God Is Faithful

Today we finished the Kaohsiung CI! I just joined the CI team this week, and because I had little time to prepare, today was filled with last-minute prayers of desperation, because I didn't know what to teach, and God's ever-faithful, always incredible provision. For example, I was cutting out crafts up until the very last minute before lunch, and I still had no idea how to teach the very first small group lesson on Ownership. On the way to lunch, an idea popped into my head and I could hardly eat fast enough! A wordless book, stenciled on the back so that I could cut out the shape of a person as my translator and I crammed the story of creation, the fall, Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and our salvation into a few simple sentences while cutting out the man and turning the pages. The kids listened, spellbound, and I was hardly less amazed at the lesson that God was literally giving to me as fast as we could teach it.

Parent Presentation for the Kaohsiung seminar

Throughout the day, my team kept losing people. We started children three short due to families beginning early Chinese New Year celebrations. Another child was moved to a different team, and then my assistant was needed on yet another team to replace a teacher who became sick at the last minute. As I watched the team dwindle, my first response was to ask "God, is this my fault? Are you taking people away because I'm not right with you or something?" But as we continued to teach our kids God gave me a peace that He was putting each person where they needed to be, to hear what He wanted them to hear. Even when my translator or I were called away and the team was left with only one adult to work with ten kids, every circumstance continued to work perfectly with the timing and the lessons. God can work with anything and anyone, never doubt it!

My great mosquito hunters!

After the kids finished the presentation for the parents of what they had learned, I had my team back in our station, and the children were all going absolutely crazy. It was the last small group lesson, and I had been trying to prepare for it all day, but could not come up with any ideas. The topic was "success," the craft was a jewel, and I was clueless. So, (praying continually!) we called the team to order and I said the first thing that came into my head. "Who was the most successful man in the Bible?" Without any preparation beforehand, I found myself telling the story of Job from a perspective that I had never before considered, and tying it in with the truth from Jeremiah: "let the one who glories, glory in this: that he understands and knows Me, the living God." The kids listened. They really listened. And once again I stand in awe at God's perfect, timely provision for even the simplest requests. Please pray for the team, that we will stay at Jesus' feet and remember to wait on our God for every word, every thought, and every need. We praise Him, because He is faithful. Thank you Jesus!

Kelli Davis