Above all Powers

My room is on the fourth floor facing a little road where telephone poles line the streets. After rainy days the little bulbul birds like to ‘sit’ along the telephone lines. It’s almost like gathering of friends after a storm to share a sigh of relief. There is one particular pole that seems to catch my eye every time I sit down to write or work on my computer. Atop that wooden beam, I often see two of these birds perched. Sometimes they disappear into the pole, and so my only guess is that they’ve got a home, a nest right there at the top of the hollowed pole. This is the monsoon season, it rains daily sometimes all night and all day. And I wonder whether the little home is flooded, whether there are little chicks there and whether they are warm enough.

But as these photos will tell you, they are very resilient. But more than that it is a reminder of God’s providence. “You made us, we belong to you” “You made all living things and you constantly provide for their growth.” Even on cloudy days, rainy days, extremely hot days, everyday, we are well taken care of. No doubt about that.

God Provides

For the past few weeks, due to some administrative problems we had not been able to use the usual venue for our children’s ministry. From week to week, we have been praying for God to provide a way for us. We have 3 sessions on a regular Saturday and it’s not an easy task trying to secure one venue for it. Having a regular venue also means that all the children will know where to go, since for the most part, we only know where we are going to hold the sessions when we arrive.

Last Saturday, one of the children’s lola (grand mother) offered us their simple home. It’s a 3 x 4 metre room which doubles up as a living room by day and a bedroom by night. At a corner is the toilet, covered by a small curtain. And in this simple home, we had our session.

With 27 children, 6 adults, furniture, a cat and a rooster at the back yard. Most of the children sat on the floor, some sat on the stairs leading to the attic.

In this space, we praised and worshipped God, we learnt about being a ‘Disciple of Christ’ a teaching by Celine. We shared about our World Youth Day experience in Australia and shared snacks. We even managed to have small groups sharing, and a presentation of skits that the children came up with. What a gift! To be part of the lives of people, to be offered their homes when we had no where to turn to, to have warm shelter while a storm is happening outside. God hears the cry of His people, and He alone provides all our needs.