Today was the second day for our team to visit homes in Egichikeni and it was obvious God was at work. Kathy Troutman and I, along with our interpreter, returned to the three homes we visited yesterday, plus two more homes. What we encountered was not what we expected.
In this culture children stay in the background. So yesterday when we shared the Bible story the adults were sitting closest to us at the front, while the children sat to the side – mostly in the background where they kept to themselves. During our discussion after the Bible story, the adults talked. Today was different.
When we showed up at the first house, which Zambians call a village, there were 12 kids and no adults. The adults were all gone to the funeral of a young child who had tragically died. We would discover most of the adults at the other homes/villages were also gone to the funeral. Why was this evidence of God at work?
We had already planned for Kathy Troutman to share today’s Bible story. As many of you know, she was a teacher and school principal, as well as former children’s ministry director at FBC. She is great with kids. So what happened?
At our first home there were 12 kids. At our second home there were 4 kids, 2 teenagers, and 1 old woman. At our third home there were 8 kids and 2 teenagers, at our fourth home there were two adults, and at our final home there were 6 kids, 2 teenagers, 1 young man, and 3 women. That is a total of 30 kids, 6 teenagers, and 7 adults – 4 of them women.
Before we ever left Rock Hill we had assigned Kathy today’s story. What we didn’t know was that God had a reason for us doing that. He knew today would be all about the children. It was amazing how they paid attention to Kathy. Their eyes were fixed on her as she talked about Jesus calming the storm when He and the disciples were in the boat. After the story they excitedly engaged in asking and answering questions about the story.
As we walked between the homes/villages I told Kathy it was providential that she was the one telling today’s story. God always has a plan. When we love and trust Him, He uses all circumstances to our good. Today He used the death of a child so 30 kids could be front and center to hear about Jesus in a way that would never have happened if the adults had been there. Kathy was His instrument and He set it all in motion several months ago. Why would any of us ever doubt God?
Pastor Steve Hogg
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