September 2024 Conchshell Chronicles
Waspam Bible Club
It was a few years ago that we earnestly began praying for a move of the Holy Spirit among our Seek The Lamb Team in Nicaragua as well as in the communities that we have worked in educating tens of thousands of students these past 38 years. Last year a door opened with Young Life Ministries, which had just started their first Bible Club in Puerto Cabeza, the principle city on the Caribbean coast. One of their leaders Bency, who is from the Coco River, felt the call to come to Waspam and begin a Bible Club among the young people- many of whom are our formers students. The Regional Director for Young Life Nicaragua came to Florida and we spent a day at the Rio Coco Café in Vero Beach, praying about what God was going to do.
The Waspam Bible Club at the Vida Joven Camp
At the beginning of this year, Bency began making trips from Puerto Cabeza up to Waspam to begin working with our team. Soon it was Bency coming up each weekend and working with a small core group that includes the children of our project leaders. Amazing things began happening in this group- they began to speak of their own issues with transparency, which is very counter-Miskito culture. The format of games, Bible Study and prayer began attracting more.
Meeting with Youth from all over Nicaragua
In July, we sent 20 of these young people to the Young Life Camp in the mountains above Matagalpa. The camp is also a coffee farm, and we imported and roasted this coffee for a season. It is very cool at 5000’ in these mountains, which was a delight to our students. From all reports, it was more than we expected! To be with youth from all over Nicaragua who were together experiencing God had a profound effect on our Waspam Club.
We are sending this group back to the Vida Joven (Young Life) camp again this month, and again in November. Please pray for a mighty move of God for our communities. MB
Lamb Bleatings
In my practice of becoming a more appreciative human, I was driving down the road and thanking God for the beauty of the blue bright sky and the birds I noticed flying by. At the Intersection the light turned red and as I stopped, I noticed a butterfly free and beautifully fluttering about. I let out a gasp of delight and at the same moment a vehicle came through the intersection and rammed into the butterfly. I gasped again, but this time in shock and disappointment. My heart sunk for a second at this brief red light stop and I pondered the meaning.
When the light turned green, I knew I had to move on to my next fun event: Dance class at Christi’s and my coveted quiet time which includes stretch, strengthen, reflect, and listen. I have been trying to practice hearing clearly my orders from above rather than making my own up as I go which has always been my tendency and the battle zone in my life. God’s way or my way or their way.
There is only One Way and it is not mine or theirs. God my Father is my Central figure of Authority and Protection. God the Son is the example of giving up His Life as a ransom for many. God the Holy Spirit is my inner personal all knowing Counselor, teacher and friend that my body willfully gets to house. I am the temple of the Holy Spirit and taking care of His temple is all a part of my reasonable service unto my Creator. I realize that when I am not actively pursuing intentionally the King that I say I serve and give my Life to, I get stuck at a red light often being shocked and disappointed and have a tendency to wallow in disappointment, sadness or pain. My sensitivities are my greatest strength and also my greatest weakness. I am learning and having to practice God’s healthy balance and perspective .
Life is full of shockers and I become unbalanced and unhealthy very quickly. We all have opportunities that require a heavenly perspective that we ourselves are unable to make up. I am asking God constantly what my response ought to be.
Our perspective determines our actions, reactions and responses. “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously and without reproach. But let him ask in faith for the man who doubts is like the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind and let not that man receive anything from the Lord being a double minded man unstable in all of his ways. “ James 1 :5-8
Our lives are fleeting and out of control. We flutter around and suddenly we are here and then gone. I had the chance to enjoy that butterfly for a brief second and boom, no longer.
Lukas recently said good bye to his only girl cat Chauncy. She was going to turn 13. While she was ill, Lukas would say with each day, “Thank you God we have one more day to enjoy Chauncy.” When the light started to leave her eyes and we knew she was suffering too much, Lukas made the compassionate decision with Mikaela to take her to be put down. On her last couple of weeks, I would find myself going over to Lukas’s house to just hold and talk to Chauncy and tell her what a sweetie she was. It gave me great comfort to share the moments with my son and his Chauncy girl. Mikaela lost her Conner and knew how to be there for her brother. The three of us were there at the vet to say our last good byes to Sweet Chauncy.
Our perspective of gratitude and appreciation shades our moments in this perplexing and often tumultuous journey of life. The ability to embrace every moment as a gift of life from God is key. Our journey becomes more meaningful with the eternal perspective of having a Maker from whom we come and to whom we will go. A Person that is in charge and has our back from the beginning to the end.
My giving generous Heavenly Father who is full of ALOHA.
I appreciate his
A KAHAI: kindness expressed with tenderness
L OKAHI: unity expressed with harmony
O LU’OLU: agreeableness expressed with pleasantness
HA’AHA’A: humility expressed with modesty
AHONUI: patience expressed with perseverance
Thank you to many of you who have been giving us great ALOHA in our lives and for taking part in our RIO ALOHA 100% HUMANIC PROJECT by sending us ALOHA wear and accessories to help us raise funds for school supplies, scholarships, Bible Camps, Maui Fire victims and a host of other HUMAN needs crying to be met.
We accept all financial donation through our 501c3 SEEK THE LAMB . Feel free to give online , PayPal , or by check written to
Seek the Lamb for tax write off .
Thanks for all your prayers!
Laura
Our Eternal Adventure
An Online Study
In 2012, I felt like the Lord told me to study the Book of Acts. He wanted me to learn how He moved among that First Century culture that is very similar to ours and put those principles into action in our own ministry. I spent the summer on Utila that year reading and writing down some things. I had the idea to publish Volume 4 of the series Things That Really Matter (Vol 1-2 & 3 are Living in the Spiritual World, Echoes into Eternity and The Vision Behind the Verses)
Things That Really Mater Series
When I finished the book that begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome, I wasn't really satisfied, so I let it sit. Two summers later while on Utila, I began a revision. Still, I sensed I was not complete. After our trip to Italy and Israel in 2018, I began a third revision, and when I finished, I realized that my account had too many side roads- or as my friend Craig said, "Too many rabbit holes." Again, I let it be.
Since arriving back in Vero Beach after our trip to Hawaii, we began a study on the Book of Acts in our Thursday Morning Rio Coco Café group, and I pulled up my manuscript and began a fourth and final edit. I decided to post each chapter as a blog on our seekthelamb.com site under the title Our Eternal Adventure. After all this adventure with God begins in this life on this Earth, but will continue in the ages to come! This format allows me to include many color photos that we have taken over the years of the Biblical sites where these events occurred.
What an inspiration to read an eyewitness account of how the most beneficial movement in human history began. What a relevant topic for our times!
We invite you to join us online for “Our Eternal Adventure”.
Our Eternal Adventure Home Page
Our current Western culture is very similar to the one that the First Century church encountered. Infanticide was widespread. In the Roman Empire, it was customary to place your female baby out in the woods to let her die as girls were not desirable in Roman families. Often the citizens of Rome threw their babies off the bridges into the Tiber River, where the Christian waited to rescue them and raise them as their own. Thus there was an imbalance in the male/female ratio- 144 males to 100 females. Bisexual relationships and bestiality were common. The government was corrupt and poverty widespread. There was sexual confusion as well. Wives were expected to be monogamous while husbands had multiple mistresses.
Christians were different. Women were given full rights and became leaders in local congregations. Widows and orphans were cared for. Sex was confined within the marriage resulting in long term intimacy. Christians had their own courts to resolve disputes, and they were very charitable to those who were in need. Their community was tightly knit and included slaves, slave owners, women, former prostitutes, every ethnic group, wealthy landowners, and government leaders. During the two major plagues (160 AD and 250 AD) that killed up to 30% of the populations of the urban areas, Christians gave care to the sick, even it resulted in their own deaths- they were not afraid of dying.
Thus the Christian community was very attractive to the Roman population, and according to Rodney Stark’s The Rise of Christianity, the Christian population grew from around 10,000 at the end of the First Century to over 33,000,000 by the middle of the Fourth Century- over 56% of the Roman Empire population.
How did they do It???
Luke chronicles the birth and expansion of the Church in the First Century. Please join our study.
I have written my commentary on each of the events and included Luke’s narrative, along with many of our photos of the Biblical sites where these events occurred. My object is to place ourselves within the group of disciples as they made the day-to-day decisions, relying on the Holy Spirit, overcoming their own opinions and expectations. The Holy Spirit is leading this group step by step and teaching them the needed lessons that allowed them to be so effective in taking the message from an obscure corner of the Empire all the way to Caesar’s Palace.
If you are interested in what the Holy Spirit may be saying to us in this generation, then this is a study for you. Here are the summary of each chapter with a link.
Chapter 1 - The Crucifixion, Resurrection and Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Eternal Adventure begins with the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. This changes everything! Now the disciples understand the Gospel Message- :Forgiveiness of sin to all those who repent and receive Jesus as Lord." They spend time with the resurrected Jesus, share meals with Him, and receive their instructions for the next phase.
Chapter 1 - The Crucifixion, Resurrection and Gospel of Jesus Christ
Chapter 2 - The Birth of the Church
In an unprecedented move, the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus' disciples, during the Feast of Pentecost, causing more than 3000 people to become part of the Christian community. In the process, Peter explains what it takes to "get saved." Then Luke describes how this event affected the Community and how their lifestyle changed to reflect their new character.
Acts 2: The Birth of The Church
Chapter 3 - The First Miracle
The Christian Community forms after the infilling of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. They are sharing intimate moments, worshipping together, studying the Scriptures, having meals together, and sharing with anyone who had a need. As they did this, the Holy Spirit was working among them, bringing more into the community. The one day when Peter and John were walking up the steps into the Temple.....
Chapter 4 - "Don't Mess With The Holy Spirit"
The Christian community has been empowered by the Holy Spirit and are participating in many miracles that the Holy Spirit is doing through them. Many are joining the community, but there is a new lesson that the Holy Spirit is going to give to this infant Christian community that will cause significant growth and the bearing of much fruit for the Lord.
Chapter 4 - 'Don't mess With The Holy Spirit"
Chapter 5 - When Problems Arise
Chapter 5 - When Problems Arise
Chapter 6 Deaf Ear Disciples
The Church has suffered a wave of persecution, which has scattered many of the disciples throughout Judea and Samaria. This has led to a great move of God in Samaria and the establishment of an Ethiopian church. In a miraculous turn, the leader of the persecution, the pharisee Saul of Tarsus, has had a personal encounter with Jesus while on the road to Damascus, and after being blind for three days, has his sight restored and becomes a follower of Jesus.
Now the church is going to learn a very personal lesson from the Holy Spirit: the biggest obstacle to the advancement of the Kingdom is often our own preconceptions and prejudices, which must be overcome.
There will be another chapter added each week.
Take a few moments to read each chapter, and meditate on what the Lord may be teaching you for your moments with those He has placed around you.
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