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Dear Myers family

I just wanted to let you know how the Lord is using your curriculum to challenge little ones with the knowledge of the truth.  Thank you for making the material available!!!  It is tremendous…easy to use…and really fun to teach!

I know you have been faithfully praying for our clubs this summer and specifically for Cierra—a 6^th grader I met for the first time at our last club.  I don’t want to be amiss and not share what the Lord did in answer to those prayers!

Cierra was quick to raise her hand for counseling after I told the story on Monday evening…she said she wanted to talk…and talk she did…i was overwhelmed. Try as I might to stick to the simple gospel truth, she was all over the place with her questions and “reasons” for why the Bible could not be trusted.  It was as if her reasoning abilities had already gotten in the way of her faith. Which is incredibly sad at such a young age.

She was pretty confused—she quoted television, grandma, her mama, (even a judge that was instrumental in taking her from her mama), the Bible, and a 7th day adventist church pastor—everyone had a different opinion on Jesus being God or just a son, on death, on hell being real, on the Trinity…you name it…she brought it up. I didn’t want to reason with her or get off on rabbit trails but stick to sin and the gospel.  I kept praying Paul’s prayer as we talked: that she would “come unto the knowledge of the truth.”  I knew she was concerned about her own eternity (she told me so) but never seemed quiet or thoughtful enough to consider anything I was saying.

Before I would even get a few words out of my mouth in answer to one of her questions she was interrupting me with an answer of her own.  I just kept coming back to, “But if what the Bible says IS true Cierra, then the Bible is all that matters. That is the bottom line! In the end it doesn’t matter what your grandma believes, what your mama has experienced, or what your grandpa “saw”.  It is what God says in the Bible.  What you will do with the knowledge of your sin Cierra…and sin’s punishment?”

And so Cierra became my prayer target—and thankfully, yours as well!  I could not shake the reality of her eternity every time I thought about her.  God gave me such a love for Cierra that first night, even with all the frustration she brought to our conversation.  I knew God had brought her to our club for a purpose.

I was reminded through Scripture that it is God’s Spirit who pursues man…and that He does it in ways i can not even imagine! God knew the real issues and what Cierra needed! It was my job to pray and present His Word faithfully as long as I had the opportunity. I gave her Bible verses to read on her own and a track to look over—she told me she understood up to a point but was not ready to truly believe from her heart…and did not want to pray.  She was very honest. After talking again with her on Tuesday night I asked her if I could pray out loud for her understanding.  She let me.

Each night after club Cierra would inform me that she would not be coming back—but she always did.  Praise the Lord…

Until Thursday came and went…with no Cierra.  I was sad and afraid I might not ever see her again.  Our last conversation had ended with one of the reasons why she couldn’t believe—seems like every scripture I would “try” to leave with her would get overshadowed by how SHE defined it.  That makes for a frustrating counseling session and discouragement… and then “goodbye”!

But God!

Friday night she came in smiling, so happy to be there…right away wanted to know the verse for the day she missed…and even before club started had quoted 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 by memory.  That in itself took me back!  A very different Cierra!  I was surprised by her initiative.  I thanked God for it!  I thanked God that she was back.  I knew the Lord was answering prayer—just like He promises.  All evening I prayed that God would bring her to salvation and allow me an opportunity to talk with her and pray with her.

After the Bible lesson she did not raise her hand for counseling (I was counting on her doing that as it was her usual manner—raise her hand and then do all the talking)…and I thought, “Hmmmm Lord, please give me a chance to talk about spiritual things with her before the night is over!”  The last thing she had said to me on Tuesday was a matter of fact “I just can’t believe something I don’t understand.”  But after the games, the snacks, and the verse quoting Friday evening she asked to go in to use the bathroom.  As I waited for her in the house I thought, it is now or never—there were no distractions to contend with.  She wasn’t going to bring up the subject but I knew I must!

When she came out I asked her if she had had the chance to read the track I had sent home with her?

Yes, she had, but had left it in the car.

Have you decided to believe what God says is true?  Have you prayed and asked Jesus to be your Savior? (There was such a difference in her manner I had wondered.)

No, she had not…but wanted to.

Would you like to now?

YES!

I was very surprised by her quick answer.  Her defensive, somewhat argumentative spirit was completely gone…she didn’t TALK (she always just would talk non-stop) but she LISTENED to me…and I had the sweetest pleasure of kneeling with her and listening to her agree with God that she was a sinner, admit her need, and receive the gift of His Son Jesus Christ (because “you are the only One able to take away my sins”) to save her from her sin and take her to heaven someday.

As I knelt I couldn’t help but be emotionally overwhelmed at what God had done on her behalf.  There is nothing like confusion, a troubled home life, the effects of negative media, and who knows what else to get in the way of a little girl’s decision to accept what God says is true about Himself.  I felt that incredible tension the whole week.

I knew that there was nothing I could say or do of myself that would penetrate her heart and cause her to perceive the things of God.  And so, God taught me better how to pray…and how to not give up.  What I felt kneeling there beside Cierra on Friday evening was the reward “of those who diligently seek Him”: a changed attitude, a quiet, sober spirit willing to believe, and a life changing decision.  And joy!  That is what I saw on her face and sensed in her spirit!  Something she had never exhibited!

God answers prayer.  When you wrestle in the heavenlies over a lost soul you feel the effects of victory with intensity!

Cierra went from always speaking in the hypothetical (it is really hard to carry on a conversation with this kind of dialogue) to an obvious contentment in just believing that what God said was true, was true—child-like faith.  We had a sweet time of sharing together after she prayed…reading scripture and discussing the previous lessons.

Amazing…she just started saying things like “Well, on Tuesday you said such and such…”,  “And on Wednesday, I think, you mentioned this…and I always wondered about that…”, etc…  I was floored because she had never discussed any of that with me before.  (I honestly wondered if she was getting anything from the lessons.)  And as I expounded on her questions and comments she just listened and believed.

“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

God is faithful to draw children to Himself.

What an incredible blessing it is to teach others about their Creator and Redeemer…and be present when they respond to the wooing of His Spirit!  There is nothing like it!

Thank you so much for all the time you gave to prepare this material we are privileged to teach this summer!  We have 2 more clubs scheduled!  Wow!  Can’t wait to “get there” and live those stories as well.

Just wanted to share the fruit of YOUR LABOR with you all!

Deana

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