Goodbye February, hello March! This year seems to be flying by. Our staff has been busy, busy, busy! This year has been the most normal since 2020 and we are so excited to be back and moving forward.
Public School started earlier this month and that has brought a stable routine back into many homes. With school starting we were able to increase our numbers at Happy Tummies. All 4 of our Happy Tummies are now at full capacity.
Just a reminder, Happy Tummies is part of our Compassion Ministries. It is an after-school program for elementary-aged children. The children come after school, wash-up, and eat a healthy, nutritious, delicious lunch. After lunch they wash their hands again, brush their teeth, and sit down for devotions. During devotions there is a time for praise and worship through music and a Bible story/teaching. After devotions, it’s time to get their homework done for the day. If someone doesn’t have homework, they are given some review worksheets and spend time in the library reading books. Happy Tummies runs Monday-Friday from 12:45-4:00pm.
If you would like to be a part of Happy Tummies, you can do so by donating here. As mentioned above, we are at full capacity right now but we have a waiting list at each Happy Tummies. Please, prayerfully consider partnering with us as we feed the children and, more importantly, pour into their spiritual lives. Many of these children come from non-Christian homes so they are the ones to bring the Gospel to their families. This is one of the ministries where we see the ripple effect reach further than imagined. We praise God for allowing us to be a part of the lives of all these little ones whom we have grown to love significantly.
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.
Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send him to you.
John 16:7 [NIV]
The work of the Holy Spirit
In John 16:7 Jesus told his disciples that it was necessary for him to leave so that He could send the Advocate (NIV) to them. Jesus, as a physical man, couldn’t be everywhere at the same time. It was necessary for Jesus to leave so the Holy Spirit, who can be everywhere, could come and help us.
Adoration, or worship, is part of what the Holy Spirit can place in us, and it is the cleansing element of our hearts that takes away the trash of worries, anxiety, hate, and resentment. Acts 16 mentions that Paul and Silas were dragged by the mob to face the authorities. The officials then ordered Paul and Silas to be stripped and severely beaten with wooden rods. I can imagine, the bruises, bumps, lacerations, and broken ribs caused by those rods! Not only that, but they were thrown in the deepest part of the prison; a prison infested with rats and roaches, with their feet fastened in the stocks, bleeding, and far away from their homes!
But what amazes me is the reaction of Paul and Silas to all of this. Acts 16:25-26 says that filled with the Holy Spirit, “they were praying and singing hymns to God and all the prisoners heard them. Suddenly a massive earthquake came, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors flew open, and the chains of all prisoners fell off!”
Paul and Silas weren’t sure they would be physically free, but they were sure that they had Him who could set them free from emotions that could disturb them like hate, vengeance, etc. Remember, you can decide to worship God in the midst of your trials, for the One who is in us, is greater than the one who is in this world.
