The His Little Feet team had a wonderful time celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior here in Windsor, Colorado this past weekend.
We were blessed to be in our home church at Ellerslie on Sunday morning and to have a special team lunch at Uncle Mikey and Auntie Christa’s house. In the afternoon and evening, Auntie MJ and her family welcomed us to their home for an Easter egg hunt, games, and pizza.
What a memorable day it was! We are so grateful to God for allowing us to cherish every moment with these children as the end of the tour draws near.
We hope you had a Christ-filled weekend with your family as well. What a great God we serve!
“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”
- Isaiah 61:10-11
Funny story from this weekend...
The children love to eat goat in Haiti, so we decided to prepare a special Easter lunch for them with a taste of home. When the kids heard of our plan to have goat on Sunday, the first thing out of 8-year-old Djoulie's mouth was, "Who is gonna kill it?"
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Stories from Uncle James
As we’ve said before, we have an absolutely incredible staff here at His Little Feet, and one of those wonderful people is Uncle James. This blog entry is written by him. We hope you are touched by the powerful work taking place in Johnson’s life. God is good!
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty…” 1 Corinthians 1:27
Blessed doesn’t even begin to describe my experience traveling as an intern with His Little Feet and with these amazing children. We have laughed and cried together, we have had spiritual battles and great victories together; we have become a family. The Lord has taught me so much through serving alongside of them.
Over the past four months of being on the road I have had the privilege of seeing three of our boys in the choir make the decision to give their lives to their Lord and Savior. The most recent dedication came from our youngest boy Johnson.
One afternoon I was debating with Johnson on whether he needed to take a nap. He felt he didn’t but I knew he did. After a long time of going back and forth Johnson finally laid down. As he was laying there the Lord was moving in his heart because to my surprise he said to me, “Uncle James, I want to be a new creation and have Jesus give me a new heart.” Sensing the seriousness in Johnson’s request I knew taking some time to explain the Gospel was more important than the afternoon nap.
We sat together for some time as I broke down the truths of the Gospel to Johnson. It was so evident that the Spirit of God was working in Johnson’s heart in those moments, as periodically he would stop to confess his remorse over the sin in his life, along with his disobedience in regards to the afternoon nap. Each time, both of us would break into tears as God was bringing this seven-year-old boy to a new understanding of his Savior.
One of the most powerful moments was when I was explaining to Johnson that when we give our lives to the Lord they are no longer our own but we are to seek God’s will for our life. For as long as I’ve known Johnson he has always told everyone that he wanted to be a professional soccer player. After I explained our need to seek God’s will for our life Johnson sat for a moment in thought. Johnson broke the silence with a statement that he no longer wanted to be a soccer player. Surprised, I asked him what he wanted to be. His response brought me to tears again as he declared, “I want to be a pastor… so I can tell everyone about Jesus.”
I was astonished by this little boy’s willingness to forsake his childhood dream to pursue the glory of God. This anointed conversation ended with Johnson proclaiming in his own words the truths that God had just opened his heart to and his desire for God to enter in and give him a new heart.
Over the past couple weeks it amazes me to see the change in Johnson. Occasionally he still has a day when the crazy little seven-year-old that everyone loves shines through, but it is evident that God is working through the life of little Johnson. Just a few days ago we had all hopped aboard the bus to start another long drive to the next church. The first thing that we do when we start these journeys is one of the staff members will get up in front of the bus and give a devotional for the day. As Uncle Aaron was in back preparing to speak to the kids, Johnson kept declaring that he wanted to give the devotion. When Uncle Mikey and Auntie Christa heard our youngest choir member’s desire to speak to his friends they called me up front to discuss whether he was serious or not. I took a minute and asked Johnson if he really did want to get up and speak to everyone and with a very serious face, and a small smile, he said yes. He began telling me all that the Lord had put on his heart to share and I knew I could confidently tell Mike and Christa that he was ready for the responsibility of speaking to the rest of the kids. I encouraged Johnson to take the few minutes he had before speaking to ask the Lord to fill his mouth and the Spirit to guide his words. After talking to Mikey for a moment I turned around to see Johnson sitting, hands folded, and most certainly in the presence of his God asking for His help.
The time came and I introduced our special speaker. The kids were very surprised to see the little boy who was often the one making the jokes and causing a ruckus step up in front of them ready to share his heart. Johnson stood before all his friends and began to speak in Creole with a very serious tone. I watched as the youngest of us stood fighting back tears, preaching to his brothers and sisters. The children looked on with a surprising respect and attentiveness as he shared with them. Johnson finished with a prayer, that even though the staff couldn’t understand we could all tell it came with a passion and burden of the Lord.
My little friend returned to his seat and with a peace I had never seen in him before. Christa leaned back and asked Loudrige what Johnson had spoken on. “Forgiveness,” she said, “and it was really good.” I started off this blog with a verse… a verse that the Lord displayed right in front of my eyes that day. God had taken the youngest and sometimes the most foolish one of us all, and He used him to speak into all of our hearts that day.
Like I wrote earlier, blessed does not begin to describe my experience of serving alongside of these children. This is just one story of our travels this year. God has used these children countless times to not only teach me more about Himself, but they have touched people across this nation. I am so excited to see what amazing stories come from these children’s lives as they grow up and God uses them to bring His name glory.
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty…” 1 Corinthians 1:27
Blessed doesn’t even begin to describe my experience traveling as an intern with His Little Feet and with these amazing children. We have laughed and cried together, we have had spiritual battles and great victories together; we have become a family. The Lord has taught me so much through serving alongside of them.
Over the past four months of being on the road I have had the privilege of seeing three of our boys in the choir make the decision to give their lives to their Lord and Savior. The most recent dedication came from our youngest boy Johnson.
One afternoon I was debating with Johnson on whether he needed to take a nap. He felt he didn’t but I knew he did. After a long time of going back and forth Johnson finally laid down. As he was laying there the Lord was moving in his heart because to my surprise he said to me, “Uncle James, I want to be a new creation and have Jesus give me a new heart.” Sensing the seriousness in Johnson’s request I knew taking some time to explain the Gospel was more important than the afternoon nap.
We sat together for some time as I broke down the truths of the Gospel to Johnson. It was so evident that the Spirit of God was working in Johnson’s heart in those moments, as periodically he would stop to confess his remorse over the sin in his life, along with his disobedience in regards to the afternoon nap. Each time, both of us would break into tears as God was bringing this seven-year-old boy to a new understanding of his Savior.
One of the most powerful moments was when I was explaining to Johnson that when we give our lives to the Lord they are no longer our own but we are to seek God’s will for our life. For as long as I’ve known Johnson he has always told everyone that he wanted to be a professional soccer player. After I explained our need to seek God’s will for our life Johnson sat for a moment in thought. Johnson broke the silence with a statement that he no longer wanted to be a soccer player. Surprised, I asked him what he wanted to be. His response brought me to tears again as he declared, “I want to be a pastor… so I can tell everyone about Jesus.”
I was astonished by this little boy’s willingness to forsake his childhood dream to pursue the glory of God. This anointed conversation ended with Johnson proclaiming in his own words the truths that God had just opened his heart to and his desire for God to enter in and give him a new heart.
Over the past couple weeks it amazes me to see the change in Johnson. Occasionally he still has a day when the crazy little seven-year-old that everyone loves shines through, but it is evident that God is working through the life of little Johnson. Just a few days ago we had all hopped aboard the bus to start another long drive to the next church. The first thing that we do when we start these journeys is one of the staff members will get up in front of the bus and give a devotional for the day. As Uncle Aaron was in back preparing to speak to the kids, Johnson kept declaring that he wanted to give the devotion. When Uncle Mikey and Auntie Christa heard our youngest choir member’s desire to speak to his friends they called me up front to discuss whether he was serious or not. I took a minute and asked Johnson if he really did want to get up and speak to everyone and with a very serious face, and a small smile, he said yes. He began telling me all that the Lord had put on his heart to share and I knew I could confidently tell Mike and Christa that he was ready for the responsibility of speaking to the rest of the kids. I encouraged Johnson to take the few minutes he had before speaking to ask the Lord to fill his mouth and the Spirit to guide his words. After talking to Mikey for a moment I turned around to see Johnson sitting, hands folded, and most certainly in the presence of his God asking for His help.
The time came and I introduced our special speaker. The kids were very surprised to see the little boy who was often the one making the jokes and causing a ruckus step up in front of them ready to share his heart. Johnson stood before all his friends and began to speak in Creole with a very serious tone. I watched as the youngest of us stood fighting back tears, preaching to his brothers and sisters. The children looked on with a surprising respect and attentiveness as he shared with them. Johnson finished with a prayer, that even though the staff couldn’t understand we could all tell it came with a passion and burden of the Lord.
My little friend returned to his seat and with a peace I had never seen in him before. Christa leaned back and asked Loudrige what Johnson had spoken on. “Forgiveness,” she said, “and it was really good.” I started off this blog with a verse… a verse that the Lord displayed right in front of my eyes that day. God had taken the youngest and sometimes the most foolish one of us all, and He used him to speak into all of our hearts that day.
Like I wrote earlier, blessed does not begin to describe my experience of serving alongside of these children. This is just one story of our travels this year. God has used these children countless times to not only teach me more about Himself, but they have touched people across this nation. I am so excited to see what amazing stories come from these children’s lives as they grow up and God uses them to bring His name glory.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Johnson
One of many sweet Johnson moments...
One of Johnson's aunties was sweetly correcting him after lunch one day because he had run upstairs before being excused from the table. The auntie had him sit down and said, "Now Johnson, do you understand why I'm having you sit right here for a few minutes?" Johnson looks up with big guilty eyes, sighs, and proceeds to empty his pockets of the Nacho Cheese Doritos he had stuffed there during lunch!
Suffice it to say that Johnson learned two lessons that day, and provided all his aunties and uncles with a sweet story to laugh about that night :) We sure do love that little man!
One of Johnson's aunties was sweetly correcting him after lunch one day because he had run upstairs before being excused from the table. The auntie had him sit down and said, "Now Johnson, do you understand why I'm having you sit right here for a few minutes?" Johnson looks up with big guilty eyes, sighs, and proceeds to empty his pockets of the Nacho Cheese Doritos he had stuffed there during lunch!
Suffice it to say that Johnson learned two lessons that day, and provided all his aunties and uncles with a sweet story to laugh about that night :) We sure do love that little man!
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