Psalm 12

Today is April 12th, somebody once recommended to me to read a Proverb and Psalm a day (kind of like the old saying "eating an apple a day will keep the doctor away.”) Anyways, reading through this I felt deeply encouraged by the words in Psalm 12 and wanted to share with you. 

(Using the NLT and the description is from the commentary in the NLT Study Bible.)

Vs.1 Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!  The faithful have vanished from the earth! 
Living for God in a deceitful world can be a difficult and lonely battle.  At one time the great prophet Elijah felt so lonely he wanted to die.  But God told him that there were 7,000 other faithful servants (1Kings 19:4, 14, 18).  We are never alone in our battle against evil.  When you feel alone, seek out other believers for strength and support.

Vs.2 Neighbours lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and insincere hearts.
Vs.3 May the Lord bring their flattery to an end and silence their proud tongues.
Vs.4 they say, "We will lie to our hearts' content.  Our lips are our own-who can stop us?"
We may be tempted to believe that lies are relatively harmless, even useful at times.  But God does not overlook lies, flattery, deception, or boasting.  Each of these sins originates from a bad attitude that is eventually expressed in our speech.  The tongue can be our greatest enemy because, though small, it can do great damage (James 3:5,6).  Be careful how you use yours.

Vs.5 the Lord replies, "I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor.  Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do."
God cares for the weak and the needy.  Here He promises to protect the downtrodden and confront their oppressors.  We should identify with God's attitude.  His work is not done until we care for the needs of the poor.

Vs.6 the Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.
Sincerity and truth are extremely valuable because they are so rare.  Many people are deceivers, liars, flatters; they think they will get what they want by deception.  As a king, David certainly faced his share of such people, who hoped to win his favour and gain advancement through flattery.  When we feel as though sincerity and truth have nearly gone out of existence, we have one hope- the word of God.  God's words are as flawless as refined silver.  So listen carefully when He speaks.

Vs.7 Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation,
Vs.8 even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.

Amen.

I love to have "surprises" in my pocket whenever I am going to see some kids! It is a great way to break the ice! The kids of a family that I used to babysit quite often always knew that I would have something special in my purse when I would go to their house. Well, my pockets will be full for the next while as my class just finished celebrating 3 birthdays with a "fiesta." We made a home-made piñata which was filled with lots of goodies and small toys ....so I gathered myself a big pile to "fill my pockets" for the chicos. :) Here is a picture of the piñata:

Anyways, I am just returning from Kids Soup Kitchen...every other Tuesday is a bible study with the kids.  Tonight, Cecila (the boss!) asked me if this upcoming Saturday I could shadow one of the teachers so that the following Saturday I could teach! (WOW!) I would be honoured! I will let you know how it goes ...it won’t be for a few more weeks though as I will be heading to **** this weekend and helping out with the Kids Club there since I have a long weekend. (There is a national holiday here) That will give me a little more time to have some more Spanish under my belt as well. :)
Tonight was a joy, I love being with the kids...and it’s especially fun whenever my pockets are full! :)

Chewing on this today:
Heb 11:1-3
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. AMEN!

:::Kids Club::: ...and more

Happy Monday! I come bearing GREAT NEWS....somebody sponsered the little boy from Nicaragua through Compassion International that I had posted a link to on my previous entry! PRAISE GOD!!!!! Thank you to whoever it was!

***
 Here are some pictures from Kids Club....(I had these sent to me...I don't take out my camera too often but am trying to get better at taking it out more.)

 This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to help with a "Kids Soup Kitchen." I met an older missionary in another town a few hours from where I live last month, who connected me with this wonderful ministry that is super close to where I live. I just hop on the bus and am there in 20 min! Every day the kids come for lunch and on Saturdays it is a VBS deal with lunch for the kiddos! This area is known to be more dangerous than other places, drugs, you know the whole bit...but this ministry run by Cecilia and her husband (locals who live in this town and had a vision for something more for the kids) are very respected because the people here know that they are trying to help the kids. They run a service every other Tuesday night so I have gone the past couple of Tuesdays although this is the first Saturday that I was able to go and help and be a part of the ministry; I even got to help Cecila cook lunch for all the kiddos...so much fun! :) I am not able to go during the week because I am in school during that time...but am thankful for the time that I do get to spend there!
Thank you Jesus for connecting your people to YOUR plan and thank you Jesus for letting me be a part!

Matt 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Proverbs 19:17 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁷ If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—
      and he will repay you!

I just returned from a short trip to Nicaragua this past weekend; I have been in Costa Rica for almost three months so had to leave the country in order to renew my visa and be able to stay here another three months! My school organized a trip so that was a huge blessing and made it easy for all of us to take care of our obligations.

Although the main purpose of the trip was to be outside of Costa Rica for 72 hours, as their law declares I believe the Lord had some important little ones on His agenda as well! :)

Thank you Lord for opportunities to share your love with people, especially little ones....they are so precious! It would break your heart to see the little ones begging and selling items in the streets...if they could walk they are old enough to be working.

On Saturday at lunch there was a 13 year old boy named Manuel and his little 8 year old brother named Marco who approached me to buy some sunglasses, a bracelet or some little trinket. They were just so precious (they were about the 5th or more set of people to approach me within a half hour.) Anyways, I pulled little Marco's sunglasses off and began to converse with the two boys. I asked Manuel if he knows God and he answered "yes."
 He looked at my white skin with such awe and told me that he liked my white skin as he compared his brown skin. I told him that it doesn’t matter our skin but that we are all God's children. AND then the little cutie answered "yes I know," as he began to sing "red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." song! And then started with another...We ended up going for a walk and spent time playing and talking and ended up meeting up with some of their other siblings (Gabriela who is probably 2.5 or 3yrs) and then  another sister who is 12 (but don’t remember her name) They live with their mom in the capital of Nicaragua, Managua. It was such a blessing to spend my afternoon with these ones, please pray for them by name. You can pray that they would be protected and provided for but most of all that they would truly know the love of Christ. Pray for their mom that she would have wisdom and strength to raise her 6 (in total I think) children and also that she would be encouraged and have the ability to provide for her children in physical needs but most importantly  lead them spiritually in the right path!

On Sunday morning before I left I walked up the same street where I met the kids to see if  I could find them again...I was only able to find Marco and Gabriela the two youngest ones (they were out begging) I got a picture with them. Here they are:

So, in honour of these little ones...Would you consider sponsoring a child in Nicaragua through Compassion International? There is no time commitment ... and I can assure you that it is well worth the investment. Here is the link: http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/waystosponsor/ChildBio.htm?Child=NI1750408

**Remember that in Nicaragua they speak Spanish so that means that I was talking in Spanish to these little ones! Praise God, I'm learning! woo hoo. Thank you for your help!!

Peace!

Melissa W

For those of you that know me, you know that I have had a struggle with fear ...one of the phrases that I have repeated multiple times in a fearful moment is: "Do not fear for God is near!" It's the truth, God is always with me. When I choose to fear I am essentially fearing the enemy rather than fearing the God who has created the entire universe and all of the people in it!
       ***
God is in control. If you find yourself questioning the "why" of the crazy happenings in this world just remember that God is good. He is always good. That will never change. He is God and He is good.

                                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG-zoopwV_I

Weekend Update:
This past weekend I travelled once again to the town that has my heart. I had the opportunity to help with "kids club" Saturday morning...it is held in an impoverished neighbourhood filled with hard drugs and alcoholism. Saturday morning is a safe place for the kids to come and have fun and be loved on for a few hours while they hear about the love of Christ. Each week there is a small bible lesson, craft and snacks and juice. I tell you these kids are serious about getting their snack and juice! :) Afterwards they each are given a bag of rice and beans to take home.
I want to cry just thinking about it because oh how I would love to be there every day at this moment! It was so refreshing to play and hang out with these beautiful children!
THIS year is a foundation for future years of ministry...I can't skip the foundation because we all know what happens when a foundation is built on sand, right?

Gal 5:22-25
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit.


:)Melissa