Spring has come early to our part of the country! We see tulips and daffodils popping up from the seeming lifeless ground. They remind us that the dead-looking soil holds new, living, beautiful creations. These spring flowers are a
powerful picture of the Easter story.
Jesus Christ died and was buried.
Out of that physical death came a new life, a resurrected life. Because of His death and resurrection,
we have hope for our own death and new life. We do not have to wait until we die physically to experience the new life. As we receive Him as our Lord and Savior,
we die to our sin and gain a new spiritual life while still on earth.
After His resurrection, He ascended into heaven. However, He didn’t leave us on our own. He left us with a promise.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:18) His Spirit came to indwell us. His Presence lives within us.
What is like to be an orphan?
An orphan is someone who has lost one or more parents. We both had two wonderful parents, who loved us and gave us direction as we grew up. Now, we have each lost one of our parents. We no longer call them up or spend time with them or ask them for guidance. We miss their presence in our lives.
Jesus was saying in John 14:18 that when He left earth
He would send someone to be with us, someone to talk with us, someone to give us guidance, someone to express the love of the Father to us. We don’t have to wander around, feeling alone or lost. We don’t have to rely on our own resources to make it through life. When He comes to live in us, we become a child of God.
Each of us is truly an orphan in this life until God becomes Our Father.
As we prepare for
our next mission trip to Zambia, this concept becomes especially meaningful. Part of our mission is to
minister to 160 orphan children at Wisdom Community School. Our theme for the week is God as Our Father. We will focus on different attributes of God each day - loving, forgiving, kind, compassionate, and merciful.
Because a person forms his view of God from the characteristics of his earthly father, someone who doesn’t have a father may see God as distant or uninvolved or even unloving. When the father is present in African households, he is often emotionally and physically harsh to his children. He is not involved in their lives and doesn’t express love and kindness to them.
We want these children to know God as He truly is - as a perfect Father who loves His children.
We are excited to have on our Zambia 2012 team: (l-r, bottom to top) Karen Russell, Lois Jeffries, Norma McKinney, Donna Edwards, Mary Kay McCormick, Darla Holinsworth, Kathy Jackson, Ed Edwards, John Holinsworth, and Ron Jackson. Part of the team will do physical work (painting, etc.) on the school and the others will be ministering to the children with Bible activities, music, crafts, reading, and games. [
read more about the mission]
By faith we have already shipped 160 Children’s Bibles and 50 Study Bibles (for our pastors conference). We have already sent funds to have cement plaster put on the outside of the school, so it will be ready for paint when we arrive. We are shipping crafts, children’s books, and musical instruments this week.
We are responsible to raise the funds for the school project, for both the physical work and for the Bibles and other materials, as well as funds for the pastors conference, and our own transportation, lodging, food, etc. We have already purchased our plane tickets!
Please pray with us for this mission - for the planning, preparation, people, and for the funding. We still have about $14,000 to raise before we leave.
Our love in Christ,
Donna and Ed Edwards
