Grace Sichangwa
Hi! My name is Grace, and this is my 6th summer teaching 5 day clubs. I feel so humbled, and honored to be involved with this ministry again this year. I'm excited to see how God not only transforms the lives of those that I meet, but the work that He will do within myself. Prayer Requests: 1. For my heart - that it would be so focused on Jesus. 2. For discipline - that I would take the time for daily prayer, and devotion. 3. For His voice - that His voice would be clear to me, as I minister.
Indeed this is a rather late update to last week, but here goes!
To make a long story incredibly short, on Sunday Morning I had an “unexpected” incident, involving my face, and a fire extinguisher at a gas station. As a result of this lovely encounter, I ended up going for a stitch (not stitches… just the one). Needless to say, it was one hectic Sunday. In retrospect, it felt like a real Proverbs 16:9 kind of a morning – I had fully intended to be involved in my church, and set out with my day, but oh no things changed. Fun fact, I am a pretty intense stress crier – there is nothing cute about it, and as a result of my connection with this extinguisher, said crying, and hyperventilating ensued.
As a result of hitting my forehead on said extinguisher, I was quite frankly miffed. In reflection now, I can completely recognize that God’s protection in this situation is beyond my understanding. I didn’t actually see the extinguisher before I hit it (because my head connected as I was standing up), and as a result I can honestly say that God was so good to me in this situation. Thanks to His protection I was fortunate to not have broken my nose or injured one of my eyes; I connected with the top of my forehead despite my lack of physical vision in this situation. Things could have been worse but He is SO good.
I’m going to pull a 180 (don’t worry, there’s plenty more where that came from) with this post, and put the prayer requests right here!
1. That I would not be rigged in how I study my stories, and prepare my lessons – that I would allow God to take His rightful place in that process.
2. I am grateful for God’s protection today, but also for the rest of the summer that God would continue to protect me from anything Satan might throw my way.
3. I have a praise! Since my sister shared my prayer request for my head, I am doing significantly better! Aside from feeling lightheaded in the afternoon, I am currently showing no signs of concussion! Thank you to all who prayed for me, God is awesome! 🙂
Again, Gwyneth really summarized everything up very well. Last Friday was a reminder of the importance of faithfulness, the joy of Christian fellowship, and the power of our God. I’m just going to summarize Club 4.
I was on my way to Club 4, and I was not really sure what to expect from the kids. All I knew was that I really wanted to end well, encouraging these children in the process. I began organizing lessons, and one of the kids tells me, “Can I call you Jerry?” Now, I never refer to Mr. D by his first name, and I had only met these children this week, so I was genuinely weirded out by the coincidence. After I explained to them that was the name of my boss, they spent the rest of the club alternating between choosing to call me Georgia (due to their amusement with my Southern Belle accent), and Jamie Grace.
By the end of club, I realized that time had truly escaped me, and I needed to begin the Bible story. Even though the kids knew the story, I was encouraged that they willingly listened – and then the discussion about the lesson became very profound. As I was describing (in a kid friendly manner) the fact that Saul did not intend good for the believers, the kids brought up the idea of choosing to pretend you were not a follower of Christ should Saul appear, and also fear about ISIS. And to take it further, while I was explaining to the children that God desires for us to show love to those people that seem too far gone, one of the children explained the issues they had with a bully.
At this point, it seemed hollow to share that God desires for us to love those that are hard to love, but it is the reality. And further, I realized it was a great honour, and a privilege to be in the moment, sharing with these kids that when you choose to love as Christ does to those who do not deserve it, it just might be that it is apart of His plan for the salvation of that individual. I know I left that club feeling encouraged in knowing that God knows scary, bad people – and for reasons unbeknownst to me the same love He demonstrated for me to receive is available to even the worst of the worst. He love is strong enough to change even the hardest of hearts. What a privilege it is to serve such a good Father!
I apologize for not blogging yesterday, but I’m hoping that you will extend me…. GRACE! (badum, ching! Don’t worry, there’s plenty more where that came from).
So the title of my blog comes from a song that I have been listening to lately, and I love the chorus:
“For we trust in our God, and through His unfailing love, we will not be shaken.”
I have come to realize that holding onto any part of myself, and to my own comfortability is such a hindrance in allowing God to work through me. Throughout this morning, I just continued to sing this chorus, and I came to realize something in the process – when I lack in trust, I do indeed feel shaken. It’s crazy to think that when I allow myself to trust, in spite of my own anxieties and vulnerabilities, His power is perfect. Ironically enough, it is in those moments when I feel the most shaken, but choose none the less for His will to be done, that I feel the most secure, and at peace. What a Saviour!
I feel like Gwyneth has really summarized everything beautifully (so feel free to check hers out 🙂 ) But I did want to talk about Club 3 & 4.
Club 3: There are very few moments in my 5 years of teaching where I have been at the point of tears, but today was that. One of the children, who had raised her hand for the invitation daily, had written in her Mailbox club lesson that she had accepted Christ. Gwyneth and I were able to follow up with her on that, and the pure childlike joy that she had about accepting Christ nearly brought me to tears! I was so glad that in this moment we had the opportunity to rejoice with those who rejoice! Instead of crying, I explained to her how the angels in Heaven were rejoicing too because she was now a child of God, and the smile that she had on her face… It truly put into perspective the importance of having a childlike faith, she was full of pure, undeterred joy.
I’m excited for this club. And we might even get pied tomorrow, so we’ll see how it goes.
Club 4: I had arrived at this club yesterday, and I felt such a joy in spending time with these kids. However, I really struggled today with teaching. I don’t know if it was the rain or being indoors, but everything was such a distraction. Fun fact, one of my greatest fears is spiders – I cannot stand them. And conveniently what do I see crawling on a wall during my story? You guessed it, and as a result even I began to lose my focus. I could really appreciate prayer for this club that God would give me wisdom in how to effectively love these kids, but also go through the lesson as well.
Prayer Requests:
– Attitude – that I would love all of the kids that I teach authentically
– That I would have a strong awareness of His voice throughout my ministry. I feel constantly distracted.
At the end of the day I can sincerely say that God is good, and I am eternally grateful that it is not my ministry that will transform the lives of these children – it is solely Jesus.
To the One who was and is to come.
Well, my goal for this summer was to blog everyday that I teach so, oops! Haha.
I picked bread crumbs as a part of the title for my blog because as I was reflecting, and journalling last night, I sincerely asked myself the question, “Will my meager crumbs ever be good enough to present to a King?” In all actuality, everything that I do is so futile if not rooted, and sourced from Christ Himself. I am starting to realize, even already, that God loves people who only have bread crumbs. It’s His grace that is made sufficient in my weakness, and that will transform the hearts and minds of those that I minister to. Even if all I have is bread crumbs to lay before His feet, He can do more amazing things with them than what my best could ever offer.
I know that today is only the second day of teaching, but I have been in so many situations that demonstrate to me: 1) Satan is not a fan of this ministry, and 2) God is tremendous! I cannot believe the many ways that He has totally exceeded my expectations, and shown up on my behalf.
Club 1: We had no kids 🙁 We are hoping to try at a park nearby tomorrow, in hopes of finding the kids.
Club 2: I have had the awesome privilege of teaching this club for the past couple of summers, and it was exciting to see that one of the children had brought a friend! This club is so much fun to teach, and I am always pleasantly surprised by what God teaches me about Himself whenever I am here. Our total is 6 kids.
Club 3: We had a mailbox club decision!! 🙂 I was so excited when I read it through the lessons, and it was so encouraging to see all of the kids return, and bring new friends with them. If I were to be perfectly honest, I was tempted to teach a 10 minute club today, because the kids got to have chariot races after Gwyneth and I left. Our total is 9 kids.
Club 4: I teach this one by myself, and if I were to be perfectly honest, driving to this club my heart was not in the right place. In general I was experiencing frustration, and to add to my irritations not only was there a train (at 2:30, in Edmonton), but said train stopped in the middle of the tracks for some time, and slowly backed away, resulting in myself being late. However, during this time, I had a few moments to pause and spend time with my Heavenly Father – it was really powerful, and helped me in putting my focus on Him, not myself. Also, as a side bonus, the AC that was very much broken, started working during this time!
I show up at this club, and I had no kids yesterday. 🙁 My hostess suggested that I check the local park, and I honestly did not have high hopes that I would find any children. As I’m walking to the park, I begin to pray, “God, if you want children to be at this club, may there be kids in this park, and may You give me the words to say.” Lo and behold, there is a woman and a girl (who appeared too young to be club aged), sitting in the park. I started to walk past them, thinking to myself that maybe God was wrong, and I could leave, but a feeling crept into my heart, and I couldn’t shake it. I did not want to have any responsibility in this family not knowing the gospel, due to my uncomfortability. To make a long story short, I speak to the mother, and minutes later two of her children come to club! And they are hoping to bring more friends tomorrow. The total for this club is 2 kids.
And since Gwyneth started the ChangChang Adventures, here is mine for the day: I was supposed to pick up Gwyneth from her club (which according to my gps was 13 minutes away), and let’s just say I drove quite the scenic route through Southern Edmonton. But praise the Lord that an hour later, I picked her up, haha!
Prayer Requests:
– For my voice – it isn’t fully back, and the summer will be long without it.
– For wisdom in regards to follow up
– For our Club 1, which had no kids
– This might be a random one, but for our Muslim brothers and sisters, that as they desire to draw closer to God, that they would encounter Jesus.
To Him be the power, and the glory forever!
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