Redeeming the Time…

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”  Ph. 4:4

A young friend of ours, Yuforeyo, was excited, and she knew her time was close.  Since she lives across a small valley, I don’t see her regularly, but I kept asking, “Has she had her baby yet?  How is Yuforeyo, has the baby arrived?”  “No, not yet,” or, “I haven’t heard anything” were the answers I was getting, until Tuesday morning, around 8:30.  “Yuforeyo has passed away, she’s gone.”  We were all in shock.  The baby had survived, thankfully, but in the middle of the night, young Mama struggled with the delivery and just after dawn, lost the fight.  A couple of days later, I was visiting with her mom and asked her how she was doing.  Her testimony humbled me, as I myself had been struggling to process what had happened.  She said, “We are studying Philippians in church right now, and in chapter 3 Paul tells us to rejoice. I think of all the things that Paul went through, and I think of what Jesus went through for us.  What happened to my daughter is really hard and I really miss her.  But I am truly happy that she is with Jesus now and she has no more pain.  And I’m really happy that her son is with us.  There are many things that I have, that I can rejoice about.”

Guys, what are we rejoicing over right now?  I have to say, there has been a lot of struggle for joy lately, and yet, we know that because of what He has provided for us, everything He has done, all that He is, TRUE JOY is ours!  I don’t know where you all are in your journey, but I’m taking a moment now to pray for all of us, that the Lord would help us to FIX our eyes ON HIM, that our hearts would truly know JOY as we reflect on our secure eternity and the steadfast, enduring love that the God of the universe has for each of us, as undeserving as we are!

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Bunex, Yuforeyo’s young husband and their two kids, as they lean on the Lord while learning how to live without her.  As is common in these situations, the newborn has been adopted by another family member.
• Praise the Lord for Bunex’s strong faith, and the faith of their family
• Please pray for their extended, unbelieving family, who are causing a lot of added trouble and pain for them right now.
• Pray for Jordan and Judah in school, that they, too, would grow in their dependence on and their joy in HIM alone
• Please continue to pray for the different main aspects of the ministry- Translation, Literacy, and Discipleship.  We are feeling the strain and stress to accomplish much in the little bit of time we have.
• Praise the Lord for much progress in the Dinangat translation!And we praise the Lord continually for YOU!  THANK YOU so much for standing with us!