Belief, Commitment, Salvation

The apostle, Peter, being filled with the Holy Spirit stood up in front of the Jewish rulers and said,

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Lisa and I do missionary work for one reason: Jesus is the only way to God and people need to know about Him.  It is true that we begin feeding children because they were starving but it was the love of God that lead us there.  In 2005, Lisa and took the money out of our pocket to feed 25 children and God blessed those little ones.  A lot of changes have taken place.  With God's help we built a kindergarten for those 25 then an elementary school then a middle school then a high school.  Today those 25 children are getting ready to start their junior year in high school.  Praise the Lord.

But you now what is really amazing.  By giving our heart to those 25 children God has allowed us to help over 1,000 children ... that's right ... over 1,000 children to get the food, medicine and education they need to help stop the cycle of poverty in their villages.

But do you want to know what is truly amazing ... these children are getting saved. They are learning slowly to believe in Jesus' name. They are committing their lives to Christ. They are proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ for their salvation.

Here are the ones who accept Christ this year from our school:

Salama, Mary, Sandra, Mesalim, Linet, Katana, Moses, Emmanuel, Ali, John, Fadhili, Brian, Lucas

I had the great privilege of being a part of their baptism as they publicly told their village that they believe in Jesus because there is no salvation in any other name but not just them their parents and brothers and sisters have also accepted Christ. There were 33 baptized this day!!

Names. Names. The Name...Jesus

Does God really except me to read all of these names for devotions?  These chronological lists are just boring. I love to read David's psalms or a lesson from the Apostle Paul but just a list of names. Why?

In Kenya, names are important.  Many people's names include their name, their father's name and their grandfather's name.  For example a boy might be named "Mickey Stephen Kalama".  Why?  It shows the history of this child.  When someone hears their name, they immediately know which family and the tribe from which that child comes.  They know the heritage of the child. If his father and grandfather were good men or bad.  That heritage can even determine the ultimate destiny of how a person views the child.

In the Bible names were important so they were written down as chronologies.  In the beginning of 1 Chronicles, the names show an unbroken chain of God's children from Adam to David. It reminds us of the covenant God made to Abraham. Generation after generation God was faithful to His promise.

As I was reading these names, I suddenly realized that God knew each one of these people. He knew their hopes and dreams. He knew their sorrows and weaknesses. He knew them by name. Each one of these people were important to Him. So important that He eventually sent His Son, Jesus.

That is the name that we need to remember...JESUS.  Through Jesus we know that our name can be written down in the book of life.

One of our goals at The Hope Foundation is to make sure that everyone child in our care knows that they are important to God...so important that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for them. His name determines their ultimate destiny.

Please pray with us that our students not only hear the Gospel message but that they will respond to the name of Jesus and accept the forgiveness that only comes through his sacrificial death for us.