Elijah and Moira Hall TRIBAL MISSIONS - Reaching the unreached The teacher of the “Effective Parenting” module was describing why New Tribes Mission sent a family home because of their unruly children. When the father said, “But I have this great ministry going! Why send me home now?” the reply was,
“Read 1 Timothy 3; you’re disqualified from a ministry like this when your house is not ruled well.”
The class on parenting is a reminder for us that no matter how much we’ve studied in the area of child training or how consistent we’ve been up until now, there is always more we can do with and for our children. And the importance is so high! We want men to see the good works of our children and glorify the Father, and we want our children to grow up to serve the Lord and reach a dying world with His love. How can this be unless we train and teach our children of His love at home?
Another class we just wrapped up was taught by NTM’s lawyer on “Child Protection”. This included child abuse awareness and tips on how to train your children for all kinds of safety issues. It was good to hear statistics and know that NTM is continually working to deal with any situation that comes up.
We’ve been satisfied that the child care program here is very safe (no men involved, always at least two women and a mother caring for the children in wide open rooms). We wholeheartedly agreed with the time (3 whole days I think) spent on this crucial topic, especially since not many people are informed like they maybe ought to be.
Elijah’s time at the jail continues to be encouraging – he and his team receive a lot of positive feedback and the prisoners want to keep on talking to them. The “pod” (cell containing 15 or so prisoners) that Elijah works with is a holding pod where the men go just before they are transferred so he often doesn’t see them twice in a row, but he apparently has a reputation as interesting, because a lot of the new guys have already heard about him by the time he enters the pod the next time.
One prisoner heard a comment made by Elijah’s team member saying that we don’t deserve to be saved. “Wait a minute,” he interrupted. “We don’t deserve it – does that mean that you guys don’t deserve it either?”
Elijah and his teammate responded, “No! Of course not – we deserve to die for our sins just like anyone else!”
“Then if nobody deserves to be saved,” said the man, “why did God save us?”
“One reason we know of is the one the Bible gives us – that God loved us…” said Elijah’s teammate.
“WHY DID GOD LOVE US THAT MUCH?”
“I don’t really know. He is that kind of God,” said Elijah.
What a privilege to serve that kind of God! We are so greatful for His love and His Son who showed that love to us.
