Laugh in Freedom

I wrote this while praying for the village yesterday. "Lord, make this the prayer of my heart everyday. When I tell people about this summer, let my stories not be about what I have done, but rather what you have done through me."

I listened to the ocean, and its relentless waves. The Lord said to me, "There are my mercies. I pour them over you everyday."

I looked up at the stars in the dark, seemingly endless sky. They shone like diamonds. The Lord said to me, "These are my children whom I love. They live in darkness, and I have called you to bring them out."

I looked out the mountains and saw the rugged beauty of their strength. The Lord said to me, "I am your eternal foundation. In me there is no fault."

I heard the laughter of the village children. They know not of sadness or despair. The Lord said to me, "I have made you like a child again. Laugh in your freedom from the bonds of this world."

I looked deep into the eyes of every person in the village-empty, longing, afraid. The Lord said to me, "I have brought you to see where you have come from. See your past self in the mirrors of their saddened eyes."

I tasted the salt of the never ending ocean. The Lord said to me, "Be salt to my children. Be my light for their desperately searching souls."

Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.

-C.T. Studd

-Rachael

As it is the last week on the island for this team, pray for:

• genuine heart change in the lives of the people 
• believers to be led to baptism 
• believers to come together as one united body