TEXAS MESSENGER - The Texas District of the Lutheran Church ...

Sharing
the love of Jesus
A call to Kenya
by Terry Simms, Joy Lutheran Church, Houston
It is so hard to believe I was embarking on my third
Safari with God to Kenya! I was so excited and so full
of anticipation in what God had in store during this
journey. After a brief stay in Nairobi, our team of eight
loaded up and headed to Jogoo across the Rift Valley.
Jogoo is not a very large place, but more than 1,200
souls visited the eye clinic and many received the gift
of sight with reading glasses and distance glasses. We
were even able to offer cataract surgery to those who
needed it. God is so good!
The eye clinic, although very important to help
people have better vision, is only a tool to the central
purpose of any mission. The primary focus is the
Great Commission. Usually, in clinic, I have worked
pulling lenses and putting glasses together. It is a
place of comfort where I know what I am doing. I
have always looked at the people who work in
“Second Touch” as being so Scripturally knowledgeable
and having great ability to share this knowledge.
In other words, not me!
“Second Touch” is the
station where all clients
are sent after they have
experienced evangelism.
It is a one-on-one meeting,
through a translator when
we endeavor to find out
what eye problems exist in
Prayer time
order to ascertain which
station the client goes to
next. But, the most important part of this one-on-one
time is to ascertain a person’s relationship with Jesus.
Remember, we are dealing with people who call themselves
Christians, Muslims and others who may never
have heard of Jesus. That is why I had always felt so
inadequate to serve at this station.
Imagine my surprise when I ended up in “Second
Touch.” God knew the need, God opened the door to
me and I walked through. I was reminded through the
Holy Spirit that, in my weakness is His strength; that,
as in the past, He would equip me for His work without
my leaning on my own understanding. I could go
on and on with the help Jesus was sending to me. Let
me just say He gave me His peace and comfort, and
oh, so much joy! I now know why God had me going
back to Kenya. It was for an ‘Ah-ha!’ moment such as
this. Yes, we did have people come to know the Lord
Jesus as their Savior.
A call to special girls
Four years ago, a widow named Sue from Cross
Lutheran Church in New Braunfels wanted to do
something to help the girls at New Life Treatment
Center, Canyon Lake, which is run by Lutheran Social
Services. This Christian organization is dedicated to
helping girls who are abused, abandoned and neglected
who are between 11 to 18 years old. Sue had little
money but she had a talent for hand-sewing. So, she
offered to make a Christmas stocking for every girl at
the New Life, including the embroidery of their name
on the stocking.
The offer was
accepted. With
that, she went to
work buying leftover
Christmas
stockings at after-
Christmas sales
and talked to the
local embroidery shop about stitching the names. The
stockings were marked down 70 percent, so it was
well within her budget. The people at the embroidery
shop promised a good price for embroidering the
names on the stockings. Sue then reported back to
the director of Christian education at Cross about her
progress on the stockings. This is when reality hit.
Instead of the 20 girls Sue had planned stockings for,
there were 60 girls who lived in the center. This put
Sue into a tailspin as she realized she needed help—
and fast. Sue made a promise and, to her, that was
sacred. She prayed for God’s guidance.
Sue had her answer. She contacted her friends from
Cross Church and friends from all over the United
States and asked for their help. Through all their
help and selfless effort, she was finally able to get the
stockings done. What struck her also was that a
majority of the time, these girls came to the shelter
with just the clothes on their backs. So, these
Christmas stockings may be the first things they have
had that were truly their own. To have something
with their names spelled correctly on it would mean
so much to these girls. It would show them that they
were loved enough that someone would make a
stocking just for them. She hoped that through this
gift, the girls would see the love of Jesus Christ.
The girls were happily surprised and thrilled with
their stockings! They loved that they had their names
on the stockings and that their names were correctly
spelled. That really mattered so much to them.
H TEXAS district