Isaiah 65:24

Do you have faith?

This is a story written by a doctor who worked in Africa:

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).
We also had no special feeding facilities.
Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.

Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates)..

'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed.

As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts Your job is to keep the baby warm.'

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough,mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten -year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. 'Please, God' she prayed, 'Send us a hot water bottle today It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.'

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?'

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen?' I just did not believe that God could do this.

Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home.

Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored.. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.
Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the . . . could it really be?
I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!'

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!
Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?'

'Of course,' I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator.

And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon.'
'Before they call, I will answer.' (Isaiah 65:24)

When you read this, say the prayer.
That's all I ask.
No strings attached.

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards. Let's continue praying for one another.

This awesome prayer takes less than a minute:
Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this. I ask You to minister to their spirit. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence to work through them Where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, guidance, and strength. Where there is fear, reveal our love and release to them Your courage.. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them. I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen

Blessings!

An Interview with Past Missionary, Song Writer . . .

                  David Stearman

I'm so thrilled to have talented David with us today. You'll enjoy hearing all about him . . . Read on:
How long have you known that you were a writer? Did you receive a clear “call?” Or have you just loved writing all your life?

Hi, Carole—so great to get to share with you today!

I’ve always loved writing, having been a professional songwriter since I was eighteen.

And yet I never really considered writing novels until a few years back when I picked up a book about the orchid collecting business.

The first chapter included a tale wherein a collector falls from a two-hundred-fifty foot jungle tree. I’d spent years in missionary work, so it was easy for me to envision myself telling that selfsame story. After reading that first chapter, I recall thinking “I could write something like this! So why don’t I?”

The next day, I began penning chapters about my personal experiences on the mission field. And yet about halfway through the work, it occurred to me that inventing such stories would be much more fun than just retelling them. And so I became a novelist.

What an unusual experience, David! Loved reading about it. Tell us what is the genre you write in? Would you explain what it is?

Most of my work falls within the Action/Adventure category, with the exception on my most recent effort, entitled Hot, which is a romantic novel about the music business. My adventure stories often feature exotic overseas destinations, usually places where I’ve worked personally as a missionary. Hot, on the other hand, explores another, equally alien world, that of the popular music industry.

How do you spend your writing days? Do you set goals to reach a certain number of words per day? Can you give us a general idea of how long it takes you to write a novel?

I try to write an hour or more per day, but due to my involvements in both missions and music, I usually fail to pull that off. That’s why it takes me about a year to span the distance between story inception and the final edit. But I am trying to get faster :-)

Ooooh! I can relate to that. Tell us about your new book. What is the spiritual message in it? What can readers expect to get from reading it? How and where can readers buy your book?

The book I’d like to draw attention to here is currently being shopped to publishers via my wonderful agent Diana Flegal of Hartline Literary. I do a lot of work in Mexico, so this one is particularly dear to me.

Set against the backdrop of the illegal immigration crisis, Hummingbird is the story of Lexa Morales, a misfit. Abandoned as a child, Lexa is Mexican by ethnicity and American at heart, but feels more like the dash between the words that compose the term Mexican-American than anything else. In her struggle to arise from the ghetto of her youth, Lexa commits a crime and flees south of the Border to escape prosecution. While hiding from bounty hunters in a small fishing village, Lexa finds redemption, discovers her true identity, and becomes part of a forever family and a Kingdom without borders.

The story’s theme elaborates on the concept popular culture refers to as Karma and the Bible calls The Law of Sowing and Reaping--that those who sow good deeds will reap a good harvest and those who sow evil will reap an evil one.

Hummingbird illustrates this principle by portraying Lexa as a selfish person who learns to sow good seeds of generosity, kindness, and mercy, and ultimately reaps a harvest of these same things in her own life. In contrast, her antagonists sow hatred, destruction, and death, and end up reaping in kind.

Sounds fantastic. I'm fascinated with Mexico, too. Do you ever feel like giving up? Most people don’t understand the stress, the work, and the joy of being a writer. How tenuous becoming a writer is. Do you care to share how it feels, what discouraging/encouraging times you’ve gone through? Who’s inspired you the most?

My experience in the music business, another horrendously over-competitive field, has hardened me somewhat to the challenges faced by an aspiring novelist. Be that as it may, this is a tough business for everyone; the thin-skinned need not apply. Even the most celebrated writers have received their fair share of rejection letters. I have a publisher friend who ashamedly recalls rejecting Ted Dekker’s proposals.

Nevertheless, and contrary to most beginning authors’ beliefs, we are not automatically born skilled wordsmiths. Writing is a craft; something we must learn, and learning involves a willingness to receive correction. That was a hard one for me, since having been a successful songwriter; I assumed that I already knew all I needed to know abut working with words. Wow, was I wrong about that! So I humbled myself and asked for help from others, and then at last began to learn. (I’m still learning!) And yet once I did receive a certain level of facility with the craft, I also had to learn that there is some advice that’s not worth listening to at all. I recall a song lyric that goes: you’ve got to know who to, and who not to, listen to. So nowadays I try to listen to people who actually know what they’re talking about; i.e, well-published authors and experienced agents, and take advice from all others with a grain of salt.

Do you mind telling us some of your likes and dislikes? Hobbies, interests? Where would you like to travel if you could?

I have an abundance of interests: Music and travel, obviously, (French Polynesia sounds nice!), but I also breed parrots, keep aquariums, grow orchids, enjoy photography, deer-hunting, snorkeling, fishing, and movies, not to mention geeking around with the computer.

Would you give us your blog or webpage so everyone can check it out? Anything else you’d like to share? Promotional information?

You can learn a lot about what I do at my website, http://www.davidstearmanministries.org/

Promo? Please buy lots of copies of Hummingbird when it comes out!!!



Can't wait, David. Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you and your publisher sell many, many copies!

Blessings!