God is Moving
By Emily P. Meyer
So often we are excited when we hear the number of people impacted by the work of the Gospel. But what’s even more exciting is when we get to know the stories carried by those whose hearts are being softened by the Word of God and the power of Christ. SLM shares various prayer requests through vehicles like the Reaper. Many of you are faithful to pray diligently for these needs. Just as Paul challenged the Colossian believers, we too, can live by this principle as we observe how God is moving all throughout the efforts of SLM, Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (4:2).
One of the greatest things you can witness at SLM’s headquarters in Madison, Georgia, is when a bell is rung over the loudspeaker and names belonging to individuals who have given their lives to Christ are read with cheer for the entire building to hear as workers keep tasking away in hopes that their efforts will yield more reports like these. Some of these names belong to prisoners. They may be behind bars, but once they surrender their hearts to Jesus, they walk in truer freedom than they have ever known.
Director of Source of Light Haiti, Claudy Jean-Baptiste, shared stories of women’s prison ministry projects leading many to walk to the glory of God. Recently, twenty-three prisoners received their certificate of The New Life in Jesus Christ course.
A Chaplain to Prisoners at the Civil Prison in Cabaret explained to Claudy how he saw one woman’s life transform because of the lessons she studied from Source of Light. Before her incarceration, the woman was minding her own business at home when the police came to arrest her for complicity in a scam. Unbeknownst to her, a friend had used her telephone for this scam. Even though she had no knowledge of her friend’s use of her property for the crime, she was still held accountable to the law. She grew bitter toward God and others. Her thoughts swirled toward self-harm. But God brought a calm to the breathlessness of her prison sentence. She started attending SLM Bible classes. Gradually, she not only heard the message she was receiving — she embraced it. She has completed The New Life in Jesus Christ course and has found that title to be true in her actual life. Her first certificate from SLM is valuable, but even more valuable is the peace that passes all understanding her once troubled heart now holds. Continue to pray for this woman to grow in Christ and that her upcoming release from prison will give her wings to take her story of walking in the freedom of Jesus to many others.
Claudy gives several other great reports including 47 lives being impacted by SLM lessons during VBS and a good partnership with The Baptist Church of the Grace of Bon Repose to use SLM lessons in Creole for evangelism in their community.
Examining what God has done in response to steps of faith taken by Claudy and his partnership with SLM in Haiti creates even more excitement about what God is going to do next. As we thank the Lord for these excellent reports, let’s continue to pray for the faith of the women who come to salvation in prison to be fortified, new lessons to reach both classical and secondary schools during this 2017-2018 academic year, further progress for the construction of the SLM office, and for a scholarship to help meet the needs of Claudy’s own two children.
Director of SLM in Mexico, Manuel Lopez and his wife, Ruth, have stories of thanksgiving and prayer to share as well. The church Manuel pastors, Dios Es Amor, saw the faithfulness of the Lord with all needs provided to run a VBS that hosted 320 people!
Some of the Lopez’s most profound impact can be witnessed at Dios es Amor School for Special Needs. For a while, it’s been evident that more space was needed to accommodate the students and their families as they help teach minds and nurture souls through everyday practical education lessons and Bible lessons.
Teams have volunteered to help construct a new upstairs space, which now has completed plastered walls, a ceiling, floors, windows, and electrical installations. An elevator and other windows and doors are being built, both to be installed soon. A few items that remain to be done are the completion of bathrooms (including wheelchair access to at least one side), service stair safety improvements, and an expansion for the second floor walkways to make them wheelchair accessible. Ruth’s team at the school is so grateful for all that the Lord has provided and continues to pray for His provision for the completed projects to finish out this second floor. Even though the space is not totally finished, they moved the school upstairs to utilize the areas that are ready for their growing school while working around the complications of an unfinished floor.
This space is for people like Santiago. Santiago has baby siblings, born just 11 months apart. They and their single mother all live with her mom and his teenage uncle. Both Santiago and his uncle have diagnoses of severe speech impediments and hyperactivity. Santiago’s incomprehensible speech was nonstop when he first started attending Dios es Amor School. Additionally, his behavioral problems were significant. Gradually, over the next few months, there was a dramatic improvement in his speech, comprehension, and behavior. Bible lessons were a little more difficult for him to conquer the wiggles and listen. Ruth recalls, “Eventually the teacher started holding him on her lap, and he started paying attention. Not only that, he started praying, and frequently said: “God, please make me be a good little chap.” One day, he decided to ask Jesus into his heart. And God is answering his prayer. Santiago is learning to be a good little boy. He still pushes or shoves now and then, and he doesn’t always obey. But the transformation in his life is apparent. His mother, grandmother, and uncle all need to know Jesus too. Maybe this “good little chap” will shine the way for his family to find the narrow path.
Librada, Santiago’s teacher, has her own testimony of God’s faithfulness. She was widowed at age 20, with two children while she was pregnant with her third. She married at 16 to escape trouble in her family of origin, only to find out on her wedding night that her husband was abusive. When her husband died, she did not realize something was wrong with her second child. After she became aware that he needed attention, she took strenuous trips to find help and discovered Adolfo, her son, was deaf. In utter despair, Librada wondered how to get him the help he needed. God saw to it that some Wycliffe missionaries happened to be nearby. When they learned of Adolfo’s plight, they put Librada in touch with Dios es Amor, where she and the children eventually came to live with the Lopezes. Because of the work that the SLM’s partnership with the Lopezes in the school and church, Librada and her family have come to know Christ, one by one. Adolfo is the boy who was the catalyst to start the school, which now serves students with any disabilities. Fourteen years later, Librada is the church caretaker, van driver, and a teacher for the school. The church gives her a small salary, but the physical needs of her family require more. The school desires to give both her and two other volunteer teachers a monthly salary to help meet their needs as they continue helping the needs of so many at the school.
From the names heard over the loudspeakers at SLM’s headquarters in Georgia, of the women whose lives are being transformed by Christ in Haitian prisons, to family faith legacies being altered by the Gospel through a school for disabled people in Mexico, God is answering prayer and ordering the steps of SLM’s partners to further His Kingdom. The needs can be so overwhelming, but then again so can the fruits of Gospel seeds that have been planted in response. Continue in prayer, friends, and watch with thanksgiving. God is moving.
