“God I praise You! When I am down, you lift me up.”

 Thursday July 23 -  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7  

Thursday, I was feeling discouraged and burdened by challenges my church at home was experiencing. I thought that I was ill-equipped to be serving in the congregation. I prayed to God asking for strength, encouragement and guidance. I felt that God listened to my prayers and showed me how He is working.

First was a diver who was sitting by the dock where Brandon, my roommate, was swimming . He was originally from France but has been living in the New York for the last one and a half years working. He was the one that struck up a conversation asking why I was here and it gave me an opportunity to talk about our mission trip. He mentioned how he always felt like he needed to do more good things like what we were doing. He talked about his work and how it encouraged him to continue to pursue money and felt afraid of letting go of that security even though he wanted to find greater purpose in life.

I shared about the free gift of salvation, that it is by faith that he can be saved and how Jesus is the source of how we can go out and serve and love those around us. 

We had the opportunity to pray over his challenges and encourage him to pursue faith. We invited him out to a young adults event on Monday and he said he would consider it.

After this encounter, I was then encouraged when Kimberly came to tell me that they had found 2 mics that had gone missing. Wednesday after the soccer event, as we were setting up for the evening session, we couldn’t find two mics that were donated by my church that were used at the soccer event. I felt discouraged that we had already lost them and prayed that God would bring them back to be used to worship Him. And praise God because indeed the night watchman had put them away for storage as they were left at the soccer field and we were able to pick them up and bring them back.

In both experiences, I am encouraged by how God is working. I am encouraged by how God listens to our prayers and provides the comfort when we need it. There is such joy knowing that God is indeed at work and that He wants us to partake in His plan. 

God knows about what our church is going through and is faithful, trusting that God will carry us through. God is working and we give him praise! - Tim