real faith.

In a certain country, there was a man who had to walk three days to church.  Because of the distance and of the possibility of dangerous roads, this man, whom I will call Faithful Man, started worshipping with his wife and sons in his home.  Slowly, more and more believers gathered together will him to pray, sing, and read the Word of God.  The number grew to twenty-five, and police came to a meeting warning Faithful Man to stop having church in his home.  Faithful Man could not understand.  This was not a church.  It was not a fancy building, and he was definitely not a pastor.  How could they accuse him of having church?

The gathering of believers continued to meet.  There was fifty people, and again, the police came warning him and telling him to stop holding church.  He still stood against them.  But his picture of church began to change.  Maybe this was what real church was?  Then, there were seventy-five people in his home.  The police stormed in and this was the end.  They took Faithful Man from his family and dismissed the believers.

Faithful Man was put in prison.  For seventeen years.

He underwent torture year after year and was lied to often about his family and friends.  But Faithful Man was faithful.  Alone in his cell, he would wake up every morning, face the window, raise his arms, and sing praises to God in his heart language.  The other prisoners, over 1200 of them, would throw extra food at him and curse and mock in their languages.  But every morning, he continued to worship his God.

Also, whenever he found a scrap of paper, he would write down as many verses from God's Word and songs from his language to God as he could remember.  He would stick it up high on the pillars in his cell.  It would stay there until the soldiers found it and ripped it to shreds and then tortured him.

All that Faithful Man had to do to get out of prison was sign a paper saying that he was not a follower of Christ.

One day, Faithful Man found an entire piece of paper.  He filled it entirely with verses and songs.  He knew they would find it in his cell, but it was such a wonderful thing to be able to write so much at one time.

Then, the darkest hours of his life came.  After they found the paper, they lied to him saying that his wife was killed.  He thought his life was over.  After fighting and resisting all day, he finally gave in, believing his wife had died, and said that in the morning he would sign the papers.

That night miles and miles away, Faithful Man's wife and children and brothers and sisters in Christ felt his heavy burden and were praying fervently for him.  And miles and miles away from them, the Holy Spirit allowed Faithful Man to hear their voices praying for him.  He heard his wife praying for him.

The soldiers came in the morning.  Faithful Man told them he would not sign.  He had a weak moment, but he could not surrender to a lie.  He was a follower of Christ and would follow Him no matter the cost.  The soldiers could not stand it anymore.  They were dragging him out of the prison hallway on their way to kill him...

...when over 1200 prisoners faced their windows, raised their arms, and sang praises to God in their heart language.

The soldiers were so terrified that they let go of Faithful Man, left him immediately, and ran far away.  And Faithful Man was able to live to tell his story of His God.

"Then He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

This is REAL FAITH.

Could you stand for Jesus Christ in the depths of a living hell?    He stood for you.

a poem from a training session.

"The Cross Was His Own"

They borrowed a bed to lay His head

When Christ the LORD came down;

They borrowed the ass in the mountain pass

For Him to ride to town;

But the crown that He wore,

And the cross that He bore ...

Were His own.

He borrowed the bread when the crowd He fed

On the grassy mountain side;

He borrowed the dish of broken fish

With which He satisfied;

But the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own.

He borrowed the ship in which to sit

To teach the multitude;

He borrowed the nest in which to rest,

He had never a home so rude;

But the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own.

He borrowed a room on the way to the Tomb

The Passover lamb to eat;

They borrowed the cave; for Him a grave;

They borrowed the winding sheet.

But the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own.

The thorns on His head were worn in my stead,

For me the Saviour died.

For guilt of my sin the nails drove in

When Him they crucified;

Though the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own--

They rightly were mine!

 ~Author unknown

alone-->nothing.

When I stop and consider the task ahead, I think...

Can I learn the majority of conversational Toposa in two years?
Can I homeschool one or two boys from a curriculum I have never seen before?
Can I cook from scratch?
Can I handle money in a foreign country?
Can I share my faith daily?
Can I love when it's hard?
Can I think about others before myself?
Can I drive a standard, stick-shift car on dirt roads?
Can I handle going to the bathroom at night when there might be snakes out there?
Can I trust God when my plans fall apart?
Can I?  Can I?  Can I?

NO. But God can.
  This week He spoke this to my heart:

"I AM the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in me, and I in him, then he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing."   John 15:5

Apart from Him, that means me, Alyssa by myself, can do nothing.

Alone-->nothing.

But with Him, abiding in Him, drinking from the vine daily, constantly seeking after Him and His heart...everything is possible.  That's right.  With God, ALL things are possible.  Every single thing.