The Beginning of the Story...

Ministry is a really crazy thing! Some days are really encouraging and you feel like God is using you in people’s lives. Other days you wonder what’s going wrong. This month has been a somewhat discouraging month. Rehema, the girl that Compassion in Action has been sending to Legacy, was taken away by her Muslim mom, and we don’t know where she is. In the beginning of May, Rehema’s mom approached me and told me that she was taking Rehema away to work with her. When I asked her why, she tried to convince me that the grandmother that she was staying with was mean to her and the other children bullied her (her explanation of the bullying was not clear). When she told me this, I didn’t believe her because I knew that the mom was a very difficult and manipulative woman. She insisted on taking Rehema with her. After many pleas and much persuasive argument she agreed to allow her to stay with us. After a week of staying with us, I arranged for her to stay with an SOS staff family nearby. Everything was going really well. Rehema was flourishing, having for the first time a mom and dad who cared about her and doing exceptionally well in school, scoring 1^st in her class. Almost every evening she would come to our house and play outside, never forgetting to give us all hugs. I had many meaningful conversations with her and whenever we would pray together, she would ask God to save her and make her a Christian. She even asked for a Christian name because the name “Rehema” is a Muslim name and she didn’t want to be known as a Muslim but as a Christian.

In August, Legacy started its mid-year break. I decided to have Rehema stay with her grandma and cousins until school started up again. I knew that the mom was lying about how the grandma was acting. She was just trying to manipulate me into something; I didn’t know what.

Right after Rehema went back to live with her grandma, I went to America to celebrate Emma’s (my big sister) birthday. When I came home a month later, I was told by many people that Rehema’s mom showed back up and took her away. Rehema’s grandma, aunt, Zeek, Solomon Kavuma (principal of Legacy), and many others begged her to allow Rehema to go to school and get a good education, but she refused. She left a couple days later and took Rehema with her; no one knows where. Not even her relatives. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I have asked many people how we can get a hold of Rehema’s mom, but nobody knows.

Muslims believe that God is a sovereign God, but they don’t believe He cares for them. I don’t know the end of Rehema’s story. I do know that my God is a GOOD God. His plans are the best, and He uses all things to work together for good for all those who are called according to His purpose. He has an AMAZING plan!!!

Please pray for little Rehema!

• ·      Pray that her mom’s hard heart would be softened and transformed by God’s grace.
• ·      Pray that Rehema could come back and finish her education.
• ·      Pray that God would use this situation to even bring her grandma and other relatives to Himself.

I know that God has the power to change the situation; please pray that He does, but if He doesn’t want to, then please pray that He would change us in the situation!

This world would not be the same without flowers. They make life so much more beautiful. I recently learned in science that wild flowers don’t need someone to plant them, but they can self-produce. Wild flowers don’t even require anyone to water them; all they need to grow is God’s gardening skills.

So many times I think that I am needed. I think, “So many people are going to hell. I need to do something and help. This world needs me. My friends need me. God needs me.” This last month my family has been going through 1 Corinthians. This morning we read 1 Corinthians 3:5-7:

“What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” 

Who am I? I’m just the child who was given the privilege to plant and water the seed, but God is the real amazing one. He takes the souls of helpless slaves of sin, and He frees them and makes them His children and lavishes them with His grace. He clothes them in His righteousness and cleanses them with His blood that He shed on our behalf.

If God chooses to use the ministry of Compassion in Action to lead some lost sinners to Himself then may God be praised. If He chooses to not use us at all, then may God be praised. He is the only one who deserves glory… for everything!

If my brothers and I finished building a kitchen, and we display our building to the happy new owners and they say, “Wow, that’s such a great hammer you have; it did such a great job getting those nails in the board!”, it would be weird because we did all the work, and we used our muscles and energy to use the hammer to hit the nail in. The hammer was just a tool. And that’s what we are: The hammers in God’s hand. He is using us to build His Church.

My prayer is that we would use every opportunity given to us to be used by God for His work, and that it would all be for His glory, not our own.

“According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that in with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:20-21

A Hunger For God's Word

Kiberenge, the village where we have a Compassion in Action (CIA) Bible study, has a mixture of Muslims and Catholics. I had no idea 2 years ago when we first started this Bible study how hungry these kids really were. Every week around 30-40 kids would come and attentively listen to Bible stories about David, Abraham, and Jonah. They wanted to know about God, but until we came, no one would teach them. This last week, my brothers and I decided to start a Bible study called Quest for Truth for Kids (based on Quest for Truth by my dad which I edited for kids) so that the kids could have a clear view of the gospel. Zeek teaches the younger kids (ages 1-11) Bible stories and I teach the older kids (ages 12-15) Quest for Truth for Kids. After church today, Zeek and I hopped on my new moped (that a sweet family bought for me!) and started our journey to Kiberenge.

The first lesson of Quest for Truth is called “What is religion?”. After explaining that religion is anyone’s belief about God, we got into an in-depth discussion about religion. Out of the twelve kids, 6 were Catholics, 2 were Muslims and three were “Christians”. I started asking questions about all of their religions. After asking all of the kids which religion was going to heaven their answer was simply: all of them. “But,” I asked, “What does the Pope and the Koran say? Do they say that all religions will go to heaven?”

“No,” a Catholic girl answered, “only Catholics.”

The Muslim kids both responded in the same way regarding the Koran. The poor misled kids told themselves that everyone was going to heaven because they didn’t know which religion was true.

Then I asked them all, “So who is right? Is Islam the true religion, Catholicism or is Christianity?” None of them answered. “Who here is assured 100% that your religion is true? Who has no doubt in your mind?” All of the kids looked at the ground. After asking them each individually, no one could assure me that theirs was true. They all just replied with a simple, “I don’t know.”

“Then how do we know what the right religion is?” a boy asked me.

“We can’t know,” said a Catholic girl, “unless someone went to heaven and asked God and then came back to tell us.” All of the kids nodded in agreement.

“Can I tell you guys a secret?” I asked. All of the kids gathered around closer. “Did you know that thousands of years ago God gave us a letter telling us the truth about himself? He wanted us to know him! And know the right religion!”

“Where is it?” they all asked excitedly. I replied by explaining that the next 15 weeks we are going to study a book that will show us that letter from God and tell us what the true religion is. We don’t have to die to know what the truth is

, because it was made available to us through His Word. I wish that you all could have seen the joy on these kids’ faces when they heard that God has given us the truth about Himself. They had no idea! Until 2 years ago, no one had ever told them that the Bible is the Word of God, and it didn’t seem to even click until this afternoon. They had never read it for themselves and had never heard the good news of how God loved them and gave His life for them.

Please pray for us as we teach these kids the good news of the Gospel, and pray that God would prepare their hearts to accept it.

Rehema's Story

Hey Everyone,

My name is Rehema, and I live in the village of Kiberenge with my mom, jjajja (grandma), my aunt, 8 cousins, and 7 siblings. I am ten years old. I met everyone from Compassion in Action almost two years ago when they started a kids’ Bible club at my house. I have loved learning the Bible, singing songs, memorizing verses, playing games, and eating candy every Sunday afternoon. Last month after CIA had finished teaching us about God’s power over the Egyptians with Moses and the Red Sea, CIA asked my mom if I could go to school at Legacy Christian Academy at Sufficiency of Scripture Ministries in Kubamitwe, a village almost 5 miles away from where I live. The school that I was going to was a Muslim school funded by the government. Many kids in my school don’t even graduate from 7^th grade, because our school can’t afford good teachers, and without good teachers it is very difficult for us to pass the national exam that allows us to go to high school. When my mom said that I could go to Legacy, I couldn’t help but run up and hug each of the members of CIA, trying to express my gratitude for giving me a hopeful future. The next month, I went to Master Solomon Kavuma for an interview, and I was accepted!

           

Even though I have to go back to 1^st grade (I was previously in 3^rd), I don’t really care because I know that going back will help me in the long run. I am so excited to have this opportunity. God is truly taking care of me!

Gratefully,

Rehema

(Adapted from Rehema’s personal testimony)

Rehema

Rehema started her first day of school at Legacy, on February 2^nd, but we need your help to send her to school. Due to the distance and her inability to safely ride a bicycle, CIA is hiring a motorcycle taxi for her to come to and from school. If anyone would be willing to sponsor Rehema’s transportation ($50 per month), or even contribute to a portion of her transportation, please contact me at elisa@sosministries.com. Thanks!

Rehema (second to the left) and her sisters and cousins

Rehema's house where over 15 people live

Rehema's old school