Treasure in Jars of Clay

Greetings to all our dearly beloved friends and family!

As many of you already know, Emily and I (Liesl) are scheduled to return to Nicaragua this January and remain there until June. We fervently crave your prayers. We don’t just want them, we need them. More than ever, we feel our utter dependence on the LORD to do His work in us, through us and despite of us. Please, pray that his Name would be exulted over everything in our hearts and in the hearts of our friends in Nicaragua. One of the passages that has been framing our prayers and hopes as we anticipate these six months at Casa Bernabé is Isaiah 62. In verses 6-7, the prophet pleads: “You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.” Please, give our gracious Father no rest until he completes His work! When you pray, claim God’s promise in Isaiah 62:12 for His children at Casa Bernabé: “And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”

We will give you more details on our plans and specific prayer requests closer to the time that we leave in January. The biggest desire on Emily and my heart is to mentor and invest in the children at the orphanage. This broad aim will obviously include many different facets. I just want to mention one small one that concerns this post. In our brainstorming sessions, one thing that has appealed to both of us as a wholesome, special routine to enjoy with the kids is to read aloud with them. If the Lord allows, we would love to have a little collection of devotional books and some fun children’s literature in Spanish to bring down with us so that we can do that. Someone suggested that I invite anybody who is looking for a way to help (in addition to prayer) to contribute by sending down a book or two that we could use with the kids while we are there and then leave at the orphanage to supplement the Nicaraguan Church’s small collection of books. There is nothing vital or frantic about this. If you find the time and find it in your heart to contribute in this way, we would appreciate it very much, but we won’t be disappointed or hurt if you decide against it or forget. What we really want, way more than anything else, is your prayers!!

So if you are able and would like to help in this way, I have made a Google spread sheet with a list of books and a possible place to order them. Here is the link: Book List You can place an order for any of the books on the list and have it shipped to 189 Treeline Drive Charles Town, WV 25414. Just enter in the number of copies you ordered of the book in the space provided so that others can see what books have already been purchased.

Thank you so much for your love and prayers! Keep your eyes on Him!

Emily and Liesl