When I think about the definition of love or a practical way to describe it I immediately think of John 15:13. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I have heard this verse illustrated by many powerful stories of fathers, mother, and friends actually dying to save another’s life.
One of the things that keeps the Bible so interesting to me is that it is multi-dimensional. Another dimension of John 15:13 is to put the desires and needs of one’s friends above self. By letting go of some of the bad that has happened to us and choosing to love others as we are filled with the source of love, “God is love,” we can be His arms to embrace, His listening ear, His shoulder to lean on, His hand to help, His heart to love.
We all desire to be loved and by giving God a place in our hearts we all have His love to give. The Students at HIS definitely have love to give as I am reminded of everyday by multiple embraces. Last summer Troy and I had the privilege of traveling with Natives With A Mission, an NAD Children’s Ministry sponsored program. It was a great blessing to connect with the people we met on a number of reservations, which we count as cherished friends. At the end of the summer I was shocked at how my heart was torn as we parted with the kids. I was in love with them, we were a family, they were my kids and I was not ready to say good-bye forever. God in His wonderful ways already had a plan in motion and opened a door for us to come to Holbrook. Now our family has grown.
Natives With A Mission now has a class at Holbrook. First Semester focused on creative ways to reach out to others with God’s love as well as having a genuine relationship with God. How can one witness for God if one does not know Him? I hear the theme of the Bible be about relationships, from the Old through the New Testament. Second Semester the focus of the class will be to share the love that comes with relationships. It will be a busy but I trust fruitful time as we share here at Holbrook, close communities and even hours away. Most of our trips will be enjoying Sabbath with others. We, as a class, have also been asked to come to El Paso, Texas to teach creative ways to minister to the Junior Academy there. And to continue the theme of constantly building our own relationship with God, we look forward to attending Just Claim It in Ohio.
We look forward to the continuing and growth of Natives With A Mission and the spreading of God’s genuine and powerful love. If you would like to learn more about Natives With A Mission or would like us to visit your area, please visit us at www.nwamonline.com or on our facebook page.