This month we are trying something new – our blog is written in Italian! To translate it into your own language, please use https://translate.google.com/

“Chi potrebbe infatti disprezzare il giorno delle piccole cose, quando quei sette là, gli occhi del SIGNORE che percorrono tutta la terra, vedono con gioia il piombino in mano a Zorobabele?”
Zaccaria 4:10
In questi ultimi due anni in Italia non c’è stato nemmeno un giorno in cui i media non abbiano mostrato immagini di barche cariche di uomini e donne africani di ogni età, di gente annegata nel Mediterraneo, di navi che soccorrono gente in pericolo di vita. Il tutto condito da discussioni accese su come il Governo italiano dovrebbe gestire tale situazione.
L’arrivo dei profughi africani in Italia è un’emergenza umanitaria di proporzioni immani. I numeri cambiano ogni giorno, ma si sta parlando di migliaia e migliaia di persone di ogni età. È evidente che aldilà delle opinioni politiche su come andrebbe gestita la cosa, come cristiani abbiamo un’opportunità unica di dimostrare amore e offrire speranza a persone disperate. Come YFC Italia capiamo la nostra responsabilità verso i tanti adolescenti che sono profughi. Molti di loro hanno perso i genitori e subito forti traumi. La nostra missione è verso OGNI adolescente. In questo OGNI ci sono anche i ragazzi profughi.
Da circa un anno ho lottato molto per capire quale fosse la nostra parte. Non so voi, ma io quando mi trovo di fronte a un problema enorme, mi sembra che tutto sia inutile, al punto che quasi resto bloccata e finisco per non fare nulla. Frasi tipo “siamo una piccola organizzazione con così poche risorse!”, “Ho già tanto da fare!”, mi hanno riempito la testa per tanto tempo. In questa lotta, le parole di Zaccaria 4:10 sono state più attuali che mai. Dio non ci sta chiedendo di risolvere i problemi del mondo, ma di ubbidire quando ci chiama a partecipare alla sua opera di redenzione del mondo. E in quell’ottica anche la “piccola cosa” assume un valore enorme, perché diventa parte di un piano molto più grande di noi e della situazione stessa. Dio non ha alcun problema con le nostre “piccole cose”. A Lui interessa la nostra ubbidienza.
YFC Italia ha iniziato un programma fra i rifugiati la scorsa estate in luglio. Gli oltre 30 ragazzi che hanno partecipato non hanno affatto considerato il nostro lavoro con noi una “piccola cosa”. Anzi, l’hanno accolta come un grande regalo e qualcuno ha detto “questi sono stati i giorni più belli che ho trascorso in Italia da quando sono arrivato.” Stiamo continuando a fare “piccole cose” con un incontro settimanale per i ragazzi che arrivano ogni settimana. Possano le nostre “piccole cose” essere semi del Vangelo in questi cuori bisognosi per la gloria del Padre di ogni compassione!

Ester Montefalcone
YFC Italia

‘Doing God’s Will’

How many ‘hats’ do you wear as a woman? I wear a number – wife, mom, caretaker of the home, daughter of my parents, sister to my siblings, national director and all that entails (administrator, problem solver, crisis manager, fundraiser), friend, Bible Study member, networker, public speaker, trainer, peer educator, coach, traveler, Young Leader Coordinator, ALT member, acting Regional Director…..need I go on ☺ ?

As women, we respond to all the ‘hats’ in different ways – sometimes we are overwhelmed, stretched thin, burnt out, running on fumes, as we handle all the responsibilities. At other times, we want to shut all else out, and just do nothing, be nothing to no one, and want to be left alone.

During the last prayer day, the verse reflected upon was 1 John 5:14 – “And this is the confidence we have toward Him, if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.” The conversation centered on doing God’s will, and having prayer answered. However, what struck my heart was the part ‘doing God’s will’.

In the various ‘hats’ is God’s will for you and for me, on a day to day basis, on a moment by moment basis. The big question is: Am I doing God’s will, irrespective of the ‘hat’ that I am a wearing? As I pondered this question, I realized that God has a purpose for me in each role. Sometimes the demands on certain roles are higher than others. If you are like me, there are some roles I want to give away and never take back.

Psalm 139:16 is a favorite of many, “In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.” (ESV) All my days as Anna, as a woman, are already ordered by God. God’s desire is that I would do His will, every moment, every ‘hat’, every day.

So now, I am not too focused on the many hats as much. My prayer now, is that I would do His will, and bring Him pleasure by doing His will in every ‘hat’. Focusing on His will brings us to a place where we are asking according to His will, and having answered prayer. A good equation: Asking His will + Doing His will = Answered prayer.

May you find great delight in doing His will for your life this month.

In the Lord, Anna Mumbua-Ngwiri

National Director, YFC Kenya

So often in our lives, rest becomes the last thing on our list of things to do.  We do as much as we can in a day, and in a week, and cut our hours of rest and sleep down so that we are able to get more accomplished.  At times this may result in us being less effective in our ministries and less caring to those around us as we can get exhausted and irritable.   What might happen if we flipped this pattern around put rest at the top of the list?

Rest is a form of caring for oneself and connecting with God, and it is an important part of a healthy walk with God.  In his book, “Let Your Life Speak”, Parker Palmer writes “Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others.  Anytime we can listen to true self and give it the care it requires, we do it not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives we touch.”

In Scripture we are invited to come to Jesus to receive rest that truly refreshes us.  In Matthew 11 Jesus invites us to rest in Him. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (The Message).

As we continue to journey together, I invite you to set aside some burdens if you are able to.  Take a brief moment (or an hour, or even a day if you can!) to hand these burdens over to Jesus and rest in His presence.

Lord Jesus we confess that at times we are overwhelmed with the needs around us.  We pray today that we will have the courage to set these burdens before you and to embrace the rest and refreshment that you offer to us.  May we walk in your strength and not our own.
Amen. 

~ written by Teresa Zehr

Youth for Christ Canada

Central Region Development Coordinator

on behalf of the HATS Team

I love rainbows. Whilst living in Thailand, I became a ‘Rainbow Chaser’. During rainy season, we would see a new rainbow most days as the sun shone through the rain or after the storms had passed.

On numerous occasions, I would embarrass my teenage son with the childish excitement that came over me as I would leap out of the car and rush to catch the ‘best photo ever’ of the latest beauty in the sky.

It’s not just the array of colors that appear against the grey blue sky or emerge out of the clouds that I love, nor is it the miracle of the sunlight touching the raindrops in the sky and causing such beauty – the science. No, it’s more than that… It’s the moment when heaven opens for a millisecond and God seems loud to me.

 ‘And God said “I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is a sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth.” ‘ Gen. 9.12 NLT

You see, the rainbow is a sign of God’s promise to the earth in the time of Noah, to never destroy it again. Every time I see a rainbow, I am nudged by God to remember. Remember his goodness to me and remember that he has spoken wonderful promises over my life and more importantly that He is the divine keeper of the promises he makes to all of us.

When I see a rainbow – I sense Him say to me “There it is – a reminder to you that yes, I have promised this…. And I keep my promises. Keep trusting.”

So often we can get weighed down with our current troubles and struggles. Those things we ‘thought’ we heard God say to us in the past – get crowded out of our minds, – or we wait so long to see the fulfilment of these promises in our lives, that we doubt what we heard or think that perhaps too much time has elapsed and surely, if God was going to fulfill his promise to us, he would have done it by now….

Maybe it’s the promised healing of a loved one, the salvation of a wayward child or a beloved parent. It might be the promise of a spouse, or the birth of a child. It might be a vision seen – come to fruition, a calling on our lives fulfilled or maybe a personal restoration in our own lives.  It might be weeks since we heard the promise of God concerning our situation – it may be years and years – even decades since we heard the gentle whisper from Him.

However it looks to you or me, we all have words that we know the Lord has spoken to us, that we have grabbed and held on to – at times maybe for dear life as we have agonized over a particular situation that possibly only you and the Lord know about.

So what is it the LORD has promised to you?

Has it been so long that you have given up, or decided that you must have misheard His voice? Are you tired and weary from waiting to see the promise fulfilled?

My prayer today, is that as you read, this would be your ‘rainbow.’ That it would be a reminder to you that the Lord set a rainbow in the sky to remind us of his everlasting love and promise to us and that He does not lie or break his promises. He is the divine Promise Keeper and may He remind you that He indeed, will fulfill his promise to you.

Hebrews 10v23 “Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have,

for God can be trusted to keep his promise” NLT