Romans12:9-13
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to
what is good. 10Bedevoted to one another in love. Honor one another
above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in Zeal, but keep your spiritual
fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in
prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.
Brenda was the first child to find that special
place my heart. The place where I know that we will always be connected
regardless of time or distance. She has a contagious spirit for life that can
be seen instantly. She is easy to love and quick to return that love. She can
be trusted with your heart. She encourages, inspires, and calls you to a better
self. She is an adventurer and a discoverer. A strong and gentle leader with a
desire for wisdom, she has a heart for the weak and under privileged, an under
dog herself. When she does wrong, she makes it right. She is a seeker of the
Lord and His ways. She is fertile land willing to be cultivated for the Lord.
Brenda ask me to give the people of the US a message from her and the children
of Honduras. God loves you and you are important to Him.
Coming from Brenda that’s a profound message. If it were not for Mission on the
Move, the people that send us, and the people that come to Honduras for the
children, I do not believe she would have that message in her heart. You can be
assured, that message lives in her heart and she shares often.
Brenda lives in extreme poverty. Her fourteen year old brother and fifteen year
old sister work to support the family. Her brother works in the pineapple
fields for five dollars a day. Her sister lives with a family in a large city
two hours away caring for children, for about the same pay. Even in Honduras,
Brenda is poor. Brenda wanted to quit school to help support the family.
Brenda is often encouraged to quit school and work for low wages. To be come
another tired and nameless face living in poverty and spiritual depravity. Her
life has been difficult, something more endured than lived.
God has changed that for her. She no longer sees herself in
that light or lives in that oppression. Brenda has allowed the Lord to create a
new heart in her. She knows that the Lord knows her, loves her and that she is
important to Him. Brenda will tell you that God has a plan for her life. She is
going to continue her education and become a dental missionary first in
Honduras and then in Africa. All of this from a little twelve year old girl
living in a house that leaks rain through to a dirt floor. Yes, she lives in
extreme poverty, but her rich soul rises above it everyday. Brenda wants you to
know that God loves you and you are important to Him.
Father,
We thank you for loving us. We thank you for children like Brenda. Children
that seek and find you with all of their being, and then live to share it with
us. God, may we live a life worthy of them. God, bless Brenda and keep her
close to your heart.
Amen
Thank you Colquitt United
Methodist Church and Jennifer Thompson for your words of loving encouragement
and direction to Brenda, she heard you.
