Author: Grace Mally

Witnessing Stories

No Coincidence (Continued)

This post is a continuation of last post from 8-3-08. (Read that one first.)

About thirty minutes had passed. We were total strangers–still sitting a few tables apart from each other–having a great conversation about spiritual things (and adding quite a bit of interest to the cafe)! It’s awesome when the Lord arranges opportunities like this.

As our conversation in the Starbucks cafe continued, my “new friend” eventually came and joined me at my table. He brought up the subject of “resurrection” and life after death.
I explained how I am 100% sure that I’m going to Heaven, but that it’s not because Iโ€™m a good person; it’s because I believe the Bible when it says โ€˜believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be savedโ€™ (Rom 10:13) and โ€˜these things I have written unto you who believe on the Lord that you may know you have eternal lifeโ€ฆโ€™ (1 John 5:13) [emphasis added]

There were about 10 other people in the small cafรฉ pretending to read the newspaper, but I had a feeling most of them were listening to us.

My feelings were confirmed when another lady came up to our table and said, โ€œIโ€™m so sorry to interrupt, but your conversation was just so interesting! I just wanted to know what you were talking about.โ€
โ€œHave a seat!โ€ I offered.

Now there were three of us sitting around the table.
I asked her the same question: โ€œDo you think eternal life is a free gift or something you have to earn?โ€
โ€œOh my, honey, you gotta earn itโ€ she said. โ€œYou gotta work for it every day, doin what’s right, being a good personโ€ฆโ€
โ€œSo how do you know when youโ€™ve been good enough?โ€ I asked.
โ€œWell, if youโ€™ve been a good person all your life, then you can pretty much just know that youโ€™re going to heaven.โ€
โ€œButโ€ I said, โ€œwhere does God actually draw the line between good people and bad people?”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked.
“Well, we may think that we are a good person compared to someone else we know, but we can’t just compare with those around us because God’s standards are higher than ours.”
โ€œWell, you tell me what you think then,โ€ she told me.
โ€œOkโ€ I said. ๐Ÿ™‚
I shared—again—the good news that we donโ€™t have to earn our salvation, using the example of the thief on the cross. When he believed on Jesus, Jesus told him, โ€œtoday you will be with me in paradiseโ€. But the thief hadnโ€™t even done one good work to get there. Not one! And even if the thief had done thousands of good works, it wouldnโ€™t have gotten him into Heaven. He needed his sin to be paid for, and only Jesus could do that.

โ€œThatโ€™s right,โ€ the lady agreed emphatically, โ€œYou canโ€™t get there on your own, no, no, we need Godโ€™s forgiveness!โ€
Hmmm…. I thought, She just said the opposite a few minutes ago. I wonder if she really understands.
So I said, โ€œBut if God is a just Judge, He canโ€™t simply forgive anyone just like that. A truly good Judge wouldnโ€™t let a murderer go free, would He? –no matter how sorry they are? God can’t simply let everyone โ€˜go freeโ€™ because they are sorry. Itโ€™s only because Jesus took our punishment that we can go free, and God still be just.โ€

About that time my friend, Ally, (a Bright Lights leader who has gone on many conference trips with us) walked in to Starbucks.
โ€œAlly!โ€ I waved her over, โ€œIโ€™m talking with two friends here that I just met, do you want to join us?

Now we had four people around the little table. This was getting fun! I was glad (and a little relieved) that Ally was now there to contribute to this conversation.
It is no coincidence that she walked in just now, I realized.

A guy sat down at a table next to us and opened his lap top. I wondered whether he was actually working on his computer or listening to us.

As we continued our discussion, the older man who I met first said, โ€œIn the Catholic Church, we go to confession. If weโ€™ve confessed everything to a priest before we die, then we can be pretty sure weโ€™ll go to Heaven.โ€
โ€œYes, I’m familiar with that,” I said, “But could you tell me where in the Bible it says that?โ€
โ€œNoโ€ he said, โ€œI donโ€™t even know if the Bible teaches it.โ€
โ€œThen, with all respect,โ€ I asked, โ€œwhy do you believe it?โ€
โ€œBecause thatโ€™s what I was taught,โ€ he said.
I nodded. โ€œThatโ€™s the same as most people,โ€ I mentioned, โ€œUsually Muslims are Muslims because thatโ€™s how they were raised. Hindus are Hindus because their parents were, etc. But the different religions canโ€™t all be right as if all of them ‘eventually get to God’ (as some people say) because they teach very different things.”

Next we talked for a while about the accuracy of the Bible.

โ€œIโ€™d say” he mentioned, “that the Bible is kind of like Godโ€™s โ€˜reference-manualโ€™ for how to live our lives on earth.โ€
โ€œIโ€™d give it a stronger definition than that,โ€ I countered.
“Roadmap?” the lady suggested.
“One way I like to look at it” I said, “is by remembering an acronym for Bible. B.I.B.L.E. = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Eternity is a long time. Nothing is more important than knowing what God says in the Bible about what happens when we die.”

We talked for over two hours in the Starbucks cafe and I wish I could remember and record everything we talked about! Ally shared some good comments and a personal testimony of how the Lord had recently been working in her life.

I left with the excitement of knowing that God had orchestrated our paths to cross, and God would still be at work in their hearts. He is the One who draws people to Himself. It’s such a special gift that He allows us to help.

Witnessing Stories

No Coincidence

A couple days ago I was running errands and I prayed that God would lead me to someone I could speak with about the Lord. Suddenly I had a thought: Why donโ€™t you walk into Starbucks.
I walked in (I’m never hesitant to enter Starbucks…) and was quite surprised by what I overheard! An older man was talking to another man a few tables over from him about the Creation Museum.
โ€œItโ€™s very interesting,โ€ he explained to the other costumer, โ€œitโ€™s a whole museum in Kentucky based off the Christian book of Genesis. It proves by science how evolution couldnโ€™t have happened. โ€“Very convincing!โ€
It is not a coincidence that I am here, I realized as I overheard these comments.

I walked over to his table and introduced myself.
โ€œIโ€™m sorry to interrupt. I just had to say something,โ€ I told him, โ€œbecause I volunteered at that museum and have actually spent quite a bit of time there. I agreeโ€”itโ€™s a great place, and something our country definitely needs!โ€
Feeling God was arranging something here, I ordered an iced latte and sat down a little ways over from him. Right away he began asking me questions, not seeming to mind the space between my table and his. (I didnโ€™t mind that gap between our tables either, because this way, since we had to project our voices a little, the whole cafรฉ could overhear our conversation. ๐Ÿ™‚ )
After talking about the museum, I shared a few interesting facts with him about how the Bible has demonstrated itโ€™s reliability in all areas (history, biology, geology, etc.). The scientific facts point toward a literal, 6-day Creation. I mentioned how many people believe evolution simply because they want to. If thereโ€™s no God, then thereโ€™s no absolute standard of right and wrong, and people can do whatever they want.
He agreed.
After a few minutes of chatting about this, I showed him one of my favorite tracts, โ€œHow Can We Know Weโ€™ll Go to Heaven?โ€ by Randy Alcorn.
โ€œCan I ask you a question?โ€ I asked.
โ€œSureโ€ he replied.
โ€œDo you think eternal life is a free gift or something we have to earn?โ€ I asked.
โ€œWhatโ€™s that?โ€ he asked, surprised.
I restated my question.
โ€œI guess I havenโ€™t really thought about it much,โ€ he said after a momentโ€™s thought.
โ€œWhatโ€™s your opinion?โ€ he asked me.
โ€œWell,โ€ I said, “Romans 6:23 says that โ€˜the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.โ€™ So the Bible says pretty clearly that eternal life is a gift–which is great news for us! I know that I could never make it on my own (God’s standard is perfection!) but Jesus died the death I deserved.”
He seemed interested so I continued, “You know, if you think you have to earn your way, youโ€™ll never really know when youโ€™ve been good enough. But the Bible says that we can be sure we are going to Heaven before we die. Like in I John 5:13 where it says, โ€˜These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal lifeโ€ฆโ€™ โ€œ1 John 5:13
(I like to quote Scripture because Iโ€™ve found people respond well and God’s words have much more “power” than my own!)

โ€œIโ€™ll have to say, I really canโ€™t argue with you,โ€ he said. โ€œMost of what I believe I was taught in the Catholic church when I was young. Honestly, I donโ€™t know why I believe some of the things I believe.โ€

โ€œWell, there are lots of people who teach lots of different things these days,โ€ I said. โ€œso it’s important that we know the Bible well, and compare everything with that, because that is the ultimate truth God’s given us.”

โ€œYou know,โ€ he told me, โ€œYou sound a lot like my grandson and his wife.โ€

My ears always perk up when I hear this. This likely means that he has a believing grandson who is praying for him!
โ€œTheyโ€™ve been trying to get me to go to church with them,” he continued, “And, you know, I should probably go one of these daysโ€ฆ.โ€

A thought popped into my head of who his grandson and grandsonโ€™s wife could be. Unbelievably, after asking a few questions about his grandsonโ€™s wife, I realized that I knew her! A mutual friend had introduced us because she knew we both excited about โ€œMatt 4:19 Fishingโ€. And here I was, witnessing to her Grandfather-in law. This must be an answer to her prayers?!

(Often itโ€™s more difficult for relatives to talk plainly about Jesus, heaven, hell, etc. because they donโ€™t want to be offensive. But for meโ€”just a friendly stranger in Starbucksโ€”I can say anything and get away with it! )

This is no coincidence, I realized again.

TO BE CONTINUED. (TOO LONG FOR ONE POST! ๐Ÿ™‚ ) CHECK BACK IN A DAY OR TWO.

Family News

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

Stephen actually turned 23 on April 16th, but last Sunday was the first chance we got to celebrate.

So much has been happening around the homefront here, I feel very behind in posting news! For starters, our family has grown for the summer. Two good friends from Singapore, Jolynn and Carolyn, are with us helping with Bright Lights. They are “God-sends” and we are very grateful for their diligent, skillful help, especially with graphic design work (and washing dishes! ๐Ÿ™‚ ).

Ok, now back to Stephen…

Don’t laugh…it’s hard to know what to get Stephen for his birthday!Somehow, Sarah got him exactly what he wanted (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary) even though she didn’t know he wanted it. (Score!) I got him a stuffed flying monkey that squeals. I see a little contrast there. (Ok, I did give him a promise that I had more for him on the way…:) )


Stephen never ceases to amuse us. Seriously, I don’t know what made him so funny.


Here is Stephen wiring our buildling (phone, internet, computer networking, etc.) with the help of a friend, Steven Biegler. He’s never wired a building before so I don’t really know how he learned…I’ve just kind of come to the conclusion that Stephen knows how to do everything. ๐Ÿ™‚


Stephen always gets the floor when we stay at hotels. With five people in our family, it just works out that way. Poor guy! ๐Ÿ™‚

One neat thing that has happened in Stephen’s life this past year was that his freelance photography “business” really expanded.

It all started a few years ago when Stephen received a surprise package in the mail. Inside was a professional-line camera, worth several thousand dollars. He still does not know who sent it to this day, but we are all convinced it was of the Lord.

Since Stephen works full time with our family ministry, freelance photography became a perfect “side business” and God has really blessed him with success.

In the past year, Stephen’s pictures have been on the front page of the New York Times twice, in USA today, the American Legion Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and he’s also worked for Newscom Services, Polaris Images, and over a dozen other companies and publications.

Last fall, Stephen did a lot of political coverage here in Iowa, covering many of the candidates and traveling for a week with Huckabee’s media team. He also covered the Parkersburg Tornado, the Cedar Rapids Flooding, the Postville Immigration Raid, the NCAA Track and Field Championship, and many other events.



A few weeks ago the NY Times asked him to shoot an event, but he turned it down because it was on a Sunday. Guess what? The office in New York arranged a way for the reporter to come to Iowa on a Saturday instead! I was encouraged to see how God honored Stephen for honoring Him. 1 Samuel 2:30 says, “Those who honor Me, I will honor”.

The Lord has been blessing him with favor in the eyes of the reporters and newspapers he has been working for, and it seems like he just keeps getting more and more jobs. It’s a reminder to us of how God provides!

I report this partly because I admit, I’m proud of my big brother; but I also want to encourage you by the testimony of one who applied Matthew 6:33 (“seek first the kingdom of God”) and was blessed with a great job–even though he didn’t go the typical college route.

Stephen, I can’t imagine what my life would be missing if you weren’t my brother! I’m so grateful to God for you. Besides for being a genius, hilarious, and super fun to be with,[smile] you have a heart for serving and helping others and a desire to live for what really matters. Thanks for all the good advice you give me. Thanks for being my best friend. (Sarah, you’re my best friend, too. ๐Ÿ™‚ )

Just think, Stephen–your next birthday is only 9 months away!

Bright Lights Conferences/Radiant Purity Conferences

Kansas City Radiant Purity Conference

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

“The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit” 1 Corinthians 7:34


The “Rose Quartz”, my discussion group. (Each group is named after a gem or precious stone.)

    Responses from the last conference:

    “I plan to become the woman that the guy I want to marry wants to marry! I’m going to stop being the girl pushing the line, seeing how far I can go, while still remaining pure. I want to be radiant.” -14 year old attendee
    “I really loved the skits, small groups, and being around other girls who strive to be radiantly pure…I think that I really benefited from the part about waiting for the Lord’s best…I made a commitment to stay pure until marriage and to wait on the Lord.” -13 year old attendee
    “[The mothers session] was an unexpected element that the Lord knew I needed to hear…[the conference was] an encouragement for both of us as we were surrounded by other mothers and daughters desiring to live godly lives. An answer to prayer as the Holy Spirit revealed to me areas in my life that need work!” -Mother

    “I plan to stop thinking about guys all the time and start preparing” -13 year old attendee
    “I plan to teach [what I learned] to other girls so that they can pass it on to others too!!” -13 year old attendee
    “I liked the skits, chalk talk, and knowing that I am not the only one who struggles with guy issues”
    -15 year old attendee

    “We had some really good discussion in the small groups and the skits illustrated the concepts really well. I think the session that applied to me most was the one on crushes” -18 year old attendee

    “I’m not going to worry about boys til I’m old enough to get married.” -14 year old attendee

    “I plan to apply myself to my ministries with a new vigor and to trust God with my future husband…I had already made a commitment to purity, but this conference inspired me to give up my dreams for God’s.” -16 year old attendee

Praise the Lord for the way He was at work in girls’ hearts!


Our “cool down” times are always refreshing. It’s so encouraging to hear stories of how the Lord worked in the other discussion groups. We thought we might not have very many leaders at this conference (and we need to have enough because it’s important to have plenty of “discussion group leaders” at the conference) but God brought together just the perfect team.


What would we do without Stephen and Andrew? They took care of equipment, sound, mics, powerpoint, unloading and reloading trailor, set up, printing nametags, and the list goes on!


One of the highlights for all of us leaders is the fellowship we have with each other during conference trips. Nothing beats the fellowship that comes from “doing ministry together!”


Mary and Tia, two of our youngest and “smiliest” leaders, saying goodbye. After a very long and tiring trip, they’re still smiling! ๐Ÿ™‚

Strong in the Lord Conf.

Free Day


We went to a park for a while yesterday on our free day. You’d be surprised at how some “sweet and composed” young ladies will dive to catch a Frisbee… we had some great games. ๐Ÿ™‚

We arrived back at the church super hot and sweaty (It was sooo hot outside!) and we had to get about 10 of us girls through the shower before lots of families from the church came over for an evening meal and sharing time….


The ladies from the church made a delicious meal and then we had a sharing time in the auditorium–which was a big highlight. Encouraging testimonies were shared from our leaders, from moms and dads at the church, and from girls who had attended the conference….it was very refreshing for all of us!!
Right now everyone is hustling around getting ready for the Purity Conference which starts in about an hour.

Bright Lights Conferences/Strong in the Lord Conf.

Kansas City “Strong in the Lord Conference”


The church here in Kansas City was filled all day yesterday with lots of special young ladies….


Chrissy’s small group


My small group

Sarah and Abigail (who were sick) were totally well and energetic all day yesterday during the conference! In fact, afterwards Sarah said she felt better than she normally does after Strong in the Lord Conferences! The others who were sick (Mary and my parents) are feeling much better now as well.

The conference went great! In our sharing time afterwards, many leaders shared encouraging reports of girls in their small group who accepted Christ as their Savior, girls who changed from “someone who didn’t want to be there” to “someone who didn’t want to leave”, and girls who opened up and shared meaningful testimonies with their small groups. Many made commitments to begin reading their Bibles every day. Thank you to everyone who was praying–we know that “prayer is not preparation for the work, it IS the work!”

Today is our free day, and the Radiant Purity Conference starts tomorrow evening.

Bright Lights Conferences/Strong in the Lord Conf.

Kansas City Bright Lights Conference

Tonight was the first night of the Strong in the Lord conference here in Kansas City, Kansas. It was a “tough-won victory” because Sarah, my dad, my mom, and two girls from our team are all sick (nausea, fever, etc.) They slept most of the day. We were all praying more intensely as we really saw this conference was going to be a struggle to pull off. I asked Sarah if she would give us an advance warning next time she was going to get sick so we could prepare more….[smile]
Thankfully, the Lord gave them all enough strength to get up tonight and be part of the conference. Sarah was able to do all of her session like normal and she did a very good job. Girls and moms have been enthusiastic and responsive. Personally, Iโ€™ve been encouraged to see the Lord answer lots of specific prayersโ€”both big and little. He is faithful!


We were thrilled to have 90 people register at the door! ๐Ÿ™‚


We arrived yesterday to a host of enthusiastic volunteers who helped us unload really fast! ๐Ÿ™‚ The families here who are hosting the conference have done a terrific job and have taken care of so many little details.

Please keep us in your prayers this week. Like our last Bemidji trip, we have a “double conference” planned. (Strong in the Lord conference for younger girls first, and Radiant Purity conference for older girls second.)

Bright Lights Conferences/Radiant Purity Conferences/Strong in the Lord Conf.

Bemidji, Minnesota Trip Overview!

Wow. I have a lot to post about! For now I think I’ll just give you all an overview of our last Bright Lights trip to Bemidji…


Each Bright Lights trip is different and each one has unique memories to go along with it. To split up the journey, the Bjorkmans graciously offered for our whole group to spend the night at their home in Elk River, MN. We walked into their beautiful northern home and were immediately treated to rhubarb cake and homemade ice cream. After that we were introduced to their 3 dogs, cats, hairless rat (seriously, it was kind of cute), and 2 salamanders. We had a fun and entertaining evening with them. [smile]


The next morning, they took us to see their home school resource bookstore Hepner’s Legacy, a friendly little store full of great books and resources. Since we are planning to run something similar with the new building God has provided in our town, we were especially interested. We know the Bjorkmans because we often see them at the state home school conferences where they speak and sell lots of home school books and resources.

We arrived at the church in Bemidji and began setting up Monday afternoon….set up is always a long process.Thankfully, team work makes it go faster!

These girls were brave enough to carry the entire Before You Meet Prince Charming display from one table to another because of a change of plans. I’ll have to say I was impressed.


Registration!


Large Group


Thanks again, Amanda and Kelley, for the great job you did cooking for our staff the entire week!

The Radiant Purity Conference was held Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. We had a break on Thursday and then the Strong in the Lord conference was Friday night and all day Saturday. We really saw the Lord working at both conferences. It was encouraging!


On Thursday, our free day, we went out to a a beautiful lake surrounded by pine trees and enjoyed lots of great food, volleyball, canoing, and sharing from the Word around the campfire with singing and s’mores. As I was out in the middle of the lake dangling my feet out of the canoe into the cool water I was thinking how good the Lord was to give us nice times of rest. [smile]


Not only did Ben grill for us on Thursday, he was in charge of all the food and snacks we served to the attendees for the entire conference! Ben is the husband of Mindy (Berge) Caron, who hosted the conference. We had fun getting to know Ben and Mindy! This is the first time the husband of the host has been in charge of the food for both entire conferences. He did a great job.


I heard many positive comments about the dad’s discussion times. We love having the dads there…it adds such a nice dimension to the conferences! (It also improves the singing [smile])


Clean up Saturday night…here’s Sarah on the riding vacuum cleaner. ๐Ÿ™‚


After both conferences were over on Saturday night, we had a pizza/ice cream party and many shared very encouraging reports from conversations they had. It was a memorable and fun time for everyone. We watched a slide show of pictures from the weekend and the Berge family sang for us. I had heard how good they were, but they exceeded my expectations. [smile]

Bright Lights Conferences/Radiant Purity Conferences

Radiant Purity Conference in Bemidji, Minnesota


A sweet and enthusiastic group of moms, dads, and daughters gathered here in Bemidji, MN for a Radiant Purity Conference Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday.
Pictured above are: Merideth Hicks, Julie Hunter and Annika Sahlstrom. Merideth and Annika lead a Bright Lights group together in Tracy, Minnesota.


Here is my discussion group. We had some very good talks about parental relationships, dealing with crushes and thought life, and many other topics. One girl told us how she planned to go home and really work on improving her relationship with her dad. It’s so exciting to see people make decisions like that!


Ben and Mindy Caron, who hosted the conference, agreed to share their courtship story with everyone. It was such a sweet story and Ben’s jokes kept all the girls roaring with laughter. ๐Ÿ™‚ We just wish we could bring them with us to every conference….


Many of our normal “Bright Lights staff” girls weren’t able to come, making it difficult for us to arrange the special number we normally sing. But the Lord knows our needs and provided a great alternative! Mindy (who hosted the conference) and her sister Melanie, who are professional vocalists and have made many Bluegrass CDs, sang a special number for everyone. It was perfect–the words of their song fit so well with the message of the conference. Very touching!

Please keep us in prayer as we have another conference (a Strong in the Lord conference) beginning this evening.

Miscellaneous

A Tragedy is Becoming a Victory



This has been an amazing time for our city! Throughout the whole city there has been a sense of unity and “let’s get through this together!”. Itโ€™s been great to watch the way our city has responded to this disaster. The churches especially have been pulling together and truly gaining a good name.

In recent years about 40 churches in Cedar Rapids formed a coalition called โ€œServe the Cityโ€ with the vision of proclaiming the gopsel of Jesus Christ to our city. The “Serve the City” office has become the headquarters for volunteer work (and, wow, there has been a lot of volunteers!) and their five phone lines have been staying extremely busy. It sure seems like God raised up this coalition up for such a time as this. Through “Serve the City”, hundreds of volunteers have been sandbagging, helping at shelters, distributing water, cleaning out ruined houses, assisting the city authorities in various projects, delivering cookies and snacks to workers…and the list goes on.

When Sarah and I went to take the Red Cross Training Class, the lady in charge was so overwhelmed because all day she had been turning volunteers away and scheduling more and more classes.

Thursday night a TV station asked for volunteers to help sandbag a suction water plant. This was the last of four suction plants in Cedar Rapids. These plants supply water to Cedar Rapids and surrounding communities. If this last plant flooded, Cedar Rapids would be out of water. (Yes, I know that sounds funny since we currently had 400 blocks of our city underwater.) At the time of the report, there were only six city workers present and they needed to fill and stack 6,000 sandbags to save our cityโ€™s water. 1,200 volunteers arrived almost immediately and the project was completed so fast the media barely got there in time to report the victory. I heard on the radio that 2,000-3,000 extra volunteers were sent away! Many of them were sent to Mercy Hospital where help was still neededโ€ฆ.

This is only one of the three long lines of sand baggers. They heroically did all they could to save the hospital–even in that dangerous, extremely polluted water that we aren’t supposed to get close to! Although they prevented the damage from being worse than it was, the water just kept coming and the whole hospital had to be evacuated.

Last Thursday-Saturday our city was running at only 25% water capacity. Major corporations shut down voluntarily and all citizens were instructed to only use water for drinking. For obedient citizens this means paper plates, hand sanitizer, dirty laundry, no showers, greasy hair, minimal toilet flushing, etc.



But that’s ok, it provides a good excuse to buy pop/coffee at Panera… ๐Ÿ™‚

Now the city is running at a 50% water capacity and citizens can use water every other day.

On a personal note, our family is doing very well and thankfully we have experienced no damage due to the flooding. Right now we are approaching another, well, we call it “crunch time” ๐Ÿ™‚ …we are gearing up a “Strong in the Lord” and “Radiant Purity” conference in Bemidji, MN. We leave this Sunday.

As you can imagine, Stephen has been keeping very busy out there with his camera! And he tans super easy so he looks kind of like a Mexican now. ๐Ÿ™‚

I’ll keep you posted as much as I can. Thank you for your prayers. Please pray that Christians would continue to be a light in this city, and that the Lord would bring many to Himself through this tragedy.