Discipleship is the Key10/12/2017 Hong is 12 years old and was born with HIV. His mother died from AIDS a few years after giving birth to him, his father is addicted to Meth and makes a living off and on as a laborer in Thailand, so he’s been raised by his grandmother whom he calls mom.. His grandmother makes a living sewing old pieces of fabric into cloths, floor mats, rags and the occasional shirt. They live at a level of poverty that is hard to imagine if you live in the west but is actually quite normal for our area. After sharing many meals with us and some prayer times Hong and his Grandma joined us one special morning for our Monday morning base worship. This morning was special because I felt to ask Hong’s Grandma if she would mind if I asked Hong to become a believer in Jesus. Hong’s Grandma excitedly responded with a yes and we explained to Hong what it meant to be forgiven by God because of Jesus and how we have to live out of gratitude to God for that forgiveness. I’m very slow these days to just lead someone in prayer to become a Christian as I want to form a community of Christians who are growing and sincere in their faith rather then just one off here and there in our evangelism times. Hong was the first person in fact we have prayed with so far since moving to our new location. His Grandma has been a believer in Jesus for some time but alcohol, drugs, and money problems have kept her from living out her faith in many years. Hong and his Grandma are a picture of how necessary discipleship, authentic community, counseling, and just being willing to endure a bit of drama can be in ministry. This became even more obvious when $250 went missing from our office downstairs and through a series of events it came out that Hong had taken it and his Grandma had spent most of it on various things. Suddenly I was thrust into the very difficult if not unfamiliar place of not knowing what to do. We worked with the village chief and my landlord to talk with Grandma and she returned $80 and about $100 worth of children’s clothes she intended to sell, that we could then give away to the poor in our community. This left us short $70 which we were happy to forgive but simply overlooking the situation altogether wasn’t going to work either. I told hong that he wouldn’t be allowed to come over any more for one month and we’d talk again and make a plan for restoration. After one month (a few days ago) Hong began to come over shyly waiting outside to see what would happen. Just yesterday we finally talked and let him know that we love and forgive him and want to have relationship with him. He pinky promised me that he won’t steal anymore and so pinkies locked we agreed to start again. One thing that anyone intending to help the poor, homeless, or hurting will quickly realize is the enormous amount of love, energy, and sacrifice it takes to encourage, coach, and walk with people to see them come into maturity and wholeness but then again who hasn’t been there? We all need an enormous amount of those things even if we aren’t coming out of as difficult a situation as Hong or his Grandma. It’s why Jesus came, it’s why the church exists, it’s God’s plan for his kingdom. With pinkies locked and forgiveness in our hearts God has called us to proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearts, and set free the people who are prisoners to darkness. Declaring that this is the year of the Lord’s favor God wants to comfort all that morn, provide for those who grieve, and give them a crown of beauty for their ashes. This is the God we serve and I’m believing God’s going to continue to do it here in Hong’s life his Grandma’s life and in our communities lives as well. It’s messy, dramatic, painful, and often very uncomfortable but what rewarding work at the end of the day. If you'd like to join me in it please consider supporting our work monthly or one time and let me know so we can keep you up to date with what's happening. For those who already give and who are praying and to all my friends joining in on the work of the Kingdom I love you guys and miss you lots! Hope to see many of you on my trip home in December. Lots of Love! Sincerely, Uriah
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply.AuthorMy name's Uriah Lyford and I'm a volunteer with YWAM. My dream is to see the spiritual solution of a restored relationship with God through Jesus be made available to every person on earth. I do this through the mentoring and training of young people to build and become the Church Jesus died for. Archives
June 2018
Categories |