Nathan Lewis is a KPIC missionary and assistant pastor at Centrepoint Church in Edinburgh, UK.
Since last summer’s outreach to Cables Wynd (a housing project community in Edinburgh) a group of children from this neighborhood have regularly attended our church. After months of struggling to reach them with the regular Sunday service activities, we realized our conventional church service was simply not meeting their needs.
So a small team and I have started a Sunday afternoon service specifically targeting them. This service is designed for the rough and rambunctious and each week draws a dozen children between 9 and 14 years old.
They typically show up early and smoke a cigarette before coming inside. Week by week we preach the Gospel and tell them of God’s great love. It seems that every time they look at us in disbelief, often expressing it, yet week after week they come back!
Many of these kids are from abusive homes; few have whole families. Though young, they are familiar with alcohol, sex, and violence. Often our service borders on chaos, but this is what it takes to reach children from this background.
Over the past few months we have seen dramatic and noted changes occur in many young lives. They are starting to understand God’s love starting to ask questions, and there is opportunity to pray and have real conversations about life and God. A 14 year old named Bret came to our leaders with many questions about God and the pain in his life including multiple suicides in his family and a recent murder. We were able to pray with him and counsel him. Bret is very close to having a full understanding and faith in Jesus, please keep him in your prayers.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” As we minister and reach out I am confident we are interacting with the very heart of God. Please pray these children come to know Jesus and are delivered from the situations they face.
Thank you for supporting this work in Edinburgh! Our church continues to grow, as does this new afternoon service for children. I know God desires to do an amazing work through this humble effort. Thank you for your prayers, they are effective and powerful in touching many lives!
The Kiefers are proud to announce the birth of Ezekiel “Zeke” Judah Kiefer on March 4, 2010. This is an account of the miracle birth of their new son.
“But, women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety.” I Timothy 2:15
In my early 20s, I remember reading the above scripture and feeling offended. “WHAT does that mean??” I asked God and myself over and over again. A decade later I am only beginning to have an understanding.
You see, the word “saved” here means “restored” or “to make whole,” and God has used the birth of each of our three children to bring me to a greater level of trust and understanding of Him each time.
In preparing for Zeke’s arrival, I just knew he would arrive early . That is the hope of every pregnant mom, right? His due date was February 26 so right after Valentines Day we geared up for him to come “any day!” I was having consistent contractions daily and I just knew we would be rushing to the hospital at any moment.
As February 26 came and passed, and at each doctor’s appointment the report was: “nothing has really changed in your body,” I grew discouraged. “Would Zeke ever come??”
Why are we making such a big deal about getting a tree from Green Acres of Cary this year?
Well, they’ve decided to give the African Children’s Choir (ACC) 10% of their profits. As a church, we have taken in these beautiful little treasures, and as a result, we take responsibility for their financial needs.
We launched the Mirembe Capital Campaign (named “Mirembe” after the house we have given to supporting the ACC) on November 8th, which was the beginning of our efforts to pay off remaining debt and garner monthly funds for the ACC.
Each Tuesday, Children’s Pastor Eric Syfrett posts a video for his Children’s Ministry team. There’s a shout-out for Fiesta at the end, but check out the wisdom of one of the 5 year-olds attending KPIC last Sunday! What’s God up to in your world?
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”
- Isaiah 58:6
Two months ago, I had the privilege of participating in the PureLife Conference organized by Ron and Lynette Lewis. After I told the story of Rosa, a 13 year old who had been trafficked to the United States from Mexico, Ron asked people who wanted to help bring freedom and a new life to those trapped in sex slavery to raise their hands: over 600 did. For me, this was a blessing because no one individual can stop human trafficking, but all of us together can do it. Just as two hundred years ago, churches and faith-based groups were leaders in the fight against African chattel slavery, today a new Christian anti-slavery movement is forming. God is working with us and through us to make our world His – to see His will be done on earth.
Eight years ago, after several terrible child sex trafficking cases were uncovered in the United States, a coalition of faith-based groups, women’s organizations, and others helped to draft and pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law designed to address contemporary forms of slavery such as sex trafficking. After the law passed, many groups, such as The Salvation Army, Concerned Women for America, Project Rescue, Shared Hope, International Justice Mission, and other Christian groups, continued to work on all aspects of the issue. In fact, Christian groups have been in the forefront of every aspect of the three Ps – prevention (of trafficking), prosecution (of traffickers), and protection (of victims of trafficking).
This year, in October, The White House Office for Faith Based and Community Initiatives hosted an event, “Success Against Slavery: Strategies for the Future,” to showcase some of the most successful faith-based assistance programs for trafficking victims. We invited about two hundred individuals representing fifty organizations to share information and resources, to celebrate the work completed, and to plan and strategize for the future. So much has been accomplished: a comprehensive law drafted and passed; education, awareness-raising and advocacy efforts; rescue missions around the globe; shelters and services springing up, a new faith-based curriculum (Hands that Heal)… And yet… reports show that millions of women and children are still in bondage around the world and here in our own country. We have come so far, but we have so much farther to go. I hope that as we move into 2009, we can continue to work together to bring stop these new forms of slavery.
Laura Lederer
Senior Director for Global Projects on Trafficking in Persons
US Department of State
. That is the hope of every pregnant mom, right? His due date was February 26 so right after Valentines Day we geared up for him to come “any day!” I was having consistent contractions daily and I just knew we would be rushing to the hospital at any moment.
