Mighty to Save

This week we received the second brothel-born girl into the Home of Hope (we have three girls all together.) A few months ago, I had written about this girl, Arpita in an earlier post:

"She has the cutest little voice, and when she counts to ten in English, she enunciates her t's and r's so well that she sounds like the owl in the tootsie roll pop commercial. (One- two - thrrrree). Ugh.

We are praying that Arpita is one of the first girls to live in the new home. Yet, the last few times our outreach workers have visited her home, i.e. her mother's brothel, her mother has been "sleeping upstairs" or passed out drunk.

By grace, her mother went from disinterest in a hostel for her daughter to eventually saying yes. However, on the scheduled day, her mom said No again. Four more times we followed up, and the confusion, doubt, distrust--and even her mom's substance abuse-- seemed to push Arpita further and further away.

"There are unnatural forces in that place which will not allow you to take the child."
We reached out once again to our supporters all over the US and even the world. People fasted and prayed, glued to the updates. When this kind of alignment happens, you can feel the answer coming. Exactly two weeks after our first attempt to take Arpita, we woke up feeling powerful and peaceful. Arpita came home with us that day.

Many people have shared that the recent testimonies about Moni and Arpita have encouraged them in their personal lives. Whether feeling disappointed or struggling with circumstances, these stories have reminded them just how big, loving, mighty, tender, and faithful is our God. Stories like this change our tiny worlds, don't they?

It struck me how this domino effect is the awesome product of prayer partnership. It is both personal and collective. Intercessors are woven together; your involvement is no coincidence.

The chorus of "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong has flooded my heart these days: Savior, He can move the mountains / Our God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save Sometimes in church, you might sing along with a worship song and just vaguely agree with the words by faith; your emotions are dulled by the mundane, your near-sightedness, or a current struggle. But the longer you live a life of faith, the more experiences you have that testify to the truth of those words. What happens then is this: The song starts, the lyrics appear on the screen, my heart burns, I close my eyes and lift my hands...because along with the words are real memories, tangible evidence. The same thing happens when reading Scripture. You think, I have known this, I have seen this. This is actual. In my case the past few Sundays, they were sitting right next to me.

This is how you fall more in love with God. Faith grows with the interaction of what you read, pray, and see. Starting with the first step of accepting the Lord, you continue to walk in faith and He proves Himself over and over. Your convictions are lodged deeper still, and these are what you hold on to during times of dryness and doubt.

I am so proud to serve this God, who hears and answers, who loves and saves, who judges and forgives, who fights and wins, who pursues the lowliest of people to hell and back. To HIM be the glory.