NotForgotten

Isaiah 49:14-16
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.

This last Wednesday we were blessed once again to minister at the Ching King Mansion red light district. This time was an an amazing, heartbreaking and touching time. Kim, Bryn and I (the students that join with the staff who are doing the red light district Sons and Daughters Ministry) had already felt God laying it on our hearts weeks ago to start just showering the love of the Heavenly Father on the girls there. He wanted to let them know His heart breaks for them and they are precious in His sight. So this week, we took some beautiful white flowers to the girls. However, this is not the start of the story that night.

Kim and I left early to go to Yuen Long for dinner, pick up some stationary items and choose the flowers for the ministry that night. Kim had not been feeling week during the day, but trooped on, ready for outreach that night. As dinner progressed though, so did her uneasy sickness feeling. I t grew worse until she told me thought she would not be able to go on outreach. We prayed, and realized that this could be an attack from the enemy to keep her from the outreach. We have been studying Spirit Warfare all week, which had truly made us more aware of the circumstances around us. We walked back to the subway and we kept praying. She decided that she would ride all the way to the place with me, and if she still felt bad, she would return to the base.

Two weeks ago, we spoke with a Ugandan woman, Anita, and this is when we felt God laying it on our hearts to just start showering these girls with gifts. I asked her what her favorite color was, light green, and for the next week, Bryn, Kim and I searched for a light green scarf. Finally, we found one. When we went back last week, Anita was not there. So we decided we would carry the scarf with us every week until we seen her again.

Kim was carrying the bag with the scarf but in the rush to get to the MTR (subway) we forgot to choose flowers to hand out to the girls that night. Once we arrived at the ETST station, Kim. Was still feeling badly, but we waited and she decided that she would come to the outreach anyways because of a testimony we had heard. During an outreach in India, the entire team had gotten sick and in a drama, the man playing Jesus on the cross ran off the stage because he had become sick, then came back and finished the drama. After that team left, within a week the elders of that area got saved and it has grown in the years since then.

Once we joined up with Bryn at the subway station and the staff, we all headed up to go pray, and stopped at the bathroom. We forgot the bag with the scarf in the bathroom and did not remember until we started to pray. Kim and I rushed back to the restroom, but it was not there. Thankfully, God had another plan! I had a beautiful green scarf I had just gotten. We also had time to stop at a market and buy the flowers, and the cashier let us borrow her scissors to put the stems shorter.

Anita was there that night, and the joy on her face when we gave her the scarf and the flower. We told her she was beautiful and precious in God's sight, and His heart is towards her. She smiled and we laughed and shared with one another stories. Her story is heartbreaking....Uganda is a warring state, with violence more than most of us can imagine. Anita has seen it all, worse, she has experienced it all. Yet she still clings to a faith in God. She believes there can be a change. She wants to go home and be a teacher, despite the war..despite they don't pay teachers. She has such a beautiful heart. The other women I talked to that night, Debbie and Iesha (also from Uganda) grabbed my hands and asked me to pray for them. I had just tried to get in a conversation with them, but they had not seemed interested, even after we gave them the flowers. When I had found out Debbie's name, I told her my mom's name is Deborah~ she laughed and said, "Maybe I am your mother!" All of the girls laughed as I said, "We'll, maybe, why not!" Suddenly, desperate, they asked for prayer. Debbie, the older woman, asked first for prayer for her children's school fees back in Uganda so they can have a future, then for happiness for herself. Iesha asked for prayer for her child and for her a way to go home. They both have such a mothers heart, I was honored to pray for them and then God laid it on my heart to share with them verses we had prayed over the Mainland earlier int he day during intercession that had seemed to 'stick' in my mind constantly. Debbie had me show her in my Bible what verses I was reading, as I read out loud, then both Debbie and Iesha had me write down the references, which Anita also asked for. They are so hungry for true love and truth. They desire freedom from these chains, but don't know how to get free. I don't know either. I pray for wisdom. I pray for help. It was a beautiful night of sharing! By the way, the passages from the Bible are Isaiah 49:14-16 and Luke 12:6-7.

We have a romantic old man from Tunisia that is always drunk when we are there. He is a nice drunk, very cheerful and helpful. Every week he seems to get more inebriated, if that is even possible. When he seen Bryn and I wight he flowers, he called out and asked for one. We stopped to talk to him, handing him a flower and telling him he is precious to God too. He smiled, and then said he wanted to kiss me. Isn't that precious? I laughed and said, no, no, no, this is from God, thank Him for it! We talked for a few more minutes before he started telling me a story. Chuckie, the man, is a Muslim. He once went to a Christian church and he was telling me they had said something he did not like. I asked him what it was. He replied, "They said that Jesus was God's son. He is not. God does not have a son. They cannot say this. This is not truth. I know." I shook my head and told him, "Chuckie, I believe in Jesus." He told me no, I cannot, it is not right. We talked for another minute or two before he finally just looked at me after I told him Jesus had spoke to me and said to give them the flowers and said, "You're crazy. No. You're crazy. I talk to you later. Next week. Crazy girl." Bryn and I walked away, but Chuckie would not let me talk to him the rest of the night, only "shushing" me whenever I spoke to him. Interestingly enough, he started crying after that conversation, so maybe there is more to his story than the alcohol is letting on.

Other than these testimonies, we have a great week of studying Spirit Warfare with the base leader, Joe. Spirit Warfare is basically prayer. You become more aware of who God is, who/what the enemy is and how to handle that- through prayer. It is powerful because it calls out to God for His strength and declares who He is. Great week, great stories during the lecture times! A great time in class was the last day when we prayed over the village with praise and worship and declaring truth. It was amazing and we continue to pray for the village, future outreach to mainland and for the people we meet.

Prayer Requests:
Health- some have been struggling with sickness this week. :-(
Unity
God's guidance
Gift of learning and revelation in class
Also, tomorrow, the staff of the base and a visiting team for Norway have an outreach at a temple Street, so please keep them in your prayers! Our very own Grace, from the DTS is translating, so pray a blessing over her!