Unbelievable

Yesterday we received an 11 year old and a 15 year old girl; today a 12 year old came and tonight 3 children, ages 3, 4 & 7 arrived. They had an 8 month old sister that was bitten by rats & died YESTERDAY. Two brothers, ages 10 & 11, cannot be found. I have been here for 27 years & what they look like physically due to abuse is beyond anything I have ever see. It would sicken you to see it!

The mayor of San Bartolome’ came and brought dinner for ALL of the children & then presented Dottie & me with a beautiful plaque to honor us for being the parents of the most children for Father’s Day. He was so kind.

When I came to Guatemala Herman Alb was one of the men who helped us to start Casa by allowing us to piggy back for a couple of years on his ministry paperwork with the government. This morning his father passed away. So here is another man-of-God for whom you can offer prayer.

Contentment is the opposite of anxiety, stress, worry & fear. From the wrings of Paul we can certainly see he knew what it was to be content. Beaten, starved, jailed, rejected, ship wrecked and many more attacks of every nature are seen in his life and yet we see a man of total contentment.

“Content” can mean self-sufficient in Greek so Paul is also saying that he “has enough” and that he is “satisfied” even though everything seems to be in an area that would cause the average Christian to panic.

Paul never had an “I do not care attitude” so he was not a man who just was self-satisfied & could live without others. In Philippians 4 Paul says, “I have learned to be content”. What Paul is telling me is “I have learned the secret to being content even when the walls are falling down and the creek is rising.”

First, he says in Philippians 4:10 that he was confident in the providence of God. God was in control. How many times God led or protected Paul throughout his ministry is impossible to know but it is certain that Paul knew whatever happened to him would be protected by God and eventually deliverance from his situation.

I know that if I learned this truth I would in a position where attacks, pains and sorrows, as well as disappointments and failures would not affect me as they do. I need to learn the secret of contentment. so for a couple of days you can read what I am trying to learn myself. Point two tomorrow!!