FEBRUARY 2017
WAITING in the original Hebrew is NOT about stopping or giving up, about resting or becoming inactive, or about taking a ‘timeout’ as in ‘Well, I’ve done all I can do, so it’s in God’s hands now.’ It actually means exactly the opposite. The basic meaning of the word means to gather together, be bound together. WAITING UPON THE LORD means to gather closer to or be bound tighter to the LORD, not pulling away. Tom Brady recently led their New England Patriots team to the greatest comeback victory in the history of the NFL Superbowl – instead of coming unraveled under immense pressure, they intensified their commitment, win or lose, to leave nothing on the field.
RENEW means basically to cause a change or exchange – in other words, we must allow the LORD to change the structure of our lives. We may be in a season where the way we have been handling our lives is no longer fruitful, no longer effective or no longer prosperous. A new season will require a new structure – a baby becomes a child who no longer will sleep in a baby bed but needs a new structure – we may need to shift some things around. RENEWAL has to do with exchanging the old in order to embrace the new. If we want new opportunities, but keep operating with the old structure, we will lose strength. RENEWAL has to do with renovation, transformation – coming to a place where there’s no turning back – the adventure begins with our next step.
STRENGTH in this verse has to do with having the adequate influence to establish a successful life-structure. Allow the LORD, and those He sends to you, to help you establish correct structure / disciplines in your life that will lead to success. STRENGTH begins with influence – influence that brings security – security in successful structure.
We encourage you as we encourage ourselves to draw closer to the LORD today and every day!
‘NOAH’S ARK’
- We have moved the date for Sandrina being publicly installed as the new director to March 18th.
- Please pray with us that all necessary paperwork concerning the new board and statutes of THE LIGHTHOUSE will have been updated by the end of March.
- Sandrina has been contacted by directors of a few pro-life centers in other nations offering to network together.
- In April, the plan is to renovate the apartment located on the third floor. From May through August we will be hosting at THE LIGHTHOUSE various short-term ministry teams that will be coming to serve in Sarajevo.
- In September, we will be moving into the 3rd floor apartment, which will become our permanent residence. The 2nd floor serves the purposes of the pro-life ministry. The ground floor will continue to serve as a meeting point for various Christian activities and churches.
Baby Ajlan, pictured here with his brother and sister, was saved from an abortion through the ministry of The Lighthouse. His mother was planning an abortion due to economic reasons when she came across the website of The Lighthouse and called for information on getting an abortion. Through the counseling she received during that phone call she chose for life!
Picture of Sandrina preparing items for a gift box to be sent to Ajlan, whose family lives in another area of Bosnia. An important part of the ministry of THE LIGHTHOUSE is to bless the moms who choose for life so that they know that they are not alone.
Sandrina hosted the first women’s meeting of 2017 last week. On March 8th, the International Women’s Day, which is a very important holiday in Bosnia, we will host an outreach specifically to women – please pray with us for open hearts!
PRAY for our church fellowship ‘RAFAEL’ as we reach out with the Gospel of God’s love to build a Biblical-based community of followers of Jesus Christ!
Stichting HEALING THE NATIONS 