Salvation Message--Friday, May 18th

Last night I started to feel sick. Mike and I were in charge of the next day's Bible School. Maybe I was tired, maybe the bumpy car rides aren't as exciting as they used to seem, maybe the food just wasn't setting right. Whatever it was, I knew it was not just sickness. I didn't want to say I was feeling bad and with every passing second, I got frustrated more and more with my team members, with the lesson plan, with myself. There was more to this than sickness and tiredness. I was in charge of the lesson about Jesus and Mike was in charge of the games and other activities. Satan was getting into my head and using my sickness as a means to frustrate me against my friends and against my confidence in the message I was speaking to these children. I prayed about it and talked to Mike and Justin about the stories for the next day as I cast everyone to play different people in Jesus' life.

Originally, our Jesus skit was going to be far more serious than the past couple days had been since we were talking about His death and resurrection. Then we got the idea to compile several shorter skits to encompass Jesus' birth (picture), his temptation in the desert, the story of Zacchaeus and the woman caught in sin, as well as the Triumphal entry and his death and resurrection. This allowed us to have some fun with some of the skits and be more serious in other parts. I told the stories through a translator and the other nine guys acted them out beside me. Maybe its because we are white that we are able to hold their attention so well, but they really listened to everything we said about God's love for us, his determination and his passion to seek us out and deliver us. They laughed a lot (Billy told us not to worry because laughter is how they express all emotion) and were very still when we got to his death.

"Jesus loves you so much that he came here seeking us. He loves you so much that he went through every kind of suffering for you. He only wants us to love and seek him the same way and to love others the same way. When we accept his love and love others the same way, he will take us to heaven just as he came here."

I'll have more about Friday tomorrow...