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NEWSLETTER # 123
I Cor. 16:9 'For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.' July 3, 2008
Bible Challenges-continued
Quiz: Recipients Of Jesus' Praise (The answers are below) l. Jesus praised him for
having faith without equal in Israel
Ah, the Ladies, God Bless
'Em - Amy Carmichael
We in the CLC-USA have been blessed to work with our sister churches to help orphans. We do this because James tells us this is part of that religion that is pure and undefiled before our God. Since Jan. '03 we have supported an aids orphan school in Etago, Kenya, helping to support a new classroom each year. They have 81 orphans taught by four teachers. Since Ap. '83 we have supported an orphanage at Nidubrole, India which now has 35 orphans. In 1998 the Kinship Comm.(which overseas orphan work) began supporting the Children's Home in Ikot Obio Inyang, Nigeria which now has eight children. And until Ap. '02 we supported an orphanage and school at Uthukottai , India in the BELC. Since its closing we have had requests to do this again. What we are doing is typically what the church has always done as Scripture directs us. The times now are not as bad as they once were for children in the areas where we now work. Let's look back for a moment. Perhaps some of you know of Amy Carmichael(1867-1951) having read some of her 35 books. But did you know that she was instrumental in starting outreach to children at Dohnavur near the southern tip of India. As a young girl she heard Hudson Taylor of the China Inland Mission speak and wanted to be a missionary. The CIM though rejected her due to her frail condition. She had neuralgia all her life. Undeterred she went to Japan and eventually ended up in India. She began Zenana work for the Church of England. A zenana was a restricted part of the compound of a man where his wife or wives had to be. Other men and definitely foreign men were forbidden there or even to see the women. This zenana was typical among the Muslims and even some Hindus adopted it. So the only way to reach women was through women. Even today this woman to woman approach is wisest among Muslims. But her focus then shifted to children, especially orphan girls. Preena was the first one in 1901. Following are two touching stories.Throughout her life she brought in over 1000 children to her fellowship, following our Lord's injunction to "Let the little children come to Me and forbid them not." One morning in March
1901 Amy sat drinking tea in Pannaivilai, a village in southern India.
A woman, a Christian convert, came to her with a small girl in tow. The
waif gawked so rudely Amy knew she knew nothing at all about white-faced
foreigners with frizzy brown hair.
"Amma?”, Amy put her pen down and looked up from her writings, “Yes?”. A very small, thin girl entered Amy’s room, and tiptoed her way into Amy’s lap. The girl was 6 years old, though she appeared to be only a toddler because of her small frame. “Tell me again how I became your little girl, Amma?” asked the little girl as she put her arms around her Amma’s neck in a loving embrace. Amy sighed, put her biography away, and started: “Well my precious Gem, you were only just short of 2 months old when your REAL Amma died of a jungle fever. Your Papa, although he loved you dearly, was going to give you to a local Temple, to make the gods of his religion happy.” The small girl’s eyes became wide with horror, “What would I do there Amma?”. Amy continued, wishing her daughter wouldn’t have to know such things so early. “Well the temple priests would never let you play in the sunshine like you do here, and they would teach you dreadful things. Then you would eventually be ‘married’ to the false gods, and would become a prostitute in ‘honor’ of the gods. God was watching over you though, my dear Gem, he knew you needed to become my daughter. So through your aunt, He brought you to me, and now I am your Amma, and you are my precious daughter.” Satisfied with the story, the little girl bounced off to go play with one of Amy’s 100 other “daughters”. The tired Amy sighed, but thanked God repeatedly for how He was using her. Amy thought of all her other “daughters” and “sons” who had the same story as Gem, and how God was working in the lives of the people to break their Caste system to bring Amy children who needed a loving Amma. What a joy to see these girls saved from forced prostitution. The first boy was accepted in 1918. Even now this work among children continues at Dohnavur and with a school also.Thank God the India government outlawed the temple practice in 1947. Amy certainly sought to be one with the children. Some of you ladies probably would put on the India clothing like she did, but wear it everyday? And what do you think about her using coffee to turn her skin color darker? When she was young she wanted to have blue eyes instead of the brown ones. Later she saw this was yet another way God had her be one with these children through even the eye color. She wrote: "Joy is not gush.
Joy is not mere jolliness. Joy is perfect acquiescence - acceptance/rest
- in God's will, whatever comes." She who was known as 'Wild Irish' when
she was younger, came to live by faith in Him subjecting her will
to His. She said: "One can give without loving, but one cannot love without
giving." So once she got to India, she never left but continued to give.
Quiz- Answers to Recipients of Jesus' Praise l. The Roman captain at Capernaum.
Matt. 8:5-11.
Seventh of Armor of God in an attachment Pastor Koenig
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