Ms. Bertha

Something about her front porch took me across the ocean to an African slum. Just like that, I was in Sierra Leone again, walking through Kroo Bay, looking into people’s tin and tarp patched homes, stopping to pray with a few.

As Kyle and I walked by this Atlanta home, I was struck by the random collection of items I saw around her porch – an old stroller, a couch whose insides were spilling out, a broken mirror. It drew me in.

We made it two steps past her house when we heard a loud, “Hey! … HEY! … HEY!!” We turned around to find a beautiful older woman coming off of her porch walking toward us. As we said “hello” and gave her hugs, she told us she had just gotten out of the hospital, and showed us her arm that was bruised from the elbow down.

The 61 year old woman explained to us that her arm was broken in a fight. And although it was 2:30 in the afternoon, she confessed that she was drunk. “That’s how I make the pain go away,” she added.

We told her we knew Someone who could make her pain go away. She seemed familiar with this Healer that we spoke of, and eagerly took our hands and held them tightly as we prayed healing over her.

I gently placed my hand on her bruised arm as I prayed. She later told us that as soon as I placed my hand on her arm, she felt the pain move down her arm and out of her body completely.

Jesus took her pain away. “By His wounds, we are healed.”

About 30 minutes later, we were walking back by her house, and we saw her on her porch, using both of her arms to shake out a blanket. We yelled out her name from across the street, and she blew us kisses as we passed by.

Joy in the Journey

Upon returning to the States back in September, I fully expected to be returning to Sierra Leone sometime at the beginning of this year.

Every time someone asked me if and when I was going back to Sierra Leone, I would get this uneasy feeling in my gut as I gave my response, “The plan is to go back in January.” After a couple months of telling people this, I started paying attention to that little feeling that came along with those words, and decided to pray with a couple of my mentors about it.

After a lot of prayer, I’ve decided that there’s no need to rush this thing. After ministering alone in a foreign country for three and a half months, I’ve concluded that I don’t want to be on the mission field by myself again. I think getting the right team together before going back is well worth the wait. And I’m willing to wait however long it takes in order to be with the right people.

And if I am going to be completely honest, I feel like the vision in my heart to see children become who they were created to be could happen anywhere, not just Sierra Leone. There are children all over the world that need the tender love and care, and good discipleship that I desire to offer. I do want to return to Sierra Leone at some point, but I am open to go other places before returning to Sierra Leone if the opportunity were to present itself.

For a while, I was asking the Lord, “Where do I go?” and “When do I go?” But these aren’t necessarily the right questions for me to be asking right now. I now am asking, “Who are the ones with whom I get to do life? Who are the people that want to go to the front lines of this spiritual battle with me? Who are the ones with whom I love to worship and pray?”

Kingdom Family is so valuable. Right now, I’ve got a pretty good community in Atlanta, and I don’t think it’s worth giving up. I don’t know a whole lot about what’s next, but I do think I’ll be here a little longer as long as my community is here.

As hard as it was at first for me to be still and to come to grips with the fact that I wasn’t going back overseas for a while, I’ve really come to a place where I crave the Lord more than I ever have. His presence is life to me. I long to be with Him, and to worship Him. 

I think it was God’s plan all along for me to have a season of just being with Him, so that everything I do flows out of my adoration for Him. And I have complete peace about where I’m at, and my heart is so very thankful.

Recently, I have been nannying during the week for two sweet girls, and on Sundays, I’ve been helping get a children’s ministry started at my church, Lifegate International. And I’m learning the value of living one day at a time, moment by moment, enjoying this journey with the Lord. 

The Adventures of a Car-less Nomad

I sold my car as I was leaving for Africa. One of my best friends bought it. As I was riding in it with her the other day, there might have been a little bit of a weird factor, but the funny thing is, I haven’t really missed it.

When I had a car, the Lord took great care of me. And since not having a car, He’s taken great care of me. I don’t have as much independence now, but I was never promised independence. What I have been promised time and time again is the provision and presence of my Papa.

To Him, I am more valuable than the sparrows, and more beautiful than the lilies of the field. He holds all the wealth of Heaven, and loves to do immeasurably more than this daughter might ask or even imagine. Of course He will take care of me. It is His great delight.

To many, I may look like a homeless hippie without a car. But it feels like quite the opposite (minus the hippie part). It’s almost as if I have more than I've ever had before.

Instead of having one place I call home, I am welcome in many, and I've gotten the privilege of staying in 5 lovely homes over the past month. And in the process, I've almost mastered the gift of packing an overnight bag ... almost.

And this whole not having a car thing has actually given me a more beautiful picture of what true community looks like – the kind of fellowship written about in Acts 2 where all the believers shared everything they had, and no one was in need.

I could go on and on about how friends and family have gone out of their way to pick me up to take me places, of the food we share together (smoothies are our new specialty), the laughs and dance moves that go down, and how we usually end up praying and worshiping together. 

This is more than sharing our physical things with each other. This is life, and we are going through it together.

One of my first nights back at my old apartment in Atlanta, I came in exhausted – mainly emotionally and spiritually. One of my roommates, after listening to me share about the things weighing on my heart, grabbed her guitar, sat on the end  of my bed, and just played it for me, as I laid there and let the tears come.

The whole time I was thinking, “Is this real?” Yes. Of course it’s real that she would support me when I’m going through it. She is my sister, my family. That’s what family does.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to paint a cheesy picture of what God’s family is supposed to look like. I've had plenty of hard and challenging conversations with these same people over the past few years. I've been annoyed with them, and they've been annoyed with me.

But in it all, forgiveness, grace, and honor have been themes. And I've discovered that life is too hard independent of these people. Now that I've tasted true Kingdom family (check out the Greek words, “koinonia” and “oikos”), I don’t want it any other way.  I've never valued my community more than I do now.

And (for now, at least) I praise God for the gift of being a car-less nomad.

Romans 4:16-17

As I near the end of my time in Sierra Leone, I find myself thinking about all the Lord has shown me, all the things I’ve learned, and what dreams have been awakened in me over the past few months.

I thought I was coming here for one reason: The Children’s Redemption Orphanage Home. My idea was that I would be spending all of my time there, preparing myself to move in with those little guys.

As it turns out, God is much more creative than I am. I really shouldn’t be surprised. His plans and purposes for my life are coming about in ways that I never really imagined. (See Isaiah 55:9).

In addition to ministering to the staff and children at the orphanage, I’ve also gotten to work with pastors, churches, schools, slums, and other organizations.

In everything I’ve done, the common theme has been healing and freedom. Over and over again, I’ve seen the Lord set people free from their bondage, and in the process, they become freer to live in the truth of who they are in Jesus.

I’m learning that living in my calling to be a mother to the nations doesn’t just mean to physically be a mother to orphans. For Abraham, being a father to many nations means that he is the father of all who believe.

As a 26 year old single woman, I’ve “mothered” people of all ages into greater belief in Jesus.

And as time goes on, I’m sure my mothering role will look just as original and creative as it has the past few months, with the freedom and healing Jesus has to offer being common themes in every step of the journey.

Here’s what the Lord has confirmed and reconfirmed about what my purpose in this journey will look like as I come back as a missionary at the beginning of next year: 

-  To bring freedom and set people free

-  To show these people what a mother’s love is

-  To make their city beautiful

-  To be a part of a forgiveness revolution

-  To lay a strong foundation in a village named Brigitte

-  To walk in and embrace humility

-  To teach inner healing

-  To shut the mouths of the witches in the name of Jesus

-  To birth a ministry

-  To be David, and slay the giant

-  To teach the girls what beauty is

-  To go through “trash” to find treasures

-  To be a beautiful and joyful warrior princess

-  To minister to Muslims

-  To be like glue, holding things together

-  To be like a honey anointing, seeping into this land

-  To lead people in the love and presence of the Lord

-  To be a soil-changer

-  To bring the fire of the Holy Spirit wherever I go

-  To trust Papa

-  To love Jesus

Dang! That’s all I can say as I read through this list. God is really up to something. And it thrills my heart to be a part of it.

There’s no doubt that my time back in the States will be key in seeing this all come about. I plan on going to conferences, and I look forward to getting more experience with inner healing prayer during my time back home this fall.

And Oh! How excited I am to be back during my favorite season of the year. Perfect weather, pumpkin spice, beautiful trees, and Auburn football, of course.

With only a week left in Sierra Leone, Georgia has been on my mind, as well as my sweet home Alabama. I will hopefully get to spend equal amounts of time in both places. Let me know if you would like to meet up for coffee … preferably something with pumpkin spice in it. :) I would love to hear what things God is doing in your hearts, as well.

See you guys in September!

Delivered

I was delighted when a ministry I’ve been volunteering with asked me to come along as a prayer minister to their “camp” with fifty 12-14 year olds who live in the nation’s largest slum. While at camp last week, I listened to these kids share about nightmares, witches, curses, and abuse. One of the stories is as follows:

My suspicions started when he showed me his drawing book on the first day of camp. As this middle school-aged kid was drawing a picture of a large, strange-looking woman, I asked him what it was.

“A witch.” was his reply.

He then proudly showed me the dragon he had drawn, and I silently wondered what he had experienced to make him want to draw these things.

The next night as people were sharing their testimonies, he tried to share his own, but all that came out were loud sobs.

So he tried again the next day. This time, his audience learned that his mother was killed in an accident on the way to his father’s funeral. Thus began his life on the streets in a culture full of witchcraft.

As it turns out, his source of food was his step-mother, who was a witch.

One thing I’ve learned over the past few years is that what is in a person’s heart will surely come out in one way or another (Matt. 12:33-35). The way this kid expressed what was in the depths of his heart was through drawing.

And showing us his drawings was his cry for help. So help, we did.

“Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger – someone who could tie him up and then plunder his goods.” – Jesus (Matt. 12:29)

As camp came to an end, we cast the dragon out of him in the name of Jesus. And he invited Jesus to come 

and take the high position the dragon had once held in his heart as Master.

This freedom-delivering God is the same one as in days of old. He is unchanging. He is alive. And He loves that kid.

“I also pray you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else – not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the Church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.” (Eph. 1:19-23)

More than Fine

The room was complete with balloons and streamers. The popcorn had been popped. And the cake was ready. It was a big day for the kids at the orphanage.

Not only were they launching their very own Good News Family Club (similar to a VBS) for the kids in their neighborhood, it was also the day to celebrate the kids who have July birthdays.

The latter was an even bigger deal because it was the first time the three birthday boys had ever had a birthday celebration.

The boys took turns getting to share their testimonies in front of all of their neighborhood friends during the Good News Family Club. The youngest, who was turning 9, went first. His story about living on the streets after his parents died sounded much like the 12 and 15 year old’s stories.

The oldest was the last one to share. He began crying as he told his audience about how his “daddy,” the Director of the orphanage, came and found him on the streets, and took him into the orphanage home. In shame, he hid his face from the many who were telling him not to cry. The leaders did their best to make a smooth transition, and the boys went to sit down.

That’s when the 12 year old lost it. He walked to the back of the room in tears. Going against the flow of those telling him to stop crying, I sat on the ground with my arm around him, and let him cry.

These kids have lived on the streets of the 4th poorest country in the world, and their culture is telling them to be ashamed of their tears. Many people here, in fact, have ignored their tears in hopes that their pain will somehow disappear.

As a result, it feels like there are a bunch of robots walking around Sierra Leone telling everyone how “fine” they are. Even as I sat and listened to several of the kids tell me their heart-wrenching stories, they would look at me with a straight face after I asked them how it made them feel, and simply say, “fine.”

I want them to know that there’s so much more than fine.

As I prayed and prophesied over them individually, something in them shifted from being fine to being something of worth. God sees them. He knows their names and their destinies. He celebrates them with more than just balloons and cake.

A few months ago, I remember being completely undone during worship, weeping over all of the world’s orphans who have no idea how good their Father is. While singing about the Lord’s faithfulness in never once leaving us on our own, I cried out for them to experience the faithfulness of their Father.

These children, little by little, are tasting and seeing that the Lord truly is good. They are pushing past fine and into the realms of God’s faithfulness.

“I AM … filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” – Exodus 34:6

The orphanage's cook, caregiver, and two of its teens prepared the popcorn  over the coal pot.

This is what happened after I said, "Who's excited about the Good News Family Club??"                  

Beautiful Things

She was just a little girl when it happened. It was a day like any other when her uncle came to her family’s home in Freetown, and gave his heart-wrenching report.

The rebels had come.

From his hiding place in his home, he watched them brutally murder his entire family. He somehow escaped his village, and found refuge in the home of his extended family.

The war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002) birthed pain, destruction, and poverty in the lives of each of the country’s citizens.

Her family was no different than any other. Her father was forced to leave them in search for work, but found little to provide for his family throughout the years of the war. The joy and unity they once shared as a family somehow disappeared as they struggled to survive.

And no one dared to mention the pain that was bottled up somewhere deep inside their hearts.

Two weeks ago, she let it out. With a straight face, and eyes focused away from my own, this woman I’ve come to love shared with me about “that day.”

My response to her was simply, “Let’s ask Jesus what He has to say to you about this memory.”

After praying, she replied with a straight face, “He said He was with me.”

"Ok, let’s ask Him to reveal to you where He was exactly.”

She closed her eyes as she mentally went back in time, and placed herself in the room where her uncle walked in with the bad news. And with all the boldness in her heart, she asked Jesus to reveal Himself.

A smile formed on her face as she said, “He was praying for me.”

Oh, how sweet our Jesus is. He was praying for her!

It didn’t change what happened. However, the presence of Jesus created beauty even in the most painful places of her heart.

For too long, she (like many other Sierra Leoneans) has lived with the belief that the war was God’s will. Believing this made it seem holier – or humble, even – to accept and live with all the pain the war created in her heart.

Why do believers believe that God steals, kills and destroys? Isn’t that what Jesus said about our enemy?

Death was never God’s intention. From the beginning, life has always been His plan. The enemy is the one who came into the beauty of the Garden, and whispered the lies that led to death. But the story doesn’t stop there. Jesus beat death, remember? It is finished.

Life wins.

It wasn’t long before she was forgiving the rebels, and repenting of believing that God was the culprit of all her pain. Now she is walking in the belief that every good and perfect gift comes from God.

She then started noticing all the life around her. Corn. Greens. Potatoes. Mango trees. All around her, life was coming up from the same ground where innocent blood was shed ten years prior. God has turned the very things meant for evil into good. 

One of the songs that I’ve played and re-played since being here is called, “Beautiful Things,” by Gungor. I've declared its words over this nation, and I will continue to fight to see them come true.

All this pain

I wonder if I’ll ever find my way

I wonder if my life could really change at all

All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found

Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

All around

Hope is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos, life is being found in You

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new

You are making me new

A Day in the Life of Maribeth

Last week, I got to spend a couple days in Brigitte, and one day in the village where the orphanage is currently located, which is about thirty minutes down the road from Brigitte, where I was staying.

However, “thirty minutes down the road” is a little different than what you might be thinking. It’s not as easy as hopping in the car, and arriving at your destination thirty minutes later.

Here, you walk along the road until a motorcycle taxi is available. After travelling by motorcycle to one village junction, you find a taxi to cram into with at least 5 other people (you pay by the seat, so people squish in order to reduce individual cost). The taxi (which may or may not break down along the way) drops everyone off at another particular junction, and then you find one more motorcycle taxi to take you to your final destination.

And there you have it. A thirty minute trip to the orphanage.  

And that’s how I got to start my day … without coffee.

Physically, there’s not much about this place that makes me want to kick back and make myself at home. It’s hot. It’s loud. It’s busy. And, to say the least, getting anywhere is usually a bit inconvenient. I find myself in need of a break pretty regularly.

Spiritually, however, this place is RIPE. It makes it a little more fun to be in such a physically draining place when I get to partner with the Lord in all He is doing here.

While in the village where the current orphanage is located, I got to meet with the headmaster of the school where the kids attend. He wants me to do a training for his teachers.

At first I thought, “I don’t know if I have what it takes to do a training.” But after observing their classes, looking at a few of their (few) materials, I decided that it would be a shame if I didn’t share with them what I’ve had the privilege of learning through my degree at Auburn and through some teaching experience. And now it looks like I’ll be doing a training for a couple of different schools in the area within the next few weeks. The schools here will be the first to tell you that they are in need of a lot.

After meeting with the headmaster, I walked to the orphanage with Frank, the Director. On the way, we met his neighbor who had a broken leg. She hasn’t been able to do much except sit on the front porch with it propped up for 2 whole months.

So I prayed for her. She still felt pain after I prayed, so I prayed again. This time, she said as soon as I placed my hand on her knee, she felt something pop. After the prayer, she said it felt better.

I then told her family that since they were believers, they held within them the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20), and that they can continue to lay hands on her and pray for her full recovery.

Now, she’s walking on it. Praise Jesus. By His wounds, we are healed.

Later that day, I got to do some inner healing prayer with two of the adults who help out at the orphanage. I got to watch the Lord bring healing to broken places in their hearts, so now they will be ministering to these children out of a place of freedom in their hearts, where there once was unforgiveness, shame, and bondage.

It’s so beautiful to see freedom released.

As the kids got home from school that day, it was play time. What a joy! I got to read to them Max Lucado’s “You Are Special,” and then I taught them the cupid shuffle.

Two of my favorite things: Reading to kids and Dancing.

I felt alive. With all the wonderful things that had happened that day, I had pretty much forgotten about all the inconveniences of my “thirty minute trip” to the orphanage that morning.

But by that time, it was time for my “thirty minute trip” back to where I was staying.

Oh Lord, help me.

Look and be Amazed

During my first couple of weeks here in Sierra Leone, the Lord has gently leaned in and said to me, “Look and be amazed.”

All I have to do is look, really. He is doing something that many would not even believe if they heard it. But I’ve seen it, and it truly is amazing.

I have had the privilege of spending my first few days here with a wonderful team of people I go to church with in Atlanta, including my “papa” in the faith, and 2 girls I’m friends with. The team left to go back home on Monday, but while they were here last week, we had a conference at the church in Brigitte.

Brigitte is the village that the orphanage is being built in, and where I’ll eventually move to. There are about 1,500 people living in Brigitte, and most are a part of a tribe of people called “Timne.” Most of the Timne people, both Christian and Muslim, have dabbled in witchcraft. Some more than others. One of the pastors here said that about 99% of the Timne tribe have demonic attachments.

These are the people the Lord has called me to love.

The good news is that a foundation of freedom and healing has been laid in Brigitte already. This past week, we partnered with the Lord in setting people free of demonic attachments, physical illnesses, sinful habits, and patterns that only led to death.

One woman brought her daughter to us every day for prayer. Her daughter was 2 years old, and looked like a newborn. She had very little strength or ability to move, and had never even crawled before. So we prayed every day for the Lord to release His healing power over this child. By the end of the week, she was crawling.

Her proud mother went back and told her neighbors about what the Lord had done for her daughter. She was just one of many who spread the news of the Lord’s goodness and healing power to her community. 

These neighbors made their way into church for the very first time, and wanted us to pray for them, too. They wanted God to heal them like He had healed their neighbors. They not only received the healing touch of God, but they also received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

When the Good News of Jesus enters into a community, people are attracted to it, and find themselves wanting to be around the people who carry the presence of the Lord.

One of my favorite moments of the trip so far was when a woman brought her children to us so that we could pray for God to bless them. I prayed for each of them individually, blessing each of them with a specific verse that I felt the Lord speaking over them.

When I finished praying for the 4 children, I turned around, and saw about 10 more kids who had come to receive a blessing. So I continued asking the Lord for a specific verse to pray over each child. After blessing 15-20 kids, it was time for me to go, but I still had about 10 more kids to go. They just kept coming. In blessing the children, I got a small taste of what my purpose is in being here.

I got another taste one day while we were stopped at a gas station. I was sitting in the back seat, thinking about how tired I was (just being honest). Before I knew it, a man had come over and stuck his baby through the open window right in front of me. It was as if the man had come over to my window expecting me to pray for his child.

So, of course, I placed my hand on the baby, and prayed blessings on her spirit to know the Lord. The man seemed pleased, and walked away with his baby. As we left the station, he waved goodbye with a big smile on his face.

Even as I’m writing, I’m thinking, “Was that even real?” That’s when I’m sure that it was totally the Lord.

I guess when the Lord said, “Look and be amazed,” He really meant it.

“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” – Habakkuk 1:5

I'M MOVING TO AFRICA!

I had a dream the other night where I was at the airport frantically filling out papers, trying to get everything ready before my plane was supposed to leave. I felt so scattered and hurried, and then Jesus and the Holy Spirit came on the scene, and informed me that Jesus was coming with me. He didn’t have everything together yet, either, so the Holy Spirit was helping us get everything worked out.

What if I told you that my dream is coming true?

Last week, I was emailing with our missionary contact in Sierra Leone, asking him a few of the many questions I have about living in Africa. He was asking me questions, too, and wanted to know when I was planning on moving back over there. Then he said, “Please don’t say in the fall. Elections are in November, and it’s not safe to be here then.” He told me that he takes his family back to the States every time the elections happen, because it can get pretty dangerous when/if riots break out.

When he told me this, it threw me off a little bit as I started thinking about the timing of it all. It doesn’t make sense for me to make a 3 week trip beginning next week, come back here, then go back to Sierra Leone, and then come back again when the elections happen, and then go back again after the elections are over. (Whew!)

What DOES make sense is for me to go over there, stay until the elections, come back home for the Holidays, then go back over to Sierra Leone for good.

So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m moving to Sierra Leone on Wednesday.

And that’s why I feel like my dream is coming true. I feel pretty scattered right now, as I’m trying to get everything done before I leave. But the good news is that Jesus is coming with me, and Holy Spirit is helping us get everything together before we leave.

The presence of the Lord is always Good News.

I plan on living with our missionary contact and his family for the next 4 months as I adjust to life in Africa, learn the language (Creole), get to know the people, and get settled in my role there. I will then come home in September, before everything gets messy in Sierra Leone, and then go back for good in January-ish.

They should be laying the foundation of the orphanage in the next few weeks, and it should be completed by the end of the year. When I move back to Sierra Leone in January, I’ll plan to live in the orphanage, and raise the children who live there.

Even though this is so sudden, and I feel a little scattered, I KNOW that it’s right. I'm excited about coming into the calling on my life to be a mother to the nations ... starting next week!

Right now, I have enough funds to get me started over the next few weeks. But I’m going to need all the support I can get as I begin life in Sierra Leone. If you’re interested in supporting me financially as I live in Sierra Leone, here’s how:

You can write a check to “Lifegate International,” and put “Maribeth Ward – Africa” in the memo line, and send it to:

Lifegate International
1860 Ridgedale Dr.
Snellville, GA 30078

Or you can go to www.lifegateinternational.com, and use their paypal account to make a donation. If you donate online, be sure to email lifegateinternational@comcast.net to let them know that you want your donation to go to me, because there’s not a place to specify where you want the donation to go on the website.

Your donations will all go to me directly, and they will be tax deductible.

Please please please be praying for me as I make this big transition. And pray for my family as they adjust to the idea of me living so far away. And pray that the Good News of Jesus permeates the country of Sierra Leone.

I praise God for each of you. Be blessed.

The Other Side

Does the Bible ever become so real to you that you can actually feel yourself in one of the stories? Recently, I’ve been feeling as if I’m one of the disciples who went fishing all night long and didn’t catch a thing. I can feel their weariness, their disappointment, and their desire to keep trying just in case they might catch something.

For the past few months, I’ve been wondering when I would have some tangible fruit to show for my labor. I’ve been making plans to start a children’s home here in Atlanta, and like the disciples, I’ve been coming up with nothing in my net – no home and no kids.

So I decided to stop striving to make something happen, and see what the Lord would do. So I began fasting from some things and praying during the lent season, and I was ready for the Lord to do anything.

One day after I began my fast, I was babysitting for a good friend of mine who has 6 kids. As we were talking about children’s homes and all of my dreams, she said,

“Maribeth, if you start raising kids here in the States, you’re going to get stuck here. And you don’t need to get stuck here. Your heart is so rare that you need to be with the worst of the worst. The kids here have a foster care system and an education system helping them out. There are kids in the world who don’t have anything. That’s where you need to be.”

She’s right. I’ve never wanted to get stuck here. In fact, I’ve known for quite some time that I was called to the nations. I’ve just gotten really comfortable doing ministry here in Atlanta with kids who I already know that are dealing with the same junk (sexual abuse, neglect, violence, etc.) as any other kid around the world.

In that moment, as I was talking to my friend, I felt as if Jesus had shown up on the scene, telling me to cast my net on the other side (of the world).

This came as no surprise to me, seeing as how the entire time I was praying about starting a children’s home here, I was also asking the Lord about the nations – Sierra Leone, in particular, which is on the west coast of Africa.

Last May, I went on a trip to Sierra Leone with a group led by my “papa” in the faith, who has a ministry called Lifegate International (www.lifegateinternational.com). When I came back, I knew that I knew that I was supposed to move there and work with the kids in one of the villages named Brigette.

I had thought that I would get a home started here, pass it off to the right people, and then go to Sierra Leone when the time was right. But apparently the time is right already. When I heard that they are building an orphanage in Brigette, I had a “duh” moment, where I felt confirmation about moving there.

So I’m taking a short vision trip next month to Sierra Leone to get a few things in order before moving there. I plan to leave on May 17, and scout it out for the next three weeks, so that I will be able to share with friends and family, and anyone who may want to support me about what life would look like for me there.

I’ve been saving up a few donations that people have randomly given me here and there, and so I am starting off my Africa scouting adventure with $800. That means I only need $2000 more to make this initial trip happen. Let me know (maribethward@yahoo.com) if you want to be a part of this financially – I plan to buy my plane ticket in one week (April 23).

So here I am, casting my net on the other side of the boat, so eager to see what kind of catch I’ll get. Praise the Lord, who establishes my steps, lights my path, and makes it straight.

Mama Heart

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” - Isaiah 43:19

First of all, I would like to thank so many of you for all the ways you have supported me as an inner city missionary in Atlanta. The Lord has been doing great things through the ministry of NightLight Atlanta, and it is such a joy to get to be a part of what He is doing.

Children are learning to love in an environment based on violence and fear. Women are leaving lives of prostitution, and entering into the Kingdom of God. People are experiencing His hope, and salvation. Jesus is so good!

As much as I love my current job, I have decided to step down from my position with
NightLight Atlanta as the Director of Prevention Programming, because the Lord has made it clear that He is about to launch me into my calling to be a mother to the orphans.

For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of becoming a mother. Many people have spoken prophesies and encouragement over me about my “mama heart,” and about the Lord’s call on my life to be a mother. Motherhood is what I was created for.

Even though I don’t know exactly what it will all look like yet, I know that this is the time for me to start making transitions so that I’m available to do whatever the Lord has planned for me. This is my last month working for NightLight.

I dream of having orphanages all over the world. I want kids everywhere to know that they have a good Dad … and a good Mama, and I want them to have abundant life filled with hope. The Lord has told me that I will be the mother of many nations, and I believe Him. I have a feeling that my life as a missionary mama overseas will start sooner rather than later, but until the Lord speaks clearly about when and where to go, I plan on being in Atlanta for a little while longer.

I have been making plans with a few friends to move into the area of town where my kids live, and have an open home, where the kids are welcome anytime. I foresee them planting a garden in the backyard, having worship nights, dance parties, neighborhood dinners, movie nights, and more. I often think about how the name, Maribeth, means “blessed house.” That’s my identity, and it’s exactly what I want this home to be for the kids.

I plan on moving into the “blessed house” in February or March. I know that this open home will be just the beginning of a movement here in Atlanta. The kids that the Lord has entrusted to me will hopefully become the leaders of whatever ministry is birthed through me soon.

I have also been looking into adoption. The Lord made it clear to me that this is top priority in my life, so I am currently going through training to become an adoptive parent. I don’t know if the Lord’s intentions for me going through this are for me to get some really good training, or if He has a certain child, or certain children in mind for me to adopt as my own. Who knows? By this time next year, there might be a couple of little ones calling me “Mama.”

So please, be praying for me as I continue to say yes to the Lord’s voice. I would love to have you support me through this journey. Ask me how things are going. Come and visit the kids. Pray that the Kingdom comes. I know that the dreams the Lord has placed on my heart will require the entire Body of Christ to play their part, whatever that may look like.

I will let you know specifics along the way, and keep you updated about ways you can be involved, and ways that you can support me and the kids that the Lord entrusts to me. The seeds you sew into the ministry the Lord gives me – whatever that may look like – are producing and will continue to produce great fruit. We will all share in the harvest and the reward.

I praise God for each of you, and all of your prayers and encouragement!

Dreams Redeemed

One afternoon, a few friends and I decided to drive around and pray for the area of town where the kids live. After driving around for a bit, we pulled into the hotel where we do our Prevention Program, and some of the teenagers who live there climbed into the car with us, saying that they wanted to pray, too.

As we were praying for them, and speaking life over them, more kids came. And pretty soon, they were praying for each other.

That is the kind of stuff that I live for.

One girl spoke up, and said that she had been having nightmares. She started describing some of the things that had haunted her dreams, and it became obvious that a spirit of death had been trying to take over this 10 year old’s subconscious dream world.

I knew that God desired to give His daughter good dreams – straight from His heart to hers. There’s something about our good Father that loves to reveal the mysteries of His heart to His children through dreams. Just ask Joseph.

I asked her if she wanted God to give her good dreams, instead. And of course, she said yes.

So I went to my car, and grabbed some anointing oil. Yes, I did say anointing oil. I've decided to carry that stuff around with me these days. I mean, you’ve gotta have the essentials with you at all times – your wallet, your keys, some chewing gum, and your anointing oil. It comes in handy sometimes.

Anointing oil was used throughout the Bible to make something holy. So as a priest of the Lord, I prayed for her and anointed her, and in doing so, declared her “holy.” Her dreams are now set apart for God alone. They are no longer a place for the enemy to have a destructive party.

Just today, she was telling her Sunday school teacher that I prayed for her to stop having bad dreams a few weeks ago, and now she doesn’t have nightmares anymore. Now, she only has good dreams.

Man, God is so good at being good!

And all I have to say is that it’s great to be His priest. I get to usher people into His goodness, out of the darkness, and into His wonderful light.

“… for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” – I Peter 2:9

Father to the Fatherless

One of the biggest factors that puts a child at-risk for entering into the sex industry is not having a father at home. The role of a father is to LEAD his wife and children, PROTECT his wife and children, and PROVIDE FOR his wife and children. When the father is absent, it leaves the wife and children vulnerable to purposelessness, abuse, and poverty.

And most of the kids I work with are fatherless.

A few weeks ago, I was having lunch with a couple of the girls from our prevention program, and they started talking about their dads. One of them, a ten year old, assured me that when she says, “my dad,” she really means her step-father, because her step-father has been more of a dad to her than real dad.

She doesn’t even know who her real dad is.

The fourteen year old girl eating with us then spoke up to say that her dad didn’t even sign her birth certificate.

While they were talking, I was thinking, “How in the world will these girls know they are worthy of being loved if their own fathers haven’t loved them? Will they ever believe that there are actually men who don’t abandon their families?”

I told the girls that God is a really good dad to us. I told them that He’s really good at taking care of us, and no matter what our dads are like here on earth, God won’t ever leave us. And then they chimed in by saying, “Yeah, He won’t ever leave us or forsake us!”

That’s right. They quoted Scripture.

Whether fathers like it or not, they give us a picture of what God the Father is like. And that’s why so many people have warped beliefs about who God actually is.

If our earthly fathers abandoned us, we probably will have problems believing that
God actually WANTS to be near us. And if our earthly fathers beat us for no good reason on a regular basis, we will probably go through life believing that God is in a bad mood.

But God is in a good mood. He really is. And the truth is that He’s gone to great measures to be with us. The veil has been torn. We have 24-7 access to His presence because of Jesus.

Wake up, Church!! We are the priests. We are the ones who get to lead the fatherless into the presence of God!

Often, when I simply ask God what’s on His heart for the kids I work with, I get this picture of the Father sitting criss-cross-applesauce (to be politically correct), and all of the kids coming into His lap. This is the heart of our good Father! He wants the kids to climb up into His lap, and just rest for a while.

There are no orphans in Daddy God’s lap.

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” Psalm 68:5

Sowing In Tears. Reaping In Joy.

We began the summer season of Kids’ Club by planting seeds into pots. Each week, we watched the plants grow, and we talked about what we look like when we’re growing with Jesus. We have steadily sown seeds of the truth about Jesus in the hearts of 124 children throughout the summer. My prayer is that we will reap a harvest that is a hundred times greater than the amount of seeds that have been planted.

We have been taking a handful the kids from our prevention program to Church on Sundays, so there are even more seeds being planted, watered, and nurtured by people ministering at our Church. We started off bringing 5 kids at the beginning of June. By the end of July, there were 13.

One of the kids that has been coming for the whole summer asked one of the newcomers, “Since when have you been coming to MY church?” I love that the kids are actually claiming to be a part of this body of believers now.

It’s one thing for us to come to where they live, into their darkness, and introduce them to Jesus. It’s totally different for us to bring them into a healthy environment. We are doing more than just bringing them to a Church service. We are introducing them to a whole new world, one where it is normal to love Jesus, and earnestly seek Him.

When they come to Church, their teachers are reinforcing what we have already taught them. At Kids’ Club, we have introduced these little ones to the Lord’s voice. Just this season, they have heard the Lord speak His love over them, His encouragement, and His destiny for their lives. Now these kids are learning to hear God’s voice in two places.

The thing I love most about taking the kids to Church is that I get to spend so much time with them. I’m discovering that the more I invest in the lives of the children we work with, the more I know their brokenness, as well. The reality they live in is dark.

One 10 year old girl after Bible class one week told me that she started crying during class because she shared her feelings, and then she admitted that she was ashamed of her tears. I asked her what she had shared, and she told me she was upset because her dad was in jail, her uncle just got out of jail, and her great-uncle was on his death bed. I told her that it’s good to cry about things like that, and we talked about the importance of sharing our feelings. Her feelings had been locked away deep within her.

Prison is a reality that has been passed down to this 10 year old. But I’m holding onto the truth in Isaiah 61 about who Jesus is. “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

He offers freedom from darkness to these children. He is why we do what we do. Jesus is our strategic plan in preventing these children from entering into the darkness around them. As we sow in tears, we hold onto the promise in Psalm 126 that we will reap with songs of joy.

I can’t wait to see the harvest.

Stories from Africa

I went to Africa expecting miracles. Really, I was just expecting God to be Himself. And over and over again, I was completely amazed at my “Daddy God” (The Africans we were around referred to God in Creole as “Daddy God”).

Miracles aren’t about putting on a show. They’re not magic. And they’re not something of the past.

Miracles flow out of the heart of a loving Abba. God’s extravagant love knows no limit. It’s amazing to me how so many people have put a limit on what an all powerful God, whose very name is LOVE, can do.

His power flows from His love.

I started keeping a list of the miracles that we witnessed when we were on the plane headed to Sierra Leone. The woman sitting next to me on our last little flight from Ghana to Freetown, Sierra Leone wasn’t feeling very well. So I prayed for her. After praying for her, I asked her how she felt. She said her headache went away while I was praying. Wow! Praise the Lord!

And that was just the beginning!

While in Sierra Leone, we visited a few different villages, and ministered to the churches in these different communities. While we were in the first village called Kambia, one particular family served us daily, and prepared all of our meals while we were there.

The youngest daughter in their family had had a fever for 2 weeks. She was three years old and adorable. It wasn’t ok for this little girl to be so sick, so we prayed that the Lord would bring justice to her and heal her.

And He did.

We kept asking her family if the fever had come back since we prayed for her. They said she was 100% better. What a loving Father she has!

While we were in Kambia, the church asked us to pray for two of their kids who were demon-possessed. A little bit of fear went through me when they asked US to cast the demons out. I didn’t really grow up believing in all that “crazy spirit stuff.” But the more I bring the Kingdom of God into the darkness of this world, the more I experience the warfare that goes on in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6)

The fear I felt only lasted for a moment, however, and then I started getting excited about what the Lord was about to do. There was no doubt that He wanted those demons to stop tormenting His precious ones.

The first little guy’s name was Abraham. He might have been 7 or 8 years old. During worship the day before, Abraham had manifested a demon by running bent over through the building at full speed, running into walls and into people, and foaming at the mouth. Someone from the church came and laid hands on him and started praying, and the child fell asleep.

After praying for him the next day, the demon left peacefully. Thank you, Jesus!

The second child we prayed for was a 13 year old girl named Elizabeth. Her demon manifested immediately and threw her on the ground. We prayed that the demon would get out of her and go to Jesus so He could deal with it appropriately. After a few minutes, the demon left and the peace of God came over her.

Elizabeth was all smiles after her deliverance. She started hanging around us regularly from then on, and gave me a gift the last night that we were in Kambia. Because she had received something of high value from us, she gave me something of very high value.

A chicken.

Elizabeth gave me a for real live chicken. This was a pretty big deal. Families in this community struggle to have enough to eat, and only have chicken on special occasions. I named my new chicken, “sozo,” which is the Greek word meaning “to save, heal, and deliver.” The chicken had been “delivered” to me by someone who had been “delivered.”

We found out later that Elizabeth had been in a secret society – it’s pretty common in Africa for people to join these secret societies. And it’s all pretty demonic. People have to make a blood covenant to enter – for girls, they have to be “circumcised” to enter, and guys are cut on the lower part of their backs. Demons are assigned to protect them from leaving the society. Elizabeth’s didn’t want to let go of her.

But God wanted freedom for her. And because of His great love for her, she is FREE indeed!

You see, the demonic is very real. But the more important thing is that God’s power is EVEN MORE REAL. All we have to do is believe that He will show up. The things that we witnessed in Africa would not have happened without God. He loves doing the impossible.

I can’t even count how many people got healed while we were there. And that’s not to mention the 25 people who got baptized in one particular village. 25!! About 3 months ago, no one in this village knew who Jesus was. Now there is a church, and many new believers. What a beautiful work of God! He loves the people in that village so so much.

Our God is supernatural. That’s how He rolls. Jesus didn’t just pray for the sick. He healed them. And He didn’t send His disciples out to just pray for people and do some nice things. He told them to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and raise the dead to life. (Matthew 10:8)

Our God loves to give Freedom, Wholeness, and Life! That’s the kind of Kingdom business our God does. And it all flows abundantly from His deep wells of love.

May Your Kingdom come, Daddy God! May Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven!

BAPTISMS!!

“From the lips of children and infants, You, Lord, have called forth Your praise.” (Matthew 21:16)

Jesus quoted this passage from Psalm 8 after the chief priests and teachers of the law had gotten pretty upset at the children who were shouting in the Temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

It made the religious people mad enough that the crowds had shouted that through the streets on Palm Sunday. And now the kids were copying what they had heard from the adults in the Temple courts.

So they asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

Jesus simply replies, “Have you never read, “From the lips of children and infants, You, Lord, have called forth Your praise?”

He loves their worship! God not only accepts the praise of His little babies, He delights in their faith!

Many of the kids in our Prevention Program have put their faith in Jesus this season as we have talked about who Jesus really is. Their faith is simple, and the way they declare His praise is profound. They sing and dance in His love for them.

Just this spring season, we have had 88 new children come to our Kids’ Club. And a total of 353 kids have come through our Prevention Program since it first started.

And we celebrated the baptisms of 19 of our children this season!

They proclaimed Jesus as their Lord as other children and onlookers from the motel gathered around to take in the day’s events. Everyone listened as the children stated their reasons in wanting to get baptized.

Their explanations were amazing. The majority of them simply said that they loved God and that God loved them. Some said they wanted to be with Jesus forever. Some said they wanted Jesus to save them. Others said they wanted to become a new person.

The Greek definition of the word baptizo means "to overwhelm." As each of the 19 children were overwhelmed with the cold water in the kiddie pool, they were also overwhelmed with a new identity in Jesus, and they are entering into a new covenant relationship with Him.

Our desire has been to see these children come into their true identity in Jesus, and this has happened right before our eyes.

Faith Like A Child

Wow! What a day at Kids’ Club! In the words of the United Pursuit Band, “Praise is befitting to the One who died! Your Name is high and above every name on Earth and in Heaven. You are good. You are holy. You are worthy.”

Recently, I feel like I have been under quite a bit of attack from the enemy. He knows that we, at NightLight, are preparing for baptisms with the kids the week after Easter. He knows that these kids are already believing in Jesus, and that their baptisms will mark the beginning of a covenant relationship with the One who is victorious over him. Satan absolutely can’t stand that Jesus is a CHAMPION! And he wants to taunt and discourage the ones on Christ’s winning side in any way that he can.

But the enemy will not get the last word with me … nor with these kids. Nope. I am more than a conqueror. And these kids will rise out of the water into new life with Jesus. I don’t care what that liar has to say about it.

Tonight, we talked about how the payment for sin is death, but that God made a way for us to not have to die, and that His way brings LIFE FOREVER. (Romans 6:23)

I started off my lesson tonight with a bottle of water. I asked one of the kids to put a pinch of dirt in the bottle, and then I went to take a sip. The kids went crazy. “NOOO! DON’T DRINK IT!” One girl even came up behind me and grabbed the water bottle from my hand, and said, “DON’T DRINK THAT!!! THAT’S GROSS!!”

I told the kids that it was just a little dirt, but they didn’t care. They wouldn’t let me drink it. I went on to tell them that the dirt in the water bottle is like sin. Even a little bit makes us dirty and unclean. And we deserve death when we sin.

I then asked one of the kids to try and get the dirt out of the water bottle, so that I could have some clean water to drink. He looked at me like I was crazy. So I asked the other kids if they could get the dirt out. It is not possible to remove dirt from a bottle of water, and neither can we get sin out of our lives on our own.

So I told them about the One who makes us clean when we’re dirty with sin. I told them about His death, and that He didn’t stay dead for very long. No way! He left death in the grave, and rose to new life. And because of His sacrifice and His resurrection, we can LIVE FOREVER WITH JESUS!

I then pulled out a gift bag that was marked, “To: Maribeth. Love: Jesus.” I asked the kids if they thought I needed to pay for the gift, but they said that since it was a gift, I didn’t need to pay for it. Inside, I found a brand new water bottle with pure water in it. No dirt. No sin. Jesus paid the price for our sin, and gives us brand new pure LIFE as a free gift.

I asked all of the kids to close their eyes, and answer some questions for me. I asked them if they believed that Jesus is the Son of God. Hands started flying up in the air, and they stayed up when I asked if they believed that Jesus died for them, and rose from the dead. Some of the kids put both hands in the air when I asked if they believed that Jesus could get all the dirty sin out of their lives, and make them clean again.

A couple of them even announced, “I got both my hands up!” Then I started seeing feet fly up in the air when I asked if they wanted to have new life with Jesus. It was such a sweet (and absolutely hilarious) sight to see kids lying on their backs with both of their hands and feet sticking up in the air (but their eyes stayed closed, of course).

I am so amazed at how desperately these kids want Jesus.

Such beautiful faith!!

“And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

These kids are ready for baptism. And satan can just sit on a tack. A lot of tacks.

Jesus is Life

Oh God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You. All of my Life is found in You. You are Life to me. You are the resurrection and the life. You give Your grace and beauty and love to the birds and flowers. How much more do You love me? How much more? I can’t even wrap my mind around the goodness and faithfulness and mercy You pour out in abundance. You’re so good, so so good to me!

The other night, I was crying out to God, interceding for my kids. I told God that I wanted these kids to KNOW Him, cry out to Him, turn to Him, look at Him, find HOPE in Him, find JOY amidst their circumstances, and that I wanted God to be EVERYTHING to them.

Do you know what God said in response to my prayer? He said, “Then that’s what you need to do. Show them how to love Me and pray to Me. They’re looking at you.”

Do you know how humbling that is? These kids are looking at me to see who God is. It just makes me yearn for Him all the more. There is so much more of Him that I haven’t even tasted yet. I want more. What I’ve tasted of the Almighty has been so good, but I want more of Him!

This week at Kids’ Club, the theme was “Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.” We talked about how Jesus raised Lazarus from death to LIFE, and how He turns our mourning into dancing, and our tears of sorrow into JOY! (Ps. 30:11-12).

I spent a lot of time talking about the verse in John 11 that simply says, “Jesus wept.” I told the kids that Jesus cares a whole lot about every detail in their lives, and that He doesn’t ignore us when we’re sad, but that He sees our tears, and He cries with us. And then He brings LIFE to those dead places in us.

As we were praying afterwards, I asked the kids to tell God what they were thankful for. One girl said that she was thankful that Jesus is Life. That is huge. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Because this little girl said that Jesus is life with her words, I know that her heart believes that it is true. Praise the Lord.

After Kids’ Club last night, a couple of us were eating together, and we started talking about how some of these kids are going to become Ministers. I got chills thinking about it. Pray that God consumes them like a fire.

STORIES

This was the first week of our Spring Season of Kids' Club. I am beyond thankful to be back in the swing of things! It was such a great week, and I am so exhausted. God is so good, and so full of love for these kids! I wish each of you could meet them. I have a few stories to share about these precious little treasures.



There is one particular 10-year-old kid that has been around since this summer, and we are pretty close with him. During the skit, he kept on talking really loudly. So I pulled him to the side, and asked him to honor the people doing the skit by listening. He kept talking loudly. So I kept getting onto him.

I finally said, “If you keep being disrespectful, you might not get a snack today. Do you want to lose your snack?” His response: “It depends. What are we having for snack?” He then looked around, saw the box of pretzels, and then agreed to respect me.

I was thinking about his response later that night, and realized that I do the same thing with God. When God asks me to do something, my immediate reaction is usually, “What’s in it for me?” AKA: "It depends, God. What do I get for snack?"



When I was announcing about what we were doing that day, one kid kept on coming up to me, poking me in the side while I was talking, and saying that he had an announcement to make. It seemed rather urgent.

I asked him to whisper his announcement to me, and he said, “I just need to ask everyone who hit my brother. Someone hit my brother, and then ran away, and I need to make an announcement that you don’t hit my brother.”

What a protective little guy!



This season, I have decided to start “interviewing” a couple of kids before and after each lesson. This week, I asked the question, “What does Immanuel mean?”

BEFORE the lesson, I got responses like:

“Um, I think that Immanuel means … um … like, uh … brain.”

“It means baby.”

“Immanuel is like a book … something that people have written … It has words, and it might even have pictures.”

AFTER the lesson, I asked the same kids the same question. And this is how each of them responded:

“Immanuel means GOD WITH US!”

I think they really caught onto what this week’s lesson was all about. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to Earth to be like us and to be WITH us. (Isaiah 7:14)



In addition to what we do with the elementary age kids, we have started doing a Bible Study for teen girls at both locations this season. I have been praying for this to happen for so long, and I am so thankful for the young women who have stepped up to lead these Bible studies.

The girls they are leading are the ones who are most at risk for entering into prostitution. The average age of entry into prostitution in the U.S. is between the ages of 11-14.

At Tuesday’s Bible study, the leader shared the verse from Matthew 10 about being as wise as serpents, and as innocent as doves. While the girls were decorating their individual journals with all kinds of stickers, they asked the leader what the verse meant.

The leader explained that Jesus wants to teach us to not go crazy in a crazy world. Pray for these girls as they learn to be as wise as serpents in the crazy world that they live in.

The next day at Wednesday’s teen girls Bible study, an eleven year old (Ok, so this one isn’t technically a teenager …) told the leader that she sees a demon sometimes, and described in detail what the demon was like. She explained how scared she was of the demon, and cried like a baby with the leader. Then her 13-year-old sister said that she sees dark shadows behind her every time she looks in the mirror.

This is just one example of the terrible darkness in this neighborhood. Who knows what else is haunting our other children in their homes. Pray that the Light of Christ will breakthrough in each child. There is serious warfare going on over each of their souls.



Our guy intern this season has been so wonderful with the teenage boys we see on a weekly basis. On Wednesday, he got to hang out with the guys for a little while, and they started asking him questions about sex. They were all ears to whatever he had to say. They are so hungry for truth.

Our intern started talking about soul ties, and how sex is so much more than what happens physically. They have never listened to anyone as well as they listened to him on Wednesday. Pray that the Lord fills our intern more and more with His Spirit as he leads these guys into more truth.



At the end of our time with the kids on both Tuesday and Wednesday, we gathered the kids together whose birthdays were in February so that we could pray for them. A couple of kids even prayed for their peers. This was such a beautiful time, and it was such a joy to get to bless these kids.



Keep praying for these precious little ones. And pray for me, too. I need so much more of the Lord! I'm sure I will have many, many other stories to share as the season goes on.