Day 19 – Maranatha Workshops
“….to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” - Isaiah 61:3
One of the many ways that Hands at Work provides our Care Workers, Primary Caregivers and children with an understanding of the unconditional love and healing that comes through Jesus is through Maranatha Workshops. Pray for those attending the workshops to come with an open heart for all that God longs to do in and through them. Pray for a willingness to be challenged as they hear the good news. Where people carry deep rooted brokenness and trauma, ask God to bring His healing and restoration. May that be reflected in the love that they show to the wider community.
In February a Maranatha Workshop took place in Nigeria for the Care Workers from the communities of Temitope, Eagles Wings and Amokoko. Pragcidence Mwenda, African Volunteer (Zambia), along with Jackie Okinda, African Volunteer (Kenya), were able to support the local Hands at Work team in Lagos to facilitate the workshop.
Prag reflects:
“The Maranatha Workshop was extremely tough. It was challenging to get the Care Workers to come because they were busy selling things in the market. Each morning at 9am, when we went to the building where the Workshop was taking place, we would have to do Holy Home Visits to go and find the Care Workers and collect them. Throughout the Workshop, we shared in a way that I have never shared before during a workshop because the Care Workers were only able to pay attention for 20 minutes before they started dozing. At one point I was feeling extremely discouraged and I felt like we should leave and go to Apatuku, another one of our communities that is about four hours away. It was in that moment that God opened my eyes to what He was doing. On Thursday the Holy Spirit showed up as I told my personal story. As I started sharing, the ladies began crying, and the brokenness that they carry became apparent. By the grace of God, many of the ladies gave their lives to Christ and were able to share the things in their lives that they were going through.