Bringing Joy to the Children
“In the children who were brought in contact with Him, Jesus saw the men and women who should be heirs of His grace and subjects of His kingdom, and some who would become martyrs for His sake. He knew that these children would listen to Him and accept Him as the redeemer far more readily than would grownup people… In teaching, He came down to their level. He planted in their minds the seeds of truth, which in afteryears would spring up and bear fruit unto eternal life.”
Ev p 580
Dear friends, I’m going to ask you now to do something that you probably have not done before. All I want you to do is say, “Lord, please bless these children.” As you do this, let me tell you what is happening in this mountain village called El Portillo. This village is found, as you would say, at the end of the road. It’s not highly populated, but there are several families living there.
Our volunteers, Johana and Ariel, along with other church members began visiting on Sabbath afternoons, and as is often the case, when you enter a new territory, you begin to see the great need, especially with the children — the need of love, joy, care, education, and basic needs such as shoes, better hygiene, and dental care.
One might think that it’s easy to take care of children with such needs, but that’s why M.C.M. (Maranatha Children’s Ministry) is here. Friends, this might be your first time hearing about M.C.M. We are happy and excited that God has given us yet another step forward in our ministry for youth. We decided to contact a couple of our dental regulars at the Canasta de Vida Restaurant — that was easy.
The next day we noticed two young dentists at the restaurant and told them of our ideas to help. They said they would be willing to give of their time as long as the ministry paid for the supplies. God had everything worked out.
The Powers family who was visiting us from Pennsylvania happily said that they would pay for the supplies. And praise the Lord, the children’s dental needs were met.
The time had come for all the school children to get a well-deserved break. The break they had was something they had never experienced before — nicely projected Bible stories, new happy songs, activities, interesting healthy snacks, the eight doctors, and yes even at the end of the week, beautiful diplomas and gifts for all the participants.
Oh, what a wonderful blessing it was to see these young children experience training and joy… things that will leave a positive impact upon their lives. Do keep the El Portillo children in your prayers, that the seeds of truth that have been planted will bring forth fruit unto eternal life.
