Wednesday, June 15, 2011

His Little Feet Update







Well, this update is long in coming. I have so many wonderful stories of God’s faithfulness that I have desired to share with you all. Time has seemed to slip away but most assuredly God has been truly working in our midst with everyone here in His Little Feet.



A scripture that the Lord has pin pointed to me lately as I have been traveling around the U.S.A is found in, 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” This verse captures the very essence of His Little Feet in my mind. My prayer has been, and still is that the Lord’s presence would so saturate every one of us that wherever we go that the fragrance of the Lord would penetrate every place we go to. Not because of 15 precious children from Haiti who stand in the gap for millions of children around the world who have no one interceding for them nor 8 staff members who are surrendered to the Lord’s will but because Christ Himself is there. That His sweet aroma would saturate, lovingly convict, and envelope everyone with whom we come in contact with because the knowledge of Him is evident in our lives that those who are perishing would see and know Christ. May His Glory be seen in a deeper way through this tour and the tours to come!

For those of you who haven’t heard much about what I have been doing for the past 6 months I will try to give you a summarization. It seems as if everything that happens in a span of one week is so busy that the amount of things done and amount of people met is enough to fill a month comfortably. This is the life the Lord has placed before me to lead in this season of my life, at the moment.

If you want to catch up on how the Lord directed me to become apart of His Little Feet you can read my blog entry titled His Little Feet from this blog-that should do a pretty good job in filling you in a little bit about how I heard about this wonderful ministry and how the Lord opened the doors to give me the honor of allowing me to be apart of it. Also, His Little Feet has its own blog so if you desire to read other entries by all of the wonderful staff members I travel with feel free to check it out on www.hislittlefeet.org!

A typical day of life with HLF, is there really a typical day? Not really, no one really knows what will be found around the bend as we journey across the United States. We have been in 24 states so far this year and to around 50 churches. I have been able to witness how the Lord moves though the voices of these young children whom I have come to love dearly. We are normally in a new host family about every 2 to 3 days, meeting new people all across the U.S. Each day is usually jam packed with something going on whether we are in a bus traveling to a new state, doing school at a church, setting up, tearing down at a concert, having a day, (sometimes two) just with a host family, sight seeing, pouring into the children, being a light to those with whom we come in contact with, and oh, so much more. The bus, is a familiar and welcome sight to each and every one of us. In lots of ways it is our home away from home, our sanctuary, the place where it is just us. It is a place where we wind down, sleep (as much as possible), spend time reading, relaxing, and swapping stories amongst each other about the individual adventures we just had. We have made so many memories along the way that it would take hour to share all the stories! We all have become a family, a family knit together for the same cause, “to preach the gospel to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19) It has been such a blessing to see the transforming work the Lord has done on the children’s lives as well, we have had the honor of seeing several of the children dedicate their lives to their King and Savior. It has truly been life-transforming because Christ is found working in our midst.

Here are a few quotes that are worth sharing…

~Daphney and I were discussing our concerts one day and she declared, “I like the kisses from the sweet old ladies.”

~ I am known to the children as Auntie Brooke, Tee Brooke for short. I have also acquired the name Tee Brooke-quwe, what a lovely sound to hear, quite endearing.

~Likendley and I were talking about our favorite veggies and I asked him what he thought about carrots Likendley’s response was, “Auntie Brooke! I am a gentleman NOT a rabbit.”

~ Falencia and I were talking about giving our hearts to Jesus at the very beginning of the tour she looks at me with wide eyes and in all seriousness says, “But Auntie Brooke, I don’t want to give Jesus my heart, if I do, I’ll die!” It was adorable and yet even though she didn’t mean it in this way, she with her childish mind did grasp the concept of giving her heart to Jesus. You do die. You die to self.


Now, I am facing yet more opportunities to prove to my Lord that I put my trust in Him no matter what! As you know almost a year ago (May 28th to be precise) I started this whole journey at Ellerslie Training Academy. Through a series of events I found myself with the honor of traveling and pouring into 15 children from Haiti. Now that the tour is coming to an end I find myself staring into many possibilities before me. More possibilities to rely in an even greater way upon Him, to release my grasp onto “self” at a greater depth, to full rely on His strength to empower me, and work though me so that many may see and come to Him. Now that this first tour is coming to an end the Lord opened an amazing opportunity to go to the Philippians and then to China after that! The plan was once the tour is over we (HLF Staff), to our great joy and delight; got to bring the children “home” to Haiti! Which in and of itself is a grand display of how the Lord provides and how He is Faithful! About a week after I get back from Haiti, at this very moment to be precise, journeyed to California with two other HLF Staff/Intern (Carrie and Aaron) we are going to make our way by plane to the Philippians and then to China. As the days get closer to our arrival time and our preparations are slowly coming to a close the excitement and expectation grows! Once I arrive back in the United States I believe I will be able to spend the remainder of the summer with my family in Colorado by September (if the Lord so wills) continue with the new group of children and be ready to start a new tour across the U.S!

One constant theme this year, for me, has been surrender, as well as a great dependency on Christ. One out a many lessons the Lord has been showing me in this jam packed year is found in,

2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

I have beheld my King in wondrous ways in a year and that shall never stop. Now that I have hind sight on this past year I have seen how what is found in this verse is true He is ever changing me, He is bringing me from glory to glory so that I may reflect His image like a crystal clear lake reflects what is around it. I have seen how He has brought me to the end of myself so many times so that He could reveal His power and faithfulness to me time and time again! It is exciting to see as I surrender to Him there is an endless frontier as He takes this image of a daughter of mire clay and transforms her into a clear reflection of Him!




***


-After Haiti-


His faithfulness is so very evident in the whole tour and in the life of each of the children that were hand picked to be a part. There was a reason these children who chosen and His faithfulness and plan for each of them will be revealed in due time.

It was such an honor to be able to bring the children home to Haiti. To see the place they call home, to meet all the people who they hold dear. Hope for Haiti Children’s Center is just that, as soon as you walk through the gate, you see hope. This place our children call home is a haven, a place where the Lord is working in it’s midst.

It was such a blessing to see the excitement of all as we all eagerly awaited for the buses to pull into the compound and the gasps of joy and excitement as the all 15 children piled as quickly as possible out of the vans to greet everyone whom they haven’t seen for almost 7 months. It was without a doubt a joyous reunion! Tears, hugs, stories, and joy abounded!

The children had their last HLF performance on their home soil and as they sang the song “Blessed Be Your Name” the lyrics, “You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name.” rang in my ears. Oh, what a privilege He has Given to each of us- traveling with all 15 of these children. And as in a sense He has Taken them away from us I know my heart and many others touched by these precious one will forever more choose to say “Lord, blessed be your name.”

After 6 days quickly sped by and the time to say our goodbye arrived. It was a special time, everyone knowing what was looming before us. Right before it was time for us to leave, we each (all the Aunties and Uncles) tried to express with words how dear they were and how honored we had been that the Lord chose to place each of them in our lives. Also, we shared how incredibly proud we were of them as well as sharing words of encouragement and wisdom as the Lord led. It was a bittersweet time. A time I shall not forget, a time overflowing with His blessings and His faithfulness.

Thank You Jesus!


Forever Captured,
Brooke (aka Auntie Brooke)

2 comments:

  1. Wow. Thanks for sharing, Brookee. I am thrilled to hear you'll be touring again -- more opportunities to see you!! I love you dearly.

    This verse came to mind as I was about to post this comment, it must be for you from Him: Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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  2. That was beautiful Aunty Brooke!
    Thank you for sharing.
    I am so blessed that God made it posible for me to be even just a small part in this wonderful adventure. He is so good!
    I miss you guys!
    May the grace of Jesus Christ abound toward you as you shine His Light across the world!
    Love you bunches!
    Tell Carrie and Aaron I said "hi"! And Chelsea and Liz too!

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