Stretch Out Your Hand

Thursday morning, as I hope many of you are sleeping soundly,  I, Christy, will be sharing the story of the man with the shriveled hand (Mark 3) as part of a class on storying.  Jesus called him and simply said, "Stretch out your hand."

I practiced the story with my family this evening for our family devotions.  These are some things that they said they learned about Jesus:

An elegant royal palm on our compound

• Jesus knows the right time to do things and he does the right thing at that time.
• He is bold, unafraid of what people think. 
• Jesus can heal people
• He can be both angry and sad when people's hearts are hard
• Jesus sometimes calls people to him instead of them going to him. 

Wow! All that from one story that takes up a total of six verses? 

Please pray with us that the 42 students in the class tomorrow morning catch a vision of how telling stories can reach people's hearts in a new way.  May they be bold to try telling stories and see what God does in the hearts of the hearers!

Pray for the Body everywhere that have read these stories over and over again, that the Spirit would move afresh in our hearts as we look again at this bold Savior and his simple, hope giving, life transforming words.  May we stretch out our hearts in faith, and find wholeness in Him!  

Come, Come and See!

Sunday, who was both our interpreter and a participant in the three day audio Bible study workshop, returned from the Bible study practical in the community, bursting with excitement.  His story went like this,
"We went to the burukutu house (place where locally made wine is sold), and when the ma selling saw us, she looked upset.  We explained we just wanted to share what we were learning, and invited the people drinking to come to a shadier place where we could sit together and talk.  We opened up the device and began playing the Gospel of Mark in Nyankpa.  The woman selling came and listened.  When she heard, she went out to the road where people were passing and said, "Come, come and see!"  The people came off the street to hear, and we repeated what we had played from Mark.
We asked them the Bible study questions, and it was a very lively discussion.  It was really wonderful."

Pray that the participants and those they start their listening Bible study groups with will, like this burukutu seller, call out on the streets, "Come, come and see!" as they use the Nyankpa Scriptures to bring people out of darkness into the light of Christ.

Seven Years and Elections!

Today we celebrate seven years of choosing engagement!  Seven years ago Zach came to Cameroon to ask my family for my hand in marriage.  He carried with him his "Cameroonian family", as well as plantains, frozen fish, palm oil, and other gifts on the list he'd been given.  My Cameroonian family was quite easy on him, and my American father is still waiting his share of the bride price (a couple hundred cows or so, he's not big on plantains).  Well, I'm glad I said yes then, and I'm glad we continue to say "yes" on this journey together. 

A couple months later, I came to Nigeria, where I met a new system of doing market, making friends, and living as an "amariya" (a bride), which I continued to be until I had my first child.  With the birth of Mariama, I became "Uwargida" (the mother of the house). 

So today, as the mother of my house, we have prepared ourselves for elections here in Nigeria tomorrow.  We have a few extra groceries in the house, and are praying for peace.   

We love each other, after seven years of saying "yes" on this journey together, and we love Nigeria, having been here for the last six years helping others say "yes" in their journey with God. 

Please join us for praying for peace in this country during the presidential elections tomorrow, the 16th of February.  Pray that God will guide the process, and and his wisdom
for all those going to the poles to vote.

Our engagement picture 7 years ago.