All in All - Ephesians 1_23

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Greetings family and friends from the city of Yako, in Burkina Faso!  Our stay here at the Sheltering Wings Orphanage is going very well.  We just got back from Sunday morning church at a local Assembly of God church that the orphanage staff and children attend.  We were truly blessed to be able to worship Jesus with believers from another country and language.  Most of the locals here speak Mooré (and no we don't speak it even though our last name is Moore!)  Some also speak French, so Pastor Etienne ('Steven' in English) preached in Mooré and another man translated into French.  Ruth Cox, our host here at the orphanage, translated for us into English. 

 

We are settling in here for the week ahead.  Our surroundings are just the bare essentials: a bed, a dresser, a bathroom, simple food and no AC.  But our hearts are full as we take opportunities to minister to those around us.  The children here at the orphanage are well taken care of and are fortunate to be in a loving Christian environment when the alternative for many of them was surely death or life on the streets.  But even here some have conditions most people would agree that only advanced medical care can cure.  Fortunately we know One who can cure all! 

 

We have learned that just as Jesus "carried" our sins (all of them, not just a few) 2000 years ago on the cross, He also "carried" our sicknesses and diseases.  In Isaiah 53, the Hebrew words used for "carry" are exactly the same.  If you believe that He carried your sins for you so that you do not have to, then you can believe that He carried your sicknesses too.  So truly we are all healed in the spiritual realm; bringing that healing into the physical realm of Earth is the responsibility of those who follow Jesus. 

 

And we had opportunity to do just that yesterday evening.  We went with another missionary, Lynn, and a local translator to a small village on the outskirts of Yako to visit a family where some of the members have recently begun to follow Jesus themselves.  She taught a brief lesson to the children (about 20 altogether between several families) and then asked if Kristine or I had anything to add or share.  When we had first arrived at this "courtyard" (the central area in between a number of mud-brick huts) I noticed a girl about 7 years old who was lying facedown on the ground in a pile of just-harvested peanut plants.  Another girl walked by and kicked her in the side and she didn't even move.  The Holy Spirit kept whispering her to my heart as we listened to the lesson about Jesus' love.  When Lynn asked, I immediately asked what was wrong with the girl and could I pray for her.  The answer was: malaria and yes we could pray. 

 

Kristine, Joshua and I made our way over to the little girl named Irene.  With all eyes on us, we anointed her with oil and began to pray.  Her skin was very hot to the touch when we began.  But as we prayed, worshiped and praised Jesus for carrying her sickness for her, she began to cool off.  She broke into a sweat as the fever broke, and a few minutes after we prayed for her, she joined the other kids in the group!  What an amazing, mighty God we serve.  We praise Him that He has given such authority to men to administrate His Kingdom on Earth.  Yet, as it is written, we "do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to us, but rejoice that our names are written in Heaven." (Luke 10:20)  Jesus clearly said that if we do all kinds of miracles yet do not know Him, we will not enter Heaven.  So this is our balance: to know Jesus more and more intimately, and to bring His Kingdom to Earth. 

 

After we prayed for Irene, we were asked to pray for a little boy with heart problems.  Afterwards, he indicated that he could breathe much better than before.  We know that Jesus was working on the inside of his body even though we couldn't see as much on the outside.  In the same way, Kristine also prayed for a lady suffering from severe depression and for another with epilepsy, and we know that God is no respecter of persons: He heals one the same as another, for His power knows no limits.  We believe they were healed as well.

 

So rejoice with us at what God is doing!  In addition to working through us, He has taken care of us in so many ways: Ruth, Lynn, Nicole and Ami have been great hosts here in Yako (Nicole and Ami from the US are each assisting at the orphanage for 1 year), the food has been great, we have not gotten sick and I don't believe we've seen more than 1 mosquito.  And pray for us that we would be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Even though we still have over a week left in Burkina Faso, there are many things that could be done.  We ask for wisdom.  Thanks for joining with us through prayer.

 

-Jeffrey