The Promise

This was written by a Christian lady who works at Ormond in the Pines, an assisted living facility here in Ormond Beach.

The Promise

Written by the Spirit that moved me
Jane Darveaux

I lay curled up in my bed
Not knowing what to say
My mind was numb, my body weak
Then I began to pray

I didn’t know how to start, Lord
I stumbled on my words
But somehow you understood, Lord
And through my struggling You heard.

“Jesus, this is hard for me
No one taught me how.
I need Your help, don’t you know
And I need it now”

“I’m lonely, Lord, no one cares”
I beg, I plead, I cry
“No one seems to want me, Lord,
And I just don’t know why”

“I need an answer. Can’t You see?
You know I’m hurt”, I scream
I fall asleep scared and crying
And this is what I dream

A tall figure in the dark
That I could barely see
And He appeared ragged and torn
But seemed familiar to me

He slowly moved on toward me
His feet didn’t touch the ground
I hid my face, fell on my knees
On His head was a thorny crown!

I knew who it was in an instant
And I trembled as I fell
He leaned over me and softly asked,
“My child, what have you to tell?”

I whimpered, “Jesus, have mercy
On my weary soul
I’m bent, I’m broken and have no one
Whose hand I can hold”

“I’m lonely, sad, and shaken
And I don’t know what to do”
He reached out His arms to me
And gently promised, “I’ll hold you”

He lifted me in His arms
O! What a sweet embrace!
I knew right then and there
That I had been blessed with Grace

I awoke when the birds started singing
Yes, what a beautiful sound!
No longer alone and shaken
I felt God’s love all ‘round

I knew Jesus was with me
And His promise He would keep
I still feel the awe and wonder
Had I really been asleep?

The Blood Was Spilled

We are free today to worship, pray, and speak because men and women went to places like:

Bunker Hill
Antietam
Berlin
Paris
Rome
Tripoli

and the blood was spilled.

We can celebrate Jesus, pray in public, build church buildings……

Pearl Harbor
El Alamein
Afghanistan

and the blood was spilled.

We can travel around the world, welcome the hurting into our nation because…

San Juan Hill
Cuba
Grenada
Kuwait
Japan
Iraq

and the blood was spilled.

We can enter Heaven, spend forever with Jesus because...

He went to a place called Calvary.

and the blood was spilled.

MI AMIGO Y MAESTRO LUIS…..

Here is a newsletter that I received from Tita, a wonderful Guatemalan woman who has devoted her life to helping “the least of these” in her country. She tells the story of Luis, who I previously wrote about, who we built a house for while on our mission trip in Guatemala.


MI AMIGO Y MAESTRO LUIS…..

I have known Luis for a while now; a man that didn’t speak at all, and rarely lifted the view…I always thought that he was an interesting person because I always saw him working without speaking to anybody. The times that he said hi, he was very polite but it was limited to the greeting nothing else: just a quick look…as times went by I tried to approach more, trying to speak of different things with the intention of getting more confidence. We had small and superfluous conversations for him, but very valuable for me, just by allowing me to know him more; although he always kept his distance, we became a little more closer.

A good day of God, we find Luis at the end of one of those alleys of La Limonada, as always, working; I went with an big friend with a wonderful heart, he is from the States. He spoke to Luis about Jesus: for my surprise, knowing the distance that he kept towards all…I could see how Luis prayed and gave his life to Jesus. In that moment I realized that I was, like the Bible says, at “the least of the earth”, not for the distance, but for the difficult of having arrived to Luis, it seemed like a miracle how God managed to search and find him.

O the MANY and valuable things that I have learned from Luis, it is to be grateful with what God gives me, I don’t mean that we should be “conformists” in a negative sense, let us use the blessed balance, but I mean that I have learned how to savor and to enjoy what I have “today” and to cherish how blessed I am for SO MANY things.

WHY?

…He gets up every morning to work in the drainage to look for things of value, like copper, iron and aluminum, or, other things as balls. In one of our “deep and valuable” conversations, Luis told me that to the he doesn’t lack ANYTHING, because God has blessed him with house, food and work, also that he doesn’t have problems with anybody. Wow, a good friend told me once: “that day that I have to enter in a drainage to work…that day, I believe that would not give thanks to God”, by the way that I believe that he has a picture of Luis in his office to remember how blessed he is materially.

HOUSE?

Yes, Luis calls “house” to the place where he lives: roofless, no bed, no table or NOTHING. When you walk in, it is a beautiful place, there is staff the he has found that we will never have. Even do he has absolutely anything, He feel like living in a palace!

And well…god has lifted a group of people who had left ALL their comfort to come to La Limonada to share from the bottom of their hearts: this month of April, a team from a church CAME to “build” Luis’s house; they also bought a bed, pillows, dishes and a small roaster, so he can warm up his food. We can see a little bit of process in the pictures. 

WHAT DOES LUIS SAYS:

--Luis, how do you sleep? (by the way, that was our second toughest night in the rain).
“…Oh!, but if you are inside a house you don’t need blankets! It is not cold! And it is so strange to sleep on a bed”

In over 50 years, is the first time that Luis sleeps on a bed 

How great it is to see the Lord’s body ALIVE and ACTIVE!!!

With Love and Gratitude, Tita

Myanmar

Please pray for the people of Myanmar. One of our missionaries, Judah, lives outside of Yangon. This is an opportunity to put our faith to work.

Tomoka Christian Church is sending money to three different mission organizations to help with this tragic situation. You can donate money through the church by writing "Cyclone relief Myanmar" in the memo line or on your offering envelope.

Continue to pray for the people of Myanmar as the situation is deteriorating daily.

"Addy"

I was at the park with Alisha; swinging, sliding, climbing. I heard her frightened voice, "Addy, Addy!" And then a little louder, "ADDY!" I said, "Alisha", she popped her head up and saw 'Addy' and went back to sliding. Apparently if she could hear and see 'Addy' then she could go on with life. Not a bad lesson.

"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,...", Matthew 6:9