Ministry Moments

This year began with the distressing news that one of the young ladies who used to attend Bible Club was "missing". She had left the home of one relative, but never made it to her parents' home. Although she had been a dedicated student, when her online classes resumed, she did not attend. She started posting messages on social media, which indicated that she was 'safe' but had no intentions of returning home because of abuse. It broke my heart, because I started questioning whether there was anything I could have done to prevent her from making that decision. After receiving counsel, I realized that I had done my part in sowing seeds of the Word of God in her life for years, and it was not beyond God's ability to cause those seeds to eventually germinate and blossom in the future.

A few months ago all the blooms on
this plant were dead. Look what God has done.

When school reopened, I resumed having sessions with two boys who are preparing to write the Secondary Entrance Assessment exam in June this year. There were the days when they did their work well without complaining, and there were days when I felt like I was wasting my time with them. But what motivated me to keep going were the prayers that they said at the beginning of each class, after I had shared a scripture verse with them. Many times their prayers were based on the application of the principles we found in the verses, other times their requests were more along the lines of "Help me to pick up the Bible more and pick up my phone less". 

When I told them that we would not be having any classes over the Easter Vacation, one of them wanted to know why - the one who used to give the most trouble to do his work! What was also encouraging was seeing the progress from when we just started: the one who used to constantly complain, "I can't do dat. Dat too hard. My head hurting", by the end of the term, was actually making an effort to figure out the questions, and getting some correct in the process. One afternoon the other one proclaimed, "Good ting I coming here! Remember de work we were doing over and over again? Well Miss give me a sum like dat in school and I get it right and she say, 'Hmmmmmm.... you know tings!'"

Some days they fight. Other days they help one another

While making the rounds to the children's homes for Bible Club, one parent shared with me the struggle that she was having in getting her children to complete their assignments for online school. They used to attend Homework Club regularly before covid, and they were dedicated students, but the distractions and lack of boundaries associated with virtual school negatively affected their performance. I spoke with them and prayed with them, and encouraged their mother to be consistent and not give up encouraging them. 

Every Friday I would ask them for a report on how their progress was at school that week. For the first couple weeks, they didn't have anything good to report. One day in particular the older one's face was visibly downcast. He said, "I feeling bad because I know you going to ask me about my schoolwork and I didn't do any." However, a few weeks before the end of the school term, he ran excitedly to the gate when I arrived to tell me that he did all his work that week! He told me that he really wanted to impress his mother and get good grades. Another thing that made my heart glad this past term was when children from another household who had not learnt memory verses for the whole of the first term suddenly started memorizing scripture and racking up points every week which they were eventually able to exchange for prizes :)

Listening attentively to the lesson
about Jesus' death and resurrection

In February after Andrea's body was found and there was so much conversations about the plague of violence against women in our country, I decided to use the opportunity to introduce the discussion with the young people who attended Freedom Friday, the majority of whom are boys. I started the conversation with several statements for which they had to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed:

1.      Nothing is wrong with telling a female that she is sexy

2.      Women should always do what men tell them to do

3.      Men do not have to respect women

4.      It is OK to hit a women if she disrespects you

5.      There is nothing wrong with laughing at jokes that degrade women

6.      Nothing is wrong with hitting on, catcalling, throwing words for, pssssttttting women

7.      I don’t understand why people are making so much fuss about this Andrea Bharatt murder

It pained me when I saw that some of them agreed with four out of these seven statements, and to hear their justifications for it. It really highlighted the importance of teaching boys from young how to respect women, and handle rejection. For the following sessions, we looked at scripture for guidance about how women should be treated, how to handle rejection, and their commitment to Christ. After this third session, attendance started dropping and by the end of the term, only 1 young lady was interested in attending. Nevertheless we are trusting God that the seeds of His Word which were planted would not return to Him void.

Bible Club children enjoying games at the
end of this term

One of the reasons I enjoy serving with Is There Not A Cause (ITNAC) is that it puts me in direct contact with persons who need to hear about the hope that is found in Christ. At the end of January I had the opportunity to "babysit" the children of the women who are staying in our transition house while they attended a session organized by one of our ministry partners. At the children's session there were songs, games, craft and a Bible story, which focused on Jesus' ability to calm the storms in their lives. 

Children hard at work on their craft

Just last week I dropped off a hamper for a family who reached out to us for help. When the mother came outside you could see the stress etched on her face. I simply asked, "How yuh going?" and she off-loaded all she had been going through since her husband died in November last year, to when her brother-in-law was murdered in Chaguanas earlier this month. As I started to speak God's Word to her she just started weeping. She said everytime she started to get back her relationship with God on track, something devastating happens, like what happened to her husband and then her brother-in-law. I encouraged her to keep her focus on Christ in the midst of her challenges, and prayed with her. By the time I left there was a big smile on her face, and when I returned a few days later to drop off some additional supplies, she was the most excited about the Bible that I took for her.

Thankful for those who continue to give so we
can be a blessing to those in need

At my home church, I am part of the newly formed Digital Strategy Team, which is responsible for using digital strategies to advance the vision and mission of the church. My task has been to extract quotations from our Sunday morning messages which can then be shared on our social media pages. We are grateful for the opportunity to use whatever means available to spread truth based on scripture, which is very much needed in these troubled times we live in.

I thank God for the opportunities He has provided for me to continue serving Him even in the midst of a global pandemic. There have been ups and downs, but through it all, He has been faithful.