Monday, April 14
Word had gotten back to Ja that one of Rachel's friends, Nina, was needing to talk with her. Ja needed to run an errand and they told us to tag along with them. Ja dropped Rachel and I off at Nina's home. We caught her at home.
Nina has had a difficult life. Her parents died when she was about 18 years old and she had to finish raising her brothers and sisters. I think there are 4 or 5 of them. One of Nina's sisters is struggling with depression. She had tried suicide but it didn't work. On that particular day, her sister was in Tana (the capital city of Madagascar) in a hospital psychiatric ward.
Nina told us that her father used to go to a witch doctor for help. The witch doctor was absolutely the wrong place for him to seek out help! But, nevertheless, he did. We believe very strongly what the Bible says in Exodus 20:5 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (idols), nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" We believe that because Nina's father went to the witch doctor along with other things, his iniquity is visiting on his children - at that particular moment it was Nina's sister.
Rachel counseled her to have a "family fast" and pray 1 day a week for at least 3 months to break the iniquity from continuing to visit upon their family because it sounded like a spiritual problem. It could have been a little bit physical but for the most part a spiritual problem. I also encouraged her to pray with belief. So often we pray and ask God for various things (healing, financial security, etc.) but we don't really believe God will answer our prayers. If we pray with unbelief He won't answer us. Nina was very open and sweet.
L to R - Rachel, Nina, Me
Ja and Walter made several visits. They were able to lead a man to the Lord. It was like that with every visit. It was an incredible experience to work with people who were willing to listen to the Bible and actually believe what the Bible says!
It was also the 2nd night of Walter's creation class. There were 43 people in attendance. The ladies had asked Rachel if they could make potato pancakes and sell them to buy decorations for the church building. Ja said it was ok. So the ladies gathered early before the class started and prepared the food. Rachel and I stayed outside and cooked them. They were a hit! Everyone liked them.
The only problem was the mosquitoes were out in full force that night! Up until that night, I hadn't been bit. Well, I was a feast for the mosquitoes! I counted how many bites were on my legs the next day and there were 17! My legs itched and burned so badly. In fact, they bothered me until a few days after we got back to the USA!
Nina has had a difficult life. Her parents died when she was about 18 years old and she had to finish raising her brothers and sisters. I think there are 4 or 5 of them. One of Nina's sisters is struggling with depression. She had tried suicide but it didn't work. On that particular day, her sister was in Tana (the capital city of Madagascar) in a hospital psychiatric ward.
Nina told us that her father used to go to a witch doctor for help. The witch doctor was absolutely the wrong place for him to seek out help! But, nevertheless, he did. We believe very strongly what the Bible says in Exodus 20:5 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (idols), nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" We believe that because Nina's father went to the witch doctor along with other things, his iniquity is visiting on his children - at that particular moment it was Nina's sister.
Rachel counseled her to have a "family fast" and pray 1 day a week for at least 3 months to break the iniquity from continuing to visit upon their family because it sounded like a spiritual problem. It could have been a little bit physical but for the most part a spiritual problem. I also encouraged her to pray with belief. So often we pray and ask God for various things (healing, financial security, etc.) but we don't really believe God will answer our prayers. If we pray with unbelief He won't answer us. Nina was very open and sweet.
L to R - Rachel, Nina, Me
Ja and Walter made several visits. They were able to lead a man to the Lord. It was like that with every visit. It was an incredible experience to work with people who were willing to listen to the Bible and actually believe what the Bible says!
It was also the 2nd night of Walter's creation class. There were 43 people in attendance. The ladies had asked Rachel if they could make potato pancakes and sell them to buy decorations for the church building. Ja said it was ok. So the ladies gathered early before the class started and prepared the food. Rachel and I stayed outside and cooked them. They were a hit! Everyone liked them.
The only problem was the mosquitoes were out in full force that night! Up until that night, I hadn't been bit. Well, I was a feast for the mosquitoes! I counted how many bites were on my legs the next day and there were 17! My legs itched and burned so badly. In fact, they bothered me until a few days after we got back to the USA!
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