JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN (as published in the Cheraw Chronicle)

When we were growing up we had the best of both worlds where our religious training was concerned.  We were brought up in both the Catholic and Southern Baptist churches.  We learned to understand and cherish the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, the peace of the Mass and the strict discipline of the Sisters that taught us in school (might I even say, fear?)  I attended Catholic schools until we moved to Ruby when I was 15. From the Southern Baptists of my Grandparents church (our beloved Douglas Mill Baptist Church) I learned to read my Bible and things I did not understand were explained to me my Grandmother, ever the teacher.  I learned to love all the old hymns in the Broadman Hymnal...one of my favorite hymns was Wayfaring Stranger.  It says so much about our Journey here on earth and what God expects of us.  To often we ignore a call or put aside an obligation.  We have a wealth of freedoms that we take for granted untill it is nearly to late.  Bitter words can part of us from the love of our Church families and essentially from the Benediction of our faith.   Most of you know that I came close to meeting Jesus this past summer but while I may have been ready, others including God had other ideas.  I even had a visitation from long passed mothers of my family who told me that all would be well.  Eventually.  So, I held onto my faith and let God work his miracles.  On facebook when I was finally able to sit up for while and read all the prayers that had been sent up for me, I found I had a new friend that I really had never heard from before. I have never been sure how this Minister of a church in Kenya came to be my friend, but trusting in God we have been visiting on Facebook for many months.  He has offered up prayer for me and I for him and his flock.  They need rain for the crops, so I pray for rain for them.  His church is in its infancy but they have so much faith.  We have been discussing the possibility of a Sister Church to sponsor them and help them to get Bibles and Bible story books for the children; to give them moral support and help them get firmly on their feet.  I love to look at the photos of his Congregation and how they get to their knees to  ask for God's blessings.  In a time when so many are punished by death for their Christian beliefs, and even here some of our traditions are banned where our holidays are concerned, I know that their little church will survive.  If you would like to friend Lucas and his Church on Facebook his full name is Lucas Wafula Wechuli.  Just go on Facebook, tell him God sent you.  Here is a photo of three of the little children in Jesus's care...there are many more photos on Lucas's home page.