If you can read through this letter without shedding a tear, you're made of stronger mettle than I!
This is an actual, recent letter from one of the missionaries our church supports. You can feel the heart of a mother and the hand of the Lord in this. After reading it, it had definitely encouraged me to find the worth in willing walking through this challenging time God has for us if it means that "Fatima heard of her savior, was saved, and worshiped the one true God."
After days of clearly seeing our Father's leading in moving our family here, we all began to be struck with physical ailments. We were all sharing symptoms of an odd blistering rash, fevers, headaches, vomiting and then an infestation of worms. These worms had burrowed into the top layers of the skin, and as they moved around it caused severe itching. In the evening, Lydia laid in our bed as I applied medication, and she was about in tears over it all. We were praying for the medication to help, and she began questioning why we had moved.
As I held her, I asked her, "If Fatima heard of her savior, was saved, and worshipped the one true God, would you be willing to have worms? Would it be worth it?" She turned to me and questioned, "Who is Fatima? We don't know a Fatima." I replied a little exasperated, "I don't know. It's just a name I came up with. The point is that if a girl heard of her savior through you, would you be willing to suffer through these worms?" She just soaked it in, and I could tell she was processing it. And honestly, so was her very tired mama.
The following morning, a national friend stopped by to check in on our family. She had visited us the day before where she had seen me fatigued, yet excited that God might have provided a solution through medication. We chatted about how everyone had seen improvement. Praise God! She had brought her niece with her. Her niece has worms, too, and had scratched the skin raw. "Can you help her?"
"Let us prepare some medicine and try." I asked Lydia to play outside with the niece while we prepared. Those two girls enjoyed each other's company so much, even with a language barrier! The niece had such a sweet demeanor. We applied the medicine, and my friend and her niece began to leave.
I looked at the girl and said, "We would like for you to come back and play. How old are you?"
"Eleven."
"That's great; Lydia will be eleven in a month! What is your name?"
"My name is Fatima."
Lydia squeezed my hand, and I stood silent. We wished our friends farewell. As I closed our gate, my daughter looked at me with wonder and asked, "Is that THE Fatima?"
Our family spontaneously worshipped our immense, real, and intimate Father. What a gift of grace. As we recounted the story to one another, Lydia suddenly realized that she would not have met Fatima if she hadn't had worms. Now her desire to share His Name has increased tremendously. This is a fight, and we all experienced that what was meant for evil, our Father meant it for good.
A really cool article from Raising Homemakers. It's interesting reading how a missionary teaches their children about evangelism. I don't know about you, but we usually have plenty of hard boiled eggs left after Easter. How about some egg salad finger sandwiches to go with the tea?
Easy Peasy Family EV
by ArabahJoy on April 14, 2011
Ever since my oldest could talk, he was sharing the gospel.
It wasn’t something we taught him and I often wondered how it happened ~smiles~ but then I realized he was simply saying a handful of phrases that my husband and I constantly shared with others ourselves. Things like, “Have you ever heard of Jesus before?” “Do you believe in God?” and “God exists, He really does!”
As missionaries in a communist, atheist country, we always sought to open spiritual conversations with everyone we could. Sharing Jesus was a way of life.
Then God blessed us with 3 children in 23 months and things changed. Suddenly, I was at home…ALOT. And my girls weren’t getting the exposure to sharing Jesus that my son had. They weren’t seeing me be missional and I missed it!
What to do?
It’s a good question. For stay at home moms who may have limited contact with the lost, how can we purposefully teach our children to share Jesus?
As I asked God what I could do, He gave me the idea of “Tuesday Tea.” This is where my girls and I prepared a special tea with snacks and invited a guest of honor ~ a neighbor who did not know Jesus.
This idea was easy peasy because what neighbor wants to turn down a child’s invitation?! And they came to us! Now that we are in the states on furlough, I am finding this an excellent way to reach out to other SAHMs in our neighborhood.
Getting Started:
~ Start by making a list of names or addresses of people on your street, neighborhood, or in your community. Add names of unsaved friends and family members as well. It doesn’t have to be many to start with, just reach out.
~ Keep adding names to your “Blessing List” as you meet new people or see neighbors at the park, in the yard, etc.
~ Plan the “menu” for your first Tea Time and make invitations. We do our tea time from 10:00 – 10:30am. The short time is on purpose, so our guests know this won’t drag out.
Involving the Children:
~ Get your kids excited by telling them you want to bless others together. They can help by selecting the special guest, making invitations, helping deliver them, baking the goodies, selecting the menu, setting the table, serving the guests, dressing up, preparing a story or scripture, ect.
~ Make it regular. Pick a day of the week so your kids can look forward to this special day. You can have your tea parties weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly to work around family schedules. Build anticipation by talking about it in between parties.
~ Ask your kids for input. They will come up with some great ideas that will probably be the best of all
Making it Evangelistic:
~A super easy way to turn the tea party to Christ is to simply tell your guest upon arrival, “We would like to make you feel special and bless you today while you are here. Is there any specific way we can pray for you?”
~You can make scriptures that bless into placemats or simply write them on cards and leave them on top of the tea saucers.
~Have the children sing a song or an older child read a short Bible story.
~Be prepared to share your testimony. Some people don’t know how to “jump into” their testimony, so here are some openings you can use: “I wouldn’t be the person I am without Jesus. Here is how He has changed my life…”
Or, “Jesus is the best thing that has happened to me! Let me tell you what happened…”
Or, “I haven’t always been the person I am today. I used to …. until I met Jesus…”
Most importantly, have fun!
Sharing Jesus is one of the “funnest” things there is! Don’t be discouraged if things don’t go exactly as planned; instead, begin by praying before the guests arrive, committing the time and effort as a love offering to the Lord. Then enjoy the ride, however it turns out! He will accept your gift and direct your paths.
Doing a few simple things at each tea party, like praying for your guests and telling them Jesus loves them, will help your child learn the basics of sharing Jesus and starting spiritual dialogue.
Part of the legacy I want to leave my children is serving others and sharing Christ. The tea party does both. Who knew that something so simple could leave such a legacy?
Care to join in? If you have an “EV Tea,” let us know how it goes! For more ideas and inspiration, check out Tea Parties with a Purpose: 10 Simple and Fun Party Ideas for Kids of All Ages by Bobbie Wolgemuth.
I’m praying for lots of Tea Parties this month
By Arabah Joy, Arabah
