A Thirst that can be Satisfied

“Muzungu! Muzungu! Muzungu!” These are the shouts I (Bekah) would hear every week as I was swarmed by a group of kids chasing my boda on the way into Bible study. For the past year, I have been teaching an evangelistic Bible study in a neighboring village. As I teach, the children always peer around trees staring at me and when I wave to say hello, they run away laughing, only to come back a few minutes later.

A few weeks ago as I was teaching, I looked around at all the kids’ faces. I thought about how it’s too far for them to walk to Kubamitwe for church, VBS, or any other events we have (it’s over an hour walk). Then it hit me. This was a project for Compassion in Action. A Kids’ Bible Club is exactly what this unreached village needs. I rushed home that night to tell the gang, and everyone was excited.

Last week, Elisa, Ethan, and I hopped on our bikes to make the trek to this village. We wanted to find a central location to hold our Bible study. As we rode in on the dusty, bumpy road a large group of Muslims, both kids and adults, were exiting the mosque. This village is 90% Muslim and as we looked around at the people leaving the mosque, we saw more than just a poverty stricken village, but a place in desperate need of Christ. There is no church or opportunity for these people to hear the gospel. One great way to reach a community—through the children.

As we were returning from our journey with the sun scorching down on us, Ethan begged us to stop for water. Reluctantly, we stopped at a local shop to look for something to drink.  To the right, I saw a man and woman reading the Koran and beckoned Elisa to look. “Let’s go talk to him”, she said and without hesitation Elisa (the fluent one in the group) was sharing the gospel. She asked him what the Koran teaches about how one gets to heaven and his response was that all one needed to do was tell God he was sorry. After sharing with him about man’s desperate situation and the need for someone to pay the penalty for our sin, the man refused to believe we needed an advocate on our behalf and refused to believe that Jesus Christ was more than just a good man. After 45 minutes, Elisa concluded the conversation saying she would be praying for him, as he would have to pay his own punishment for sin. His reply, “Okay, I’ll pay it.” As our physical thirst was satisfied, we were reminded that there is a much greater thirst that needs to be satisfied for this man and for this village. As Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

On Sunday, Emma, Elisa, Kabite, Evan, and I (Ethan was home with a fever) launched the Bible study. We weren’t sure who would show up since many told us they wouldn’t  come because: they were Muslim, they had work to do, or just didn’t want to come. But our God showed us His kindness. 47 kids showed up. We played games, handed out candy, and taught them a song to get them excited about our Bible club. At the end of the day, we told them that ultimately we are coming to do more than just have fun, to do more than just play games, to do more than just give them candy, but to teach them about the most important person, Jesus Christ.

Pray with us that these kids would come to know the love of Christ.  Pray with us for this lost, Muslim populated village. Please pray that the devout Muslims won’t stop our efforts or persecute the children coming. Pray that they would drink the water of eternal life and truly thirst no more.

Check out our updated photo gallery to see pictures!

Check out our updated photo gallery to see pictures! 

End of the Year Update

It's been awhile since Compassion in Action has been able to post! Life and ministry keep us busy and sometimes we forget to stop and let everyone know what is going on! (Not to mention the internet connection here isn't the best or the cheapest either =) )

Here's what's new with Compassion in Action:

• A short term team from Texas was able to be with us the first week in December and help us complete 2 CIA projects. With the help from our Texan friends, we were able to complete 2 kitchens, both for single moms in the village. One lady is not a believer and we are praying that she saw Christ's love demonstrated to her during that week. Elisa has been inviting her to church and we pray she will come! 

• Compassion in Action invited a family from the village over for dinner. We cooked an African meal consisting of matoke, irish potatoes, beans, cabbage, beef, and even SODA! It was great and we all had an amazing time. It's a great way to love and we hope to be able to do it again in order to cultivate relationships with families from our village. 

• There are ways that YOU can get involved. With the help of sponsors from the States, we have been able to raise money to help us complete more projects. Thanks Grandma Anderson for being our first donor! And thanks to our Texan friends who raised money for us to complete 2 kitchens. You can sponsor a Compassion in Action Project too! 

Thanks for your love and support! 

We pray as we enter 2013 our love will abound still more and more and we would continue to show the compassion of Jesus...

Blisters & A New Baby

What’s new with Compassion in Action?

Last week our goal was to help a village family whose mom had been in the hospital for several weeks with complications, waiting to give birth. Compassion in Action stepped right up and helped fetch water, collect firewood, and slash their grass. By the end of the week, Mama Daniel arrived home with a new little baby boy. Although we have a few more blisters than we did before, we hope that in this small way, this family saw through us the love of Jesus. 

For more pictures see the updated photo gallery

“And He was moved with compassion…”

              Jesus’ compassion moved him to action. He healed the sick and helped the poor, the lowly, the sinners.  As Christians, we too should show compassion, but often times we’re too busy or too focused on ourselves to take the time. Sometimes we might even feel sorry for people or feel bad about a situation, but we brush it off and go on with our lives. It never moves beyond a feeling. But this isn’t what Jesus’ compassion was like. His compassion moved him to DO SOMETHING. And this is our story of “compassion in action.”

A few weeks ago, our friend Sauda asked for prayer because she was struggling with worry. Her outdoor kitchen had fallen over because of the heavy storms we’ve been having and seeing that they cook over an open fire, she hasn’t been able to feed her two children. Upon hearing this, Elisa jumped in and said, “We can build her a kitchen!” That day we took food over to Sauda’s and started gathering wood & left over scraps from the builders working on our property. We spent the weekend digging post holes and getting the foundation up and during the week we were able to continue with the building. As we hammered the final nails in, the rains came! We had finished just in time and were able to have the joy of seeing the results of our labor!

            This spawned an idea. What if we came up with other projects to help people around the village? Or what if we worked to raise money to help with specific needs we hear about?

On Friday, Elisa and I (Bekah) went to visit Fancy, a lady in church. As we chatted with her, she told us they don’t have enough money to pay for school fees and of how she hopes to send her 3 girls to Legacy Christian Academy-Uganda. Elisa and I gave each other a look. We knew what our next project would be. In 3 days, the Hurley kids worked hard and were able to come up with the money needed for the registration fees.

            This spawned yet another idea, a club. We can join together to come up with ways to serve the village and put our compassion into action. Of course, it only made sense to name our club “Compassion in Action.”

           

            So let us share with you our stories and maybe they will inspire you to put your compassion into action too.