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| African sunset |
Friends, I wanted to begin to
document some of my life experiences in hopes that whoever chooses to follow
along with this blog will be encouraged. Please know that I am not the focus in
these events. Jesus Christ is. Keep that in mind as you progress through these
life stories. May God bless you all.
Everyone has heard the saying “when
it rains, it pours.” You can apply that saying to many situations in life, both
positive and negative. Sometimes it seems that when one good thing takes place,
more good things follow. The same goes for when things aren’t going as planned.
When something goes wrong, it seems like ten other things go wrong. Let’s
forget about the negative though, and focus on the positive. God has been great
to me throughout the course of my life, but this last month of my life has been
absolutely incredible. Blessings have poured. God has provided in ways far
greater than I can express. I am beyond thankful for what the Lord has done for
me and I look forward to what’s in store. He is good. He is faithful. He is
friend. This is some cool news I’d like to share with you…God keeps His
promises. Hebrews 10:23 says, “let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope
we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.” Even cooler than the
fact that He keeps His promises is the fact that all of His promises are good.
He promises to work things not just for my good, but for the good of all those
who love Him. One of my favorite verses of Scripture is Romans 8:28 which
states “that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who
love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” That’s good news.
God works in everything – not just isolated incidents – for our good. Of course
there will be tough times in life, but good will spring forth from those tough
events. It takes time and patience, but God rewards those who seek after Him.
Now, after having said all of that, let me go back and fill you in on this last
month. It’s been an adventure to say the least. Currently, I am writing to you
from Uganda, East Africa. Two weeks ago, I was leaving Honduras headed back to
Tuscaloosa. Don’t get me wrong, I am not writing all of this to just let you
know where I’ve been, but why I’ve been and who’s been with me the whole time.
Jesus Christ is why I go and He promises to never leave nor forsake me in doing so. While in Honduras, I watched the Lord do things that only He can do. Let me
recap one profound event that stands out in my mind from Honduras. On our first
full day in the village we would be working in, we encountered a few setbacks.
Satan knew we were there and he was going to do all he could do to prevent the
Lord from working. The townspeople wouldn’t cooperate with us and chaos ensued.
That night, our team gathered in one of the major intersections in that
village. We formed a circle in the intersection, held hands, and prayed to God
that He would calm the storms we had encountered on that first day. We prayed
that He would grant us peace and that the chaos that had ensued among the
townspeople would soon die down. Not only did our team unite to pray, but some
Honduran children joined our circle, held hands with us, and joined us in
prayer. It was for sure a moment that will eternally be etched in my mind. I
was there to serve the people of Honduras, but the awesome fact is that we all
serve the same God. We were united that night, Americans and Hondurans, as one
body. The body of Christ. Hand in hand, we prayed then sang How Great is Our
God. It was incredible. The next few days in the village went great. We were
able to see more people than we had ever seen before on any previous trips. Here
are a few statistics from the trip:
·
3,499 patients were seen in the medical clinic
(in order for them to seek medical attention they had to come hear the Gospel
at the church services we had…so at least 3,499 heard the Gospel preached.
Praise the Lord.)
·
18,000 prescriptions were filled ranging from
antibiotics to pain medications
·
600 teeth were pulled
·
5,000 pairs of shoes were given away
·
Many were given eyeglasses which enabled them to
see clearly for the first time
·
Over five tons of clothing was given away.
·
MOST IMPORTANTLY, 125 HONDURAN PEOPLE WERE
SAVED.
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| Honduran friends |
Need I say more? It was an awesome
week. I returned home and had a week to prepare for Uganda. It was a hectic
week nonetheless. The week before leaving for Honduras I was offered a job as a
firefighter with the Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Service. I had applied for the
job over a year ago so when I got the offer, I was shocked. It was a blessing
from the Lord. Let me say it again, He is always good. Before I left for
Honduras, I completed everything required of me to complete the hiring process.
When I returned from Honduras, a final offer of employment was extended and I
accepted it. So not only did I have the opportunity to spend a week in
Honduras, I returned home and got offered the job I had been waiting on. Here’s
the awesome part, I still get to make my journey to Uganda. I return from
Uganda on August 11th and start my new job on August 13th.
I have to cut my Uganda trip short by a few weeks in order to get back to my
new job, but I am thankful that I still have the opportunity to be here in
Uganda and that I will have a new job when I return home. The Lord provides. Sometimes
I just have to stop and laugh because God is so good. He has for sure blessed
me beyond what I deserve. I am eternally grateful for all that God has done in
my life.
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| My new Ugandan buds |
Let’s go back to Uganda. These last
few days have been filled with kicking soccer balls, jumping rope, and shooting
basketball around the orphanage. Let’s not forget about the movies we’ve
watched. I think I’ve seen my fair share of Alvin and the Chipmunks, Superman,
Finding Nemo, and Stuart Little…1 and 2. Let me not fail to mention that all of
the movies were in Lugandan, so I really had no clue what was being said. It’s
been an awesome week though. This first week has flown by. All of the kids are
full of joy. They all love Jesus with their whole heart. Each afternoon they
have devotion time before dinner. Each day, a different kid does the devotion.
They get their daily devotions from Jesus Calling for Kids. It amazes me to
watch these kids worship. They shout praises like I’ve never seen before. It is
incredible. When they pray, they pray fervently. They pray with intensity.
These kids realize that Jesus really is all they need. They all want to get on
my shoulders, or for me to hug them, hold them, or chase them. Being around all
of these kids makes me think about our relationship with Christ and how it is
the same way. Christ desires our attention. He wants us to chase after Him. I
thought I was going to be coming over to help these kids out, but they’ve
helped me out. In just a matter of a few short days, they’ve shown me what it
means to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
I hope you’ve been encouraged by
this. If you get nothing else out of this, know that God has a purpose and a
plan for your life. He will work things out according to His schedule. Trust
Him today. I thank you all for the prayers and support. May God bless you all
and keep you well.
In
Christ, Ford
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