O, Happy Day!

This is my e-mail that went out tonight. It's a pretty good summary of what's been happening lately here in Ocean City, so....enjoy! Celebrate with me in everything the Lord's been doing!
"Hey everyone!! Tomorrow is the beginning of August, which, frankly, is really strange. I have been here in Ocean City for a whole two months. It’s been hard yet so rewarding, and I won’t forget my experiences here in a hurry. I want to share what’s been going on in our Christian family recently!
I told y’all about Carlos in the last e-mail. We still talk to him often, and he’s pursuing his faith. It’s encouraging to see a fourteen year-old so concerned about his walk with the Lord and the way that he lives out his faith. He asks for prayer regarding his family because it’s been hard for them to accept his decision. So please just continue praying that he has the courage to live for Christ. He asks us constantly to feed him Scripture, so we’re doing our best as a team to encourage him in his new walk with the Lord.
Kirill, a student from Kazakhstan, became our brother in Christ this week! He told us the good news at Coffeehouse on Friday night. Saturday afternoon, we had the opportunity to go to his baptism in the Atlantic Ocean. It was so cool!! (See facebook for pictures...I can’t get them to load on the e-mail.) And then tonight, the music minister of Ocean City Baptist Church was out of town, so Michelle, Kaylynn, and Taylor led music; and Kirill sang “O, Happy Day!” again for the congregation. He’s sung it once before, but tonight, he got to sing it with the personal knowledge of what it means! Also, two Romanian girls (Elena and Kristina) sang “Sanctuary” in Romanian! So cool!
AND today, one of the lifeguards, Chris, that has been coming to dinner and SEARCH asked to be baptized! Aaaaaahhhh!! :D God is bringing in the harvest!! Be in constant prayer for Carmen, Jane, and Diana, international students who are so, so close to accepting Christ. They’re asking so many questions, and Sean’s (the pastor) message tonight really brought forth a lot of questions from them regarding salvation. All of us are waiting in expectation to see how God will play out the end of our term here.
Last week, our mission team was from Bethany Lane Baptist Church in Ellicott City, MD. I cannot even begin to describe how much of an encouragement they were to us. My team was made up of Jessica, Warren, Josh, and Andrea (and me and Jacob). It was awesome to watch the 3 youth and 1 adult with these kids, pouring into them all week. The whole youth group, called Generation Hope, performed a series of skits and dances for family nights last week that just praised God for everything He’s done. They ended each program with the “Turnaround” skit followed by sign language to “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin. Believers, there is scarcely anything as powerful as the message they portrayed about the redeeming, saving love of Christ. Seeds have been scattered in families’ lives through this group of young people. Saying goodbye to them was so hard, and I can’t even imagine saying bye to my team.
My team is my family here in Ocean City, and we’ve grown together so much. I’m thankful every day for them. Please pray for us to take every opportunity to encourage each other and draw others to Christ as we finish this last week here in Maryland. Taylor leaves Saturday; Michelle, Kaylynn, and I leave Sunday; Grace leaves Tuesday; Becca and Jacob leave next Saturday; and Ashley leaves soon after that. It’s been an awesome summer, and now the harvest is coming in and we’re so blessed to see the results of God’s work this summer! I’m praising God every day for my new brothers in Christ, and praying so hard for the remaining kids to come to know Him. Continue lifting up our Surf and Sand Club kids, that we share not our words but our Savior’s and that He moves powerfully in their lives. Our mission team this week is from Chesapeake Bay and is made up of 6 adults, 2 youth, and 7 small children. Pray for patience on our team’s behalf and that the presence of kids draws children in for Surf and Sand. I can’t wait to see how God is going to move this week!
I’ve been uploading pictures on facebook. I can’t put up any pictures of the kids at the campground or most of the international kids because of security reasons, but if you ever want to see any of them, I’d be more than happy to share with you. Thank you all for all the mail—it has helped encourage me so much this summer. I have a stack of letters literally 4 or 5 inches thick on a shelf by my bed. I’d love to receive more mail this week, but you should send it by Tuesday at the latest (unless you overnight it) so it can get here by Saturday. I can’t believe it’s time to come home....wow. Well, I know that prayers are headed our way this week, and I’d be thrilled to pray for you in any way that I can, so let me know. This is a long e-mail, but there’s just so much to tell (and even more)! :D I love y’all and I’m praying for y’all.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for men.” Col.3:23
Love in Christ,
Beth Ann"

"What are you doing here?"

Wow. Today's been so....wow. I'll just start at the beginning.
I've been reading through 1 Kings, watching as Israel deteriorates into a nation worshipping idols, a people who are steadily forgetting the God Who parted the Red Sea, defeated Goliath, and rescued them time and time again from their oppressors. God's people have split into two nations--Judah and Israel--and all of the kings of Israel are turning out to be evil. Finally, Ahab inherits the throne and becomes the most evil king of all. In chapter 17, the focus changes from only the king to the prophet of the time--Elijah. I've been reading about how Elijah prayed for no rain to come on the land for 3 years, how God provided for a widow who cared for Elijah, how God sent ravens to feed Elijah in the wilderness while he was hiding from Ahab, how Elijah raised the widow's son from the dead, and how God sent down fire from heaven to show the people on Mount Carmel that He is the one and only true God. After this last miracle, the people of Israel put all 850 priests of the idols to death. Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, is greatly angered by this, and makes it her mission to have Elijah put to death, as she has had countless other prophets of God put to death. Elijah flees to Mount Horeb, which is where my journal entry for today comes in.
1 Kings 19--God just did this massive miracle for Elijah, to bring Israel back to Himself, and Queen Jezebel wants to kill Elijah for what his God did to her religious institution (religious control=power). He runs in fear. "I have had enough, LORD." (v4) "I am the only one left."(v10,14) Overcome with despair, Elijah asks God to take his life. He sees not what GOd has done, nor what He has promised to do, just the peril of his position and the fear that stems from it. He does not trust God--Whose fire consumed a soaked altar, Whose power healed the widow's son and helped him run before Ahab's chariot--to protect him from Jezebel's wrath. He's still focused on the present, not the eternal; he fears being killed. How often this summer have I felt alone, forgotten, persecuted internally by the Enemy? I recently read a quote that says, "Do not forget in the dark what you have learned in the light"; do not lose sight of the Light when darkness threatens to overwhelm you, for we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, yes? When faced with trials, we sometimes become as deer in headlights, focused on what is immediately before us, forgetting entirely our surroundings, that we have the ability to dodge. We forget everything we know and have learned and just stare helplessly into the face of uncertainty.
God tells Elijah to go up on the mountain, removed from everybody and everything, any distractions other than those from within, because His presence is about to pass by. Great things come by--wind and fire and an earthquake--but God was not in any of them. God reminds Elijah that He doesn't have to do something huge and showy (like He did on Mount Carmel) to be present. Instead, this time He came in a still, small voice, a gentle whisper (v12). "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (v13). This hit me so hard, like God speaking directly to me:

"What are you doing here, Beth Ann? How have you forgotten Me and My power? Do you not remember that I've promised to be with you always? I made the heavens and the Earth; I placed and named every star; I decorated the flowers and clothed the animals; do you not believe I'll take care of you? You're My child; you're living for Me, not this world or its expectations. Why do you stress out trying to meet all the world's demands? MY GRACE has given you all you need and so much more.

BE STILL and know that I AM God."

Then Elijah calls Elisha, and Elisha leaves, literally, everything to follow God's call, burning his past so he only has the future to look forward to (as Paul calls us to do in Philippians 3).

Ok. So I've been praying fervently all day for me to just be still in God's grace, reveling in the security I have in God's grace. I know that even if I know nothing about the circumstances around me or what the future holds, I am held by God's grace forever and ever, and even when I don't see fruit being produced all around me, or when I'm discouraged because the Enemy tells me that I haven't seen God "show up" in a long time, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's Spirit lives within me, and we are in constant communion. After all these battles, I've come to a peace with the grace I know I've received.

THEN, what we've been praying for all summer came to be! All summer we have taught kids about Christ, invested in the lives of lifeguards and international kids, and have been praying fervently for salvation for each of them. Sometimes we get caught up in comparisons and become discouraged because, while we may scatter or water the seeds, we have not yet seen their harvesting. But today, two teammates and I witnessed a miracle of God in a place we least expected it--in the heart of a mission team member. Carlos is 14, and today he made a commitment to make Christ his Savior and Lord, and the angels threw a party in heaven because he is now a member of the family of God! Two of my teammates and I talked with him today about what following Christ looks like, what His sacrifice means, and he prayed to make Christ the boss of his life! It was so awesome; the words weren't ours, they were God's drawing His son to Himself. My God is so good! So awesome and mighty, yet so good and loving and full of grace! Praise Him with me today, and be content to just sit and His feet and learn.

So what am I doing here? I am here to serve my God and make disciples, to grow in the grace and knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ, and to encourage believers around me to do the same. I am here to give all my praise, all the glory, all the honor to the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of the world. I am here to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice of praise in any and every situation, and to remember that NOTHING is impossible with God!

"Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!"

Ps. 46

Forgiven. Forgotten. Freed.

I’m going to share an entry in my journal from a week ago today.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Today, Casey Anthony was acquitted, declared innocent of the murder of her 2 year-old daughter. All the evidence points to her committing the crime, but the jury didn’t condemn her to death. The nation is in an uproar. But it got me thinking…..isn’t this what it’s like to be in front of God? We know we’re guilty of sin, a whole life’s worth. And we deserve to be declared guilty, to be given over to everlasting death, an eternal separation from God. But instead, He looks at us and says, ‘not guilty.’ Why? Because His Son was declared guilty instead and gave Himself up to separation from God so we could be saved. WOW. This blows my mind. Not only does He forgive it, but He also forgets our sin. We have to pay the consequences physically, but Psalm 103 says, ‘…as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sin from us.”

How great must God’s love be for His people. This is what God’s forgiveness looks like. Praise be to my God and Father, hwo looks on me in love, Whom I can approach through my Savior, Jesus Christ. When God looks at me, He sees His Son.

“Salvation is free; it cost me NOTHING.

Following Jesus should cost me SOMETHING.”