God's Sufficient Grace

please pray!

The question I receive most often (and I think my parents receive on my behalf) is “How are the mosquitoes?” I must write about that a lot! So a quick update: they come and go (as do my restful nights) but overall have been much better since I last wrote. I have tried a few other “strategies” (such as pouring bleach down the drains – I have now definitely confirmed that as the place they are coming from), but I truly believe that that isn’t the reason for the recent relief. It is from YOU praying! After I wrote my story of woe, many of you must have prayed and God hears and answers your prayers on my behalf. I’ve been amazed at this power of prayer - which has caused me to ask myself – why don’t I ask people at home to pray for me more often and about far more important things than relief from mosquito bites?!

So I write with another prayer request: please pray for our chapel tomorrow morning (Friday, March 16th at 7:15). It is “Upper Elementary” (Grades 3-5) chapel week and our theme for the year for the Upper Elementary chapels has kind of been an apologetic one, attempting to answer their questions about who Jesus is, how we can know the Bible is true, why evil things happen if God is good (Dave Veldhorst was actually a guest speaker for that chapel; I recruited him and he did an incredible job unpacking that difficult issue and making it understandable to children), etc. After each chapel message, we pass out sheets of paper for the students to write down questions they have and twice this year so far we’ve had a whole chapel dedicated to answering those questions. They have many and they are not always easy to answer! Tomorrow is what you might call the climax of the year and one of the teachers will be presenting the gospel. This chapel and its potential impact on the students’ lives has been heavy on my heart the last few days. Please pray that the message will be understandable to the students and that they will find and put their hope in Jesus Christ alone. Our songs for the day go right along with the message and I’ve spent a lot more time practicing them this week too: “Nothing But the Blood” (with a few “guest” 4th grade recorder players accompanying!), “Mighty, Mighty Savior” (from Awesome God) and “The Gospel Song” (also from Awesome God and/or Sovereign Grace ministries – this one I’m particularly nervous about because I’m going to attempt to pick instead of strum my guitar, which is something I’m just figuring out how to do!!). Some of the students are miming a very powerful sort of drama during the “Gospel Song”. Please pray that it will be worshipful and will stick in their heads.

Another thing that’s been heavy on my heart: please pray for the students at Prong Jai. There are 65 students at this smaller campus where I teach once a week and I’ve been realizing recently how much more spiritual oppression they are (or seem to be) under there. Last night in the middle of the night I woke up to mosquitoes buzzing in my ear and eating my skin. In my frustration, I ½ complained, ½ wondered why it seems that I often have trouble sleeping on Wednesday nights before I go to that campus. Of all nights, it’s the one night of the week that I want to get the most rest because I have to get up and leave so early in the morning. Often on Thursdays I end up really tired. (That’s also been the afternoon I’ve been meeting with Katy.) Then in my sleepiness, I began to wonder if this were not spiritual warfare and then to sense the need to pray for those students at Prong Jai. So I got out of my bed, out from under the mosquito net and onto my knees and prayed for each child by name (most – a few I couldn’t remember!) and for their teachers. As I prayed for the teachers, I thought of how my friends at Prong Jai seem to be up against so many more (and greater) spiritual battles – with students and in their personal lives – than it appears most teachers are at the larger campus. When I went to school this morning, I was reminded of why…

As we neared the campus in our taxi, I saw a woman who was passed out on the sidewalk, with a man leaning over her. I was super concerned and wanted to stop and help her and make sure she was not seriously hurt. Mrs. Elsie did not see her, but she didn’t seem nearly so surprised or perhaps as concerned. Apparently that community (where the campus is situated) is a hub for many drug-dealers and often people get stoned and pass out by the streets. Talking to my friends at school, I was reminded that this neighborhood (or one nearby where they live?) is also the gay-district of Bangkok and daily they see all forms of sexual perversion. (Most likely the students get to see a lot of that too). Many more of the students at Prong Jai seem to come from homes/families that are actually opposed to the gospel, rather than merely indifferent (like many parents seem to be at Bangna). I heard that young Dhavani, who I’ve been praying for a lot, has a mother who is a Hindu priestess and she is expected to be the next, following in her mother’s footsteps. No wonder there is a feeling of spiritual oppression in that place! No wonder there are so many battles just to teach there day by day (or week by week, in my case).

And yet, in the darkness, God’s light is shining. I had another extended conversation with the second grade class today about Jesus’ death and about heaven. SO many questions about heaven! After speaking of Jesus, one boy said, “I wish He would come back.” I got excited, “He will! And He’s going to take all those who believe in Him with Him to the place He’s been getting ready for us!” Some acted like they had never heard anything like that in their lives! It was exciting for me to open up Revelation 21 and speak of that wonderful place and talk about how different we (and everything else) will be. And most of all, how we will soon be with Jesus!

Please, please lift up your powerful prayers on behalf of these children and their teachers. God is able to do great things in that place!

posted by Catherine Rogers @ 8:28 AM