O' the Joy of Hitting a Red Balloon!

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope and pray that everyone is doing well! I am doing great and learning more and more about who God is! Yesterday at Holiday Camp, my job was to watch over some of the little ones. They were having so much fun. It was a great joy to see them smiling. Matt (the Aussi) gave them a red balloon to play with and I was thinking how in the world can a balloon satisfy their desire for entertainment. Oh, but it did. These children were having the time of their life! They were jumping up and trying to hit the red balloon. They were lauging and smiling. If you really think about it, these children actually understood it. They understood the simplicity of having a red balloon and the excitement that comes with owning a balloon. Isn't that what it is supposed to like look when a person follows Christ. I think the Bible is clear and simple of what a "disciple" is supposed to look like. I think the Bible is clear and simple of what Christ commands His children. We complicate things way too much. We try to come up with all of this theology of what it means to truly follow Christ. We now have bibles with a Hebrew-Greek dictionary in the back to help us understand what some of the words mean. I think that is great, but could it be that following Christ is as simple as reading the Bible. Jesus Christ, himself even said for us to have faith like a child. I agree that Christians should move from milk to meat, but why is it that we try to complicate things. If there is a command in the Bible, then we are supposed to obey it period. If Christ commands us to go into all the ethnic people groups and make disicples, then why aren't we doing it. If Christ demands and desires "all of us" then why is it that we only give Him half of us (our leftovers). Being a true disicple of Jesus Christ should not be that hard to understand. We need to stop complicating things and lose our lives for Christ. O the joy of hitting a red ballon! O the joy of being a disicple of Jesus Christ! O the joy of the simplicity of both! (God just revealed this to me from watching 4 boys having fun hitting a single, red balloon.)
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This week has been a great week! Me and two other missionaries took our teenagers to Sipi Falls in the eastern part of Uganda. I think it was great for the teens to see part of their country that they have never seen before. Many of them gave praise to God for allowing them to see a waterfall for the first time. They had so much fun! I tried to make them understand that God who is the Creator (The Creator God) made and formed all of this especially for them to see and enjoy. We went on a hike; however, I just went on the 2 hour hike, which was completely crazy. Let me just say that if we did this type of hike in the states we would of had permission from the parents. It was crazy, but fun! This was a great time for all of the teenagers and I praise God for giving GSF the funds to do that activity. Yesterday at our weekly meeting time, I shared with the teens that if we call ourselves "Christians" or a "Disicple of Christ" then we to give God ALL of our lives, not just pieces, not just portions....ALL OF IT! That was a convection that I have had because I call myself a Christian and say that I love God, but do I truly give Him my All? Do I truly give Him everything? Or, do I give Him my LEFTOVERS?! What about you? Are you giving a Holy God everything that you have (basically, all of your life) OR are you just giving a Holy God your leftovers?
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Tomorrow I am going to speak on Romans 3. The part where Paul states that "everyone is condemned." Pray that God will give me the words to say and that it will not be my own words. Pray that God will use me. Thank you all for all of your encouragment and prayers! I thought I would say that, I am getting married in 4 months!! Praise God!! I love and miss all of you, espeically you, Jamie Nicole Benedcit!!