecurities are making coffee (without a coffee maker) and speaking the Portuguese language – two major things that an Amazon missionary (or anyone living in Brazil for that matter) MUST do.  The coffee thing, I’m getting better at; but mastering this foreign language has been, by far, my greatest struggle.  I tell myself that these things keep me humble and dependant on God.  Little did I know, He would put my dependency on Him, to the ultimate test:

The room fell silent.  In the middle of all the festivities, it was though someone had turned a switch – and all eyes were on me.  It was time to make a speech – In Portuguese!  One-on-one, and in our community church services, I normally do just fine with my Portuguese, but in spontaneous public speaking moments, my insecurity monster tends to show his ugly head.

I took a deep breath, looked out at all the eyes of those who I have lived among for the last 11 months, and screamed a silent prayer for help.  A unique love and compassion then began to rush through me.  Then, Mark 16:17 came to life. (“They will speak in new tongues.”)  From my mouth came the most beautiful Portuguese I have ever heard.  I spoke with words and phrases that I could have never put together on my own.  From my mouth, the Holy Spirit spoke about how one can “be saved” (Romans 10:9) and what it means to have eternal life (John 3:16).  

After speaking for a few minutes, I paused, and realized that this was no ordinary birthday party.  God was in the mist of divinely orchestrating something far beyond what I could have asked or imagined (Ephesians 13:2).  From my mouth then came Matthew 10:32-33: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”  With a boldness unlike ever before, I asked if there was anyone who wanted to put off their old way of living, publicly acknowledge their faith in Christ, and surrender their life to God in that moment.”  Twelve hands went up!  

I called on one of the spiritual leaders of the community, who is known for her faithful discipleship; and she led the twelve in a beautiful prayer, for salvation.

Applause filled the room after the prayer was finished.  A new reason for celebration was now on everyone’s lips.  We were now not only celebrating my physical birthday, but also the spiritual birthdays of 12 new members of the family of Christ.  THAT calls for celebration!  

John 3:3 – “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ”

2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

John 1:12 – “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”

Let's CELEBRATE!  There are now new children of God in this Amazonian community!  

Stand Out today and share your testimony with someone.  

It may lead them to celebrate their first birthday, spiritually.

It Can Be Fixed... Right?!?

It Can Be Fixed… Right?

Recently, I was extremely blessed to have a team of American’s come and join me for a short time here in the Amazonian community, where I live.  On their last day in the community, the Americans and some Bible students of mine built a large cross together.  The heat that day was excruciating, but non-the-less, these young students and sweaty Americans put their hearts and souls in to cutting down a tree and constructing a cross much larger than themselves, in the front of the community.

A couple of days after the American group left, a few of the students wanted to take our Bible class out to the cross.  We sang songs and quoted scripture verses as we hiked down the path, through the jungle, to get to the commemorable location.

Our songs quickly vanished as we noticed that the cross was gone.  Puzzled looks came across everyone’s faces and then you could feel the wave of emotions from bewilderment to hurt to anger, flood the air.  Who would take down a cross?!?  Who would do such a thing?!?

The students didn’t take this lightly! This cross was personal to them.  After the initial shock wore off, a search-and-rescue mission immediately began.  After about 10 minutes, I heard *Michelle yell, “It’s here!  The cross is here!!  I found it!!!”  Excited little bare feet came running out of the jungle and stood at the top of the steep river bank.  All eyes stared down to see if the news was true.  *Oliver ran straight passed the onlookers and went right down the bank, arriving at *Michelle’s side.  He confirmed that it was, indeed, our cross.  Cheers went up from all of us.

As *Oliver and *Michelle began to lift the cross, both he and *Michelle quickly came to a halt. *Michelle hesitated and then looked up at me and with the biggest tears in her eyes, she said, Jennifer, it’s broken.  They broke our cross!  Our cross is broken!!  Do you think… Do you think we can fix it?  It can be fixed… right, Jennifer???”  Tears streamed down my face as I called down to her, “Yes *Michelle, yes.  Don’t worry.  We can fix it.  The cross can be fixed.”  

*Oliver, being the typical 12-year old boy that he is, had no idea what to do with this crying 13 year-old-girl in front of him.  He gave her a quick pat on the back, said a few words to her, and then motioned with his hands for the rest of the crew to come down and help them.  Together, they pushed, pulled, tugged, and maneuvered the heavy pieces of the cross back up the bank.

Together, we fixed the cross.  Smiles were back on everyone’s faces as we prayed around the cross and had a lesson on forgiving those who in one way or another break our “crosses” in life.  Nothing goes unnoticed by our Great God.  He sees it all.

Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” 

Has someone in your life broken your cross?  Have they hurt you or disappointed you in a way you hadn’t dreamed possible?  Have you turned away from God because someone broke your cross, years ago, by abusing you, stealing from you, or lying to you in an unforgettable way?

Today, let God fix your cross.  The cross can be fixed, I promise.  No matter how badly someone has shattered the pieces of your hopes, dreams, or your life in general, they can be fixed.

Jesus, God’s only Son, came to this earth to fix all of our broken crosses.  Before you or I were ever born, before we ever experienced a broken cross moment in our lives, God set in place a Savior who would bare all our crossed and help us put any and all broken pieces back together.

Here’s a pat on the back (and a Huge Hug) from *Oliver and I.  Pray now, and ask God to fix your broken cross.  Go and enjoy today, free of all the pressures that those broken cross pieces (grudges, hurts, and pains) have been on you for so long.  

*Names have been changed in order to honor security regulations.

The Request to Trade

Three mornings a week, I hold a Bible study for youth ranging from ages 12 to 15. The clothing of the children here is of very poor quality, ragged and worn down, as it has literally been passed down through 5 to 10 siblings. As a “prize” for completing a full Bible study course workbook with me (2 chapters and 2 tests, which takes a student, on average, about 2-3 weeks to complete), the youth get to pick a shirt or pair of shorts from the clothing prize box. For the first time, last week, 3 youth completed a full book (course) and got to go to the prize box and claim their choice of clothing. Their faces lit up and you would have thought, from the way they treasured their prizes, I had just given them a new wardrobe of royalty.

A little after dark, I heard a faint knock at my door; it was *Jose, one of the male youth, 12 years old, who had acquired a pair of shorts from the box that day. Though proud of all the youth, I was especially proud of *Jose because he comes from one of the poorest families in the community and his education and reading levels are well below where they should be; yet with the most persistance and courage, he read aloud during our lessons and stuck it out to complete the first Bible study course. With his shorts under his arm, he shyly said,

“Miss “*J”… I, I, ummm…” (his head dropped), “I was wondering if maybe you would let me trade my shorts?” “Absolutely, *Jose. Would you like a shirt instead? I have red and black,” I said. “Umm… No, no thank you,” he said. And then, as he humbly held out his shorts, the most prized possession that he has probably ever owned in his life, he said, “I’d like to trade my shorts for a Bible. May I please trade these so that I can have a Bible of my own?”

Talk about trying to hold back the tears and pull it together to even get a word out! My eyes swelled with tears, and I said,

“*Jose, you may keep your shorts and the next time I am in the city, I will get you a Bible of your own.”

*Jose was introduced to God and studied the Bible for the first time when he started the youth Bible study course a few weeks ago. Because of his low education level, I really wondered at times if he understood any of what he was reading or hearing… but apparently, he was. He understood enough to know that he wanted his own Bible to continue his studies of our Beloved God, even when we didn’t have class.

In Hebrews 4 we read that God’s Word is “living and active.” God also promises us that His Word will not return void – as clearly proven in the case of *Jose. What an excellent reminder to me of the power of the Living Word – The Bible. I’d like to encourage you to STAND OUT and share the Word of God with someone today, even if it’s just a verse or two. You never know, the Word you share may be even more valuable to that person than their most valued, prized possession. That’s the power of the Word of God!

*Names have been changed in order to honor security regulations.