Amazing Things

By Cricket Barrazotto

Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves,
for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."
Joshua 3:5

"Amazing things"... when you think of the Lord preparing to do amazing things, what comes to your mind? Can you look into the future with God's eyes to see? Personally, I often have difficulty looking into the future to see as God sees; however, I have learned through the years of walking with Jesus that I can project forward as I pause to remember the amazing things that have been accomplished by the Holy Spirit in the past. Let me share one recent "amazing thing" that God has done through you, the Body at Central. Let's take a look back in order to be propelled forward.

Last June, several families from your congregation took their children and traveled to Malawi, Kenya, and Rwanda. My family was blessed to accompany the Central group on this journey with the Lord. My specific focus was on the International Bible Society's Reach4Life (R4L) abstinence program. At that time, there were vibrant R4L programs underway in Kenya with Rwandan R4L outreach getting ready to roll. No R4L outreach was established in Malawi, nor was it even pondered.

Amazing things... so there I was last June in Malawi with Central Presbyterian folks being infected by their enthusiasm to make a difference in that nation. What if, just what if, we dared to pray and ask the Lord how He could use us in Malawi? Upon my return, I began to do two things in earnest: pray for R4L going into Malawi and begin dialogues with key IBS folks about this possibility.

Fast forward to your Missions Conference in September 2006-the focus: HIV/AIDS. On one Saturday morning during the conference, I spent two hours in conversation with two of your keynote speakers, Dr. Perry Jansen and Pastor Kent Crawford from Partners in Hope (PIH). I introduced each man to R4L. Much to my surprise, I learned that Perry was already working with teams of peer educators to teach abstinence in forty high schools in the Lilongwe area. He had been praying about and looking for some sort of biblically-based materials to use in his program. Additionally, the Minister of Education of Malawi had just asked him to go into every high school in Malawi and teach a Christ-centered abstinence model. Perry, Kent, and I came from the meeting overwhelmed by the thought that God was in our midst. The Central Missions Conference had served as the conduit through which connections could be made and wheels set in motion for ministry to teens at risk for HIV in Malawi.

More amazing things... December 13th - African IBS leaders traveled to Malawi to meet Dr. Jansen and his educators. The partnership with Partners in Hope and R4L was described as "pure joy" and received a blessing to move forward. The discovery that IBS-Africa and PIH Hospital had a board member in common was truly God's planting. This man "happens" to be the General Secretary of the Evangelical Association of Malawi with a finger on the pulse of the nation's churches. Mid-December, IBS donors and friends were approached to assist in funding 20,000 R4L books for Partners in Hope to use in Malawian schools. December 29th - I received word that the project was over-funded and there would be over 24,000 books going to Malawi! Many of the gifts for R4L-Malawi came through the generosity of Central and its families.

CPC, God has used your holy vision, your prayers, and your resources to advance His Kingdom. Thousands of teens in Malawi will have life in Christ and lives free from HIV because of the amazing things that God has chosen to do through you. Consecrate yourselves; there is more work to be done... more amazing things.