Bibles, Burdens and the Cross

"My word, which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me without accomplishing what I desire,
and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

I put this verse from Isaiah 55 in front of us a few weeks ago as my English students left for Easter break, loaded down with Bibles.

Reuniting with them for class yesterday and hearing their testimonies of this "evangelism project" was such a joy and a challenge that I wish you could have been there.

Totaling their reports, 193 people came to know Christ for the first time these past two weeks. Hundreds of "new Christians" were spoken to, and 120 Bibles went out during this two week period. As was mentioned a dozen times in class, "Praise the Lord, because it was for His glory". I don't even know what to say about this, but PRAISE the LORD!

They were also met with much opposition. Several people actually ran them out of their homes, saying that until their bellies and pockets were full, they want to hear nothing of this Jesus. Some students need even more Bibles for certain areas that are converting and desperate for discipleship. Other students, who worked for days in areas that are very hardened to the Gospel, actually returned some of their Bibles.

What a great reminder that we've GOT to keep praying for Haiti! I am convinced that ALL of Haiti and ALL of the world is in desperate need of the One True Living God, but there are many who are still unaware or resistant to the fact that HE is the answer for that need.

One student brought his sister to the Lord. "I have talked to her a dozen times about Christ, and she was never interested. This time, I began to speak about Him, and she was SO ready!"

Another bravely spoke to her hardened and hateful brother. "I have prayed for him for song long, and when I have tried to tell him about Jesus, he would make life difficult for me. I spoke to him on April 11th, and on April 12th, he went to church with me. He asked me after church for a Bible, and I know he is not a Christian yet, but God is at work! Please pray!"

One of my students who clearly has an evangelical heart visited a family whose daughter had just died. He said he arrived to their little house only to find the mother, father, and four siblings desperately ill and in bed, unable to stand. The youngest child was the only one NOT sick, but she was starving, having been unable to find food for herself and unable to help her family. Ben spent a long time with the family, trying to help them and praying for them. "I knew they were in a very bad way," he told us, "but I felt let to tell them about Jesus." He spoke to all of them about the Lord, and brought the mother to Christ. Miraculously, she got up, having been unable to do so before, and started tending to her husband and children, admonishing them to repent of their sins and come to Christ as well! Ben left her with a Bible and some money and a promise to return.

Finally, Wilfrid, the class evangelist, shared. "Praise the Lord," he said in broken English, "I saw 4 people come to Christ!"

"Praise the Lord!" we all said. "Four people!" I said, holding up four fingers.

"OH" he said, shaking his head. "No, No! FourTEEN!"

Realizing at this point that we need to work on English numbers again, we all laughed, and said, "Yay! Fourteen!"

Just to check, I said "fourteen" in Creole.

"No, no!!" Wilfrid said again, getting frustrated with his English. "I'm going to speak Creole!"

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY. (yeah, we really need to work on English numbers again!)

"I worked every day, and I worked every night. Some nights I did not sleep, and no days did I rest. For fourteen days I did nothing but preach, teach, and talk to people about Jesus. I talked to hundreds of people about Jesus, and 140 came to know Jesus. On April 11th, I arranged it in my church for more people to go out like I had been, and tell people about what Jesus had done for them, and on that day, these 12 people brought 50 people to the Lord, too!"

Needless to say, he is one of the students that needs more Bibles! He is also the pastor of a church, and not only brought all of these people to Christ, but brought many of them into the church as well. This will ensure future discipleship and the opportunity for him to teach and work with them.

I'm blessed. I didn't have this idea. I prayed for what God had in store for Easter break. I felt like He told me to get Bibles. My class told me of the unsaved people they had burdens for. We matched Bibles with their burdens and prayed together and went!

And two weeks later, we have 193 more sisters and brothers in Christ, all because of His voice, His provision, His grace and His Son!

Praise the Lord!