Hello again dear Christian prayer and support team,
Please pray first for Mr.Cheng and the Gold kids. I was trusted to care for these children and evil people once again attacked me and the kids, the same old false accusations of "child abuse" were presented to me by a lady volunteer who used to care for the kids. I was never allowed to discuss the contract with Mr.Cheng and I am fearful he is being held again and his kids have all been taken. I know for a fact the "official representatives" who were on my Shang Hai TV program would have never thought the kids were signed over to me and had been in my care for 9 months. Once they found out, the loss of face was obviously too great. Once again injustices prevail, long live you know who.
These last few weeks God has helped me to spend serious time in prayer and contemplation. It is never easy to admit when God says no to prayers that seem to be according to God's will. Quite often we think we know what is best and yet God is always the only one who knows best. Yes, there are times HE has us wait for long periods of time and we must continue to seek, knock and plead with the Lord to hear our prayers. I have grown very much through these times of testing and it is my greatest desire that the 10 Christian orphan children are also growing to be stronger followers of our Master Jesus Christ.
I know from many passages that God loves these orphan children, and for many reasons even though we can only expect His grace to carry us through anything, clearly we are all born sinners, remain sinners and yet we can trust in His marvelous grace in Christ to keep us in a position of blessing. The cross makes all the difference and through His blood we know we have been adopted into the family of God. We are no longer "orphans" and it is with this thought I share some thoughts from 1 Samuel 16 and God's choosing of David.
6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”
I am all too familiar with God saying "NO" and that many times. In this case it must have been shocking to hear from God seven straight "NO's". As good as Samuel was as a prophet and with the wisdom and knowledge God had already given him, it would hardly seem possible he could get it wrong 7 times in a row! By the 7th "NO" Samuel must have thought 'what in the world is going on, how is God going to find anyone else?' It is such a blessing to see how they totally neglected seeing the humble servant tending sheep and yet God was watching David all the time, seeing his heart of compassion, his faithfulness even though "nobody" notice him. After all, his brothers couldn't stand him and judged him constantly for "bad motives".
I make no claims here to be a David, other than to say I have faithfully served God as a shepherd tending little lambs and these little 10 lambs are the strongest and longest lasting legacy I could ever have in a wolf infested world.
God and His word love "The underdog story". From cover to cover HIS work is all about demonstrating power through weakness, impossible odds, hopeless situations, enemies much more mighty pitted against mostly young individuals who were clearly not "The chosen of this world". All one has to do is read the "Hall of Faith" chapter in Hebrews 11 to see so many unlikely victors.
I share this because all we have is prayer to confront forces here. I am up against incredible odds, the kids are locked down in a prison of every increasing security and surveillance. Those in charge pour money into the place and it is noticeable every week grandma Guo and I visit. They are rude to us, they have no respect for us, they ignore us like outcasts begging for bread. They exude arrogance and look with disdain on us just for trying to even mention the 10 children. Workers come in and out at times and this is our only hope, that someone will "leak" information into the kids that we visited. I can thank God that all Chinese know they are one of the world's worst at "keeping a secrets". I do believe though that the kids know I would never give up. They know I have been there and they know that will never stop. As long as I have breath, I will keep fighting for their release, fight to get them back as a complete family and we all know there is a God on the throne who wants us together.
Oh it is true I lose my patience at times for the constant "NO's" from God but we all need to learn that "NO" is only to help us know HE is doing something greater, He WILL go above and beyond all we ask or think, right?! I have no doubts the kids love and know the Lord and HE knows I love Him too. God's promises could never be broken and will always be fulfilled in our lives. Timing is everything, and yet God does make choices that we don't always agree with. I do believe in most cases though that He will show us why He said "NO" and how his final answer is the best. Amen?!
If I could say it this way for me and the kids without quoting a ton of bible verses. See my statements below based on God's promises.
1. He is the helper of the orphan and with us praying, He is and will continue to help them.Remember, they are together.
2. He is always loving and and especially seeing these children are young, Christian, orphan, former handicapped poor outcasts. There is no way HE will allow them to be victimized long term by evil scoundrels.
3. Lies catch up and especially when it involves hurting little one's who believe in Him. God isn't just exaggerating in Exodus 22:22-24 and Matthew 18:6
4. The evil one can not harm them and yet they have suffered for good purposes. It is hard as a father to put up with it though.
5. They will never be broken, even though they are young. God is the same in children as well as adults.
6. They pray about the same things we do, there is no way the Holy Spirit is not directing all of us together. Amen?!
We know these evil people have already lost but the suffering continues. Please pray it will have it's perfect result in me and all the kids. I know it is not easy for them and they cry just as much as I do and maybe more. This is tough stuff to swallow but I have to keep looking to His promises. HIS word can not fail.
In closing, for those of you who may have kind of given up on any good news, don't jump ship, we are almost ashore. Lord willing it will be the glory side in the rapture but if Jesus tarries, we can all rejoice together knowing we have stayed the course.
Looking to the reunion with the 10, praying for safety for Mr.Cheng who may be behind bars again for nothing other than not surrendering Gold Egg, Gold Flower and Gold Bar to the State last year, and keep the other orphans in prayer too. God has greater plans for the Mordecai and Esther Foundation to help many more.
Please pray first for Mr.Cheng and the Gold kids. I was trusted to care for these children and evil people once again attacked me and the kids, the same old false accusations of "child abuse" were presented to me by a lady volunteer who used to care for the kids. I was never allowed to discuss the contract with Mr.Cheng and I am fearful he is being held again and his kids have all been taken. I know for a fact the "official representatives" who were on my Shang Hai TV program would have never thought the kids were signed over to me and had been in my care for 9 months. Once they found out, the loss of face was obviously too great. Once again injustices prevail, long live you know who.
These last few weeks God has helped me to spend serious time in prayer and contemplation. It is never easy to admit when God says no to prayers that seem to be according to God's will. Quite often we think we know what is best and yet God is always the only one who knows best. Yes, there are times HE has us wait for long periods of time and we must continue to seek, knock and plead with the Lord to hear our prayers. I have grown very much through these times of testing and it is my greatest desire that the 10 Christian orphan children are also growing to be stronger followers of our Master Jesus Christ.
I know from many passages that God loves these orphan children, and for many reasons even though we can only expect His grace to carry us through anything, clearly we are all born sinners, remain sinners and yet we can trust in His marvelous grace in Christ to keep us in a position of blessing. The cross makes all the difference and through His blood we know we have been adopted into the family of God. We are no longer "orphans" and it is with this thought I share some thoughts from 1 Samuel 16 and God's choosing of David.
6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”
I am all too familiar with God saying "NO" and that many times. In this case it must have been shocking to hear from God seven straight "NO's". As good as Samuel was as a prophet and with the wisdom and knowledge God had already given him, it would hardly seem possible he could get it wrong 7 times in a row! By the 7th "NO" Samuel must have thought 'what in the world is going on, how is God going to find anyone else?' It is such a blessing to see how they totally neglected seeing the humble servant tending sheep and yet God was watching David all the time, seeing his heart of compassion, his faithfulness even though "nobody" notice him. After all, his brothers couldn't stand him and judged him constantly for "bad motives".
I make no claims here to be a David, other than to say I have faithfully served God as a shepherd tending little lambs and these little 10 lambs are the strongest and longest lasting legacy I could ever have in a wolf infested world.
God and His word love "The underdog story". From cover to cover HIS work is all about demonstrating power through weakness, impossible odds, hopeless situations, enemies much more mighty pitted against mostly young individuals who were clearly not "The chosen of this world". All one has to do is read the "Hall of Faith" chapter in Hebrews 11 to see so many unlikely victors.
I share this because all we have is prayer to confront forces here. I am up against incredible odds, the kids are locked down in a prison of every increasing security and surveillance. Those in charge pour money into the place and it is noticeable every week grandma Guo and I visit. They are rude to us, they have no respect for us, they ignore us like outcasts begging for bread. They exude arrogance and look with disdain on us just for trying to even mention the 10 children. Workers come in and out at times and this is our only hope, that someone will "leak" information into the kids that we visited. I can thank God that all Chinese know they are one of the world's worst at "keeping a secrets". I do believe though that the kids know I would never give up. They know I have been there and they know that will never stop. As long as I have breath, I will keep fighting for their release, fight to get them back as a complete family and we all know there is a God on the throne who wants us together.
Oh it is true I lose my patience at times for the constant "NO's" from God but we all need to learn that "NO" is only to help us know HE is doing something greater, He WILL go above and beyond all we ask or think, right?! I have no doubts the kids love and know the Lord and HE knows I love Him too. God's promises could never be broken and will always be fulfilled in our lives. Timing is everything, and yet God does make choices that we don't always agree with. I do believe in most cases though that He will show us why He said "NO" and how his final answer is the best. Amen?!
If I could say it this way for me and the kids without quoting a ton of bible verses. See my statements below based on God's promises.
1. He is the helper of the orphan and with us praying, He is and will continue to help them.Remember, they are together.
2. He is always loving and and especially seeing these children are young, Christian, orphan, former handicapped poor outcasts. There is no way HE will allow them to be victimized long term by evil scoundrels.
3. Lies catch up and especially when it involves hurting little one's who believe in Him. God isn't just exaggerating in Exodus 22:22-24 and Matthew 18:6
4. The evil one can not harm them and yet they have suffered for good purposes. It is hard as a father to put up with it though.
5. They will never be broken, even though they are young. God is the same in children as well as adults.
6. They pray about the same things we do, there is no way the Holy Spirit is not directing all of us together. Amen?!
We know these evil people have already lost but the suffering continues. Please pray it will have it's perfect result in me and all the kids. I know it is not easy for them and they cry just as much as I do and maybe more. This is tough stuff to swallow but I have to keep looking to His promises. HIS word can not fail.
In closing, for those of you who may have kind of given up on any good news, don't jump ship, we are almost ashore. Lord willing it will be the glory side in the rapture but if Jesus tarries, we can all rejoice together knowing we have stayed the course.
Looking to the reunion with the 10, praying for safety for Mr.Cheng who may be behind bars again for nothing other than not surrendering Gold Egg, Gold Flower and Gold Bar to the State last year, and keep the other orphans in prayer too. God has greater plans for the Mordecai and Esther Foundation to help many more.
