If He Did it Before, He'll Do it Again

As we draw nearer to the end of our time here in Louisville, it has felt great to realize that, amidst the chaos that is our everyday routine and the times of frustration from lack of seeing God working, we are having to find replacements for us when we leave. And, honestly, I didn't trust that the Lord would provide anyone to replace us since we're near the end now. But in spite of my faithlessness I never stopped praying for someone to come after me, specifically, to love the Somali woman I have grown to love. 

Not only has He provided someone that can teach her English (much better than I because she's an actual ESL teacher) but she is also, we believe, a follower of Christ. Words cannot describe how elated I have felt since that moment I found out about her. I pray that she is able to show Christ's love as I have (prayerfully) showed this family that I will hold in my heart. Not only that, but He has also provided a couple willing to work with a family we just recently got connected with. 

The Lord is so faithful and I'm so ashamed to say that I often forget about it. But in His word He proves His faithfulness over and over again. And He will continue to prove it until the end of times.

-P52 Louisville

When I'm Weak, He is Strong

At the beginning of the summer, during orientation specifically, we were warned that this mission we have dedicated the next two months of our lives to would be difficult. I’m sure all of us understood this and nodded our heads in agreement. But it wasn’t until we got to our destinations and started our ministry that we fully understood what this meant. 

Recently, a good bit of our team has felt as if we weren’t doing what we came here to do and that we’d lost focus and motivation from not seeing much fruit. These are some of the exact things that we were warned about and are praying to not fall victim to again. Making connections and building relationships has been difficult, but I believe it’s because we’ve been relying on our own strength instead of that of our Heavenly Father. God’s Word tells us that He is our strength. We just have to have faith that He will provide us a way to carry out what He has planned for us this summer.

Pray that we will stay focused on our task.

Pray that we won't allow ourselves to become discouraged by what may appear to human eyes as a lack of fruit. We can't see God's overall plan.

God's Love

Jesus says in Luke 6:32, “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”

Two weeks ago, we were graced with a team of college students from Georgia who easily blended in with us and loved the children we were serving as if they’d known them their entire lives. It’s so amazing to see the love that God has for us poured out onto others. Seeing fellow believers fully committed to the people and the purpose of your mission is such an encouraging thing to experience. Even more so when they are humble while doing it. I thank God for the opportunity to fellowship and serve with those students. I believe it was the interaction we needed.

-Louisville P52 Team

Rain, Rain, Go Away

This morning started off like any other morning at Refuge here in Louisville, Kentucky. The team was getting ready for breakfast and our weekly meeting. All was well. Then things took a turn.

We planned on rain coming this afternoon, but plans A-D went awry anyway. My faithful student that I meet with every week for ESL was not able to meet but my partner and I didn’t find out until we were at her apartment. We went prayer walking and played outside with children at a local apartment complex since we weren’t able to do ESL. Until it started pouring down in the middle of an amazing jumping rope session. Nikki and Jasmine were planning on teaching their Somali Bantu friend to drive today, but not in the rain. 

Thank the Lord for watering the Earth, but oh how does it change our plans for the day.

Just this morning, our supervisor was reading Matthew 10 to us and reminding us that we will face many things during our time here that will discourage us. Even our quiet time today was talking about how God is always working even when we can’t see it. It’s so amazing to see and realize just how much the Lord encourages us before we even face our trials. We just have to be listening to him. We also need to have faith that God knows what He's doing and, "all things work together for good to them that love God..."

Meet the Team: P52 Louisville

Meet the team serving in Louisville, Kentucky this summer! These students are interning at Refuge Louisville to serve the local refugees.

Nikki is our team leader and graduate from the University of Georgia, spent last summer serving refugees in Nashville, Tennessee. She is so excited to see what she can learn from the Lord this time while serving in Louisville.

Micah, a recent high school graduate and Kentucky native, is dipping his toe into short-term missions to see if this is what the Lord is calling him to do long-term.

Jessica (me) is a psychology major and Spanish minor at Clayton State University. I have only been on one other missions trip that was all summer long and loved it. I am really looking forward to how the Lord will grow me this summer.

Caleb, a chemistry major at Auburn Montgomery, desires to play a part in fulfilling God's command of the Great Commission. Getting the opportunity to serve those that have been cast out of their own homes is just the beginning.

Jasmine is a sociology major at Auburn Montgomery. This girl has a lot of love and laughs to give to those that meet her. This is Jasmine's first missions trip and she is ecstatic about serving the Lord all summer long.



From left to right: Nikki, Micah, Jessica, Caleb and Jasmine

Broken Communities

The Refuge center in South Louisville is surrounded by communities filled with refugees from all over the world. Prayer walking is such a necessity for our team this summer. Please join us in praying for our communities and families.

Reflections

A conversation, a calling, a compass…

At this point in the summer, we all have a different outlook on our futures because of how God has worked over the past couple of months. Whether it has been a conversation with the children, a weary elderly woman, each other, or God himself, He has pointed us in directions we never expected to go.

We have all understood the call to missions and the tug it has on our hearts. We have seen brokenness, heartache, and hopelessness in our friends. We desperately long to reach out to those in need in order to show them the love of Christ in hopes that, in His sovereignty, He would draw them closer and closer to the knowledge and acceptance of His saving grace. 

We have all heard, understood, and embraced the gospel. During our team time the other morning, we read an article by Claude Hickman that says when choosing which path to take in life, “we don’t need a map, but a compass. The needle of a compass always points the same direction no matter which way you may turn it. Based off of that, a person can judge which direction would be the best to take. Our compass must be gospel centered because when our decisions are made with Christ pointing the way, no matter how many crossroads we come to, we will have a sure guide to go by.”

So as the summer ends, I think back over my time here in Louisville. Since I had recognized God’s call for me to the mission field I have had a lot of conversations with Him as well as mentors, about where and how. “Give me a heart to love and eyes to see people the way you see them,” I would pray.

He has answered those prayers, and for a long time my heart has been overseas among unreached people groups. However, both times I decided to spend my summer doing missions, I have ended up in Kentucky. Why? Because God had a lot to show me. Through both experiences He has slowly broken my heart and opened my eyes to the reality that it is not my job to save people. That’s His job and He is the only one who can do it. A motto for me this summer has been, “It’s my job to sow, and it’s God’s to grow.” Yes, my heart is overseas, but the reality is, I may not get there anytime soon. Trying to swallow that reality was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. I did not want to accept the fact that the mission field God may have for me right now is here in America. When I finally understood what God was trying to teach me, a whole world of fear and uncertainty opened up. I was frustrated and reluctant to accept God’s plans for my life because they weren’t my plans. I didn’t have every little detail laid out in front of me like a map, rather a direction to go and a guide to follow. And if I am using the compass correctly, I can clearly see it.

In that moment I was reminded of my favorite psalm that says:

Find rest, O my Soul, in God alone,

My hope comes from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation;

            He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor depend on God;

     He is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Trust in him at all times, O people;

  Pour out your hearts to him,

   For God is our refuge.

-Psalm 62:5-8

When I’m overwhelmed God reminds me of this psalm to keep me focused on Him and remember that He alone is my strength. With Him I will never be shaken, so no matter what may come my way, I can stand knowing He is not only my protector, but the foundation upon which I make my stand against the enemy and my hiding place when I become weary. It’s everything I need to follow His plan for my life and rest in His sovereignty.

-Ashley

Where Brokenness and Joy Collide

This past week has been kind of surreal in a way. It is an interesting thing when brokenness and true joy collide. Even the skies have been dark a lot, making it all the more beautiful when the sun shines through.

This week, we have felt brokenness in a number of ways:

Death. Whether it has been death of a loved one, friend, or family member, our team this summer has felt the brokenness that death brings especially this week. Brokenness for ones left behind. The sting of death can be bitter but strangely sweet when it is a brother who is now dancing at the feet of the one his soul loves. This is where brokenness and joy have a strange collision.

Sickness. Lanie and I visited our friend Amanda again yesterday. We try to visit her at least once a week, if not more. This time we brought her some groceries, as is custom in her culture. Once again, she had had a hard day with her very sick and frail mother the day before. Our Father is sweet in his timing. Our very presence in her home blesses her and teaches us so much. However, deep brokenness is felt. She lacks the hope in Truth that we have. She is exhausted. Our heart grows to lover her more and more every time we are with her, but it is also more  broken for her each time.  This is where brokenness and joy collide. 

Lost. A third way we have really felt brokenness this week is through the burden for our friends that are lost and looking for Truth. We long so badly for our friends to share with us in our hope. The fact that they do not causes our hearts to feel deep brokenness. However, we rejoice in the hope we do have and our constant, faithful Father. This is where brokenness and joy collide.

I am challenged by the reflections of Milton Vincent:

Like nothing else could ever do, the gospel instills in me a heart for the downcast, the poverty-stricken, and those in need of physical mercies, especially when such persons are of the household of faith.

When I see persons who are materially poor, I instantly feel a kinship with them, for they are physically what I was spiritually when my heart was closed to Christ...

The gospel reminds me daily of the spiritual poverty into which I was born and also of the staggering generosity of Christ towards me. Such reminders instill in me both a felt connection to the poor and a desire to show them the same generosity that has been lavished on me. When ministering to the poor with these motivations, I not only preach the gospel to them through word and deed, but I reenact the gospel to my own benefit as well."

Please continue to pray for us as we finish up our time here. We will feel brokenness in leaving these dear ones we have come to know.

-Hannah

A Song of Praise is Fitting.

"Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting."

Psalm 147:1

A song of praise is fitting.

When it has been a long day, a song of praise is fitting.

When I am not feeling up to go out and love and extend myself, a song of praise is fitting.

When my heart is missing home, a song of praise is fitting.

When I'm irritated, a song of praise is fitting.

When it rains and our plans are changed, a song of praise is fitting.

When I'm happy and full of joy, a song of praise is fitting.

When I make new refugee friends, a song of praise is fitting.

When I get invited into a new home, a song of praise is fitting.

When it is easy to sing and be thankful, a song of praise is fitting.

As I grow to love the city I have been placed in for the summer, a song of praise is fitting.

Oh what encouragement and what a challenge this Psalm brings. It brings my focus back to where it needs to be. No matter how high or how low... God is faithful, and a song of praise is fitting.

This past week, an old Iraqi woman pushed a wheelchair full of laundry by. We will call her Amanda. I smiled and noticed how beautiful she was. As she passed back by later, I offered her a cup of water. She smiled and accepted and sat down beside me. Struggling through language barriers, we made conversation. Next thing I knew, my team and I had spent three hours in her home with she and her mother.

Her mother is old and sweet and speaks no English. She is sick and forced to stay at home. She has eight children still living, but Amanda is the only one close and the only one to take care of her. She is lonely. As we left that evening, Amanda urged us to come back. Her mother kept saying something in Arabic, and Amanda told us she was saying that us being in her home made her feel like a mother again.

What a beautiful friendship we have been given, a song of praise is fitting.
Please pray for us as we continue to grow our friendship and love our new friends.
Pray that our love will be genuine and they would come to know truth.

-Hannah

Burden.

"What is this?" a young Somali girl asked me, pointing to my necklace.

"It's a cross!" I answered.

"What is that for?" she questioned.

"It's to remember Jesus who died on the cross for us," I responded.

"I will never believe Jesus is God!" She exclaimed. "Never ever ever ever."

Those words have been ringing in my head all week: "I will never believe Jesus is God! Never ever ever ever."

Here is this young girl who I have grown to love. We go into their home at least twice a week to work on reading and math. She and her siblings are so fun. They each have smiles that light up the room. They love to make up jokes and laugh. They won't let me be greeted or say goodbye without the biggest, most genuine of hugs. Their mother is kind and welcoming. I have truly grown to love this family. Yet the tough reality has begun to set in: they pray to a god who does not hear them. They are devout for a religion that is not truth. They spend hours a day at a school learning and memorizing a Holy Book that is in many ways contrary to the Bible. If they were to die today, I would not see them in eternity. Ouch.

Along with this deep burden, this week has been a really good week. May we not forget our call. We have been invited into homes, mosques, and shared meals around many different tables with many different people this week. It has been so good. However, it must not be taken lightly. Relationships continue to be built and Bible studies continue with our friend, A. There are also more potentials of Bible studies that we will continue to pursue this week. We are bringing light into thick darkness and at times we become weary. But God is faithful. What comfort it brings that he hears us when we call on him!

These verses have been constant in my mind and brought much comfort:

2 Timothy 1:7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

1 John 4:4. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Please pray that Bible study continues and that we have open opportunity to share the life saving news of the gospel.

-Hannah