Out of the comfort zone...just a little further!!!

Anyone that knows me knows that I do not like to talk in front of people.  One on one I am okay, but talking in front of a group makes me really nervous.  Put a microphone in front of me and it's even worse!  So I was so relieved when Prabhudas told me in our meeting last Friday that he would not push me to speak in church and I can just let him know when I want to share something.  But Sunday morning, in church as I was reading in different places, I stumbled upon these verses which really convicted me about proclaiming the goodness and faithfulness of God!  Psalm 40:9-10 "I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know.  I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation."  So I realized God was not going to let me take a free pass from speaking and I began praying for His wisdom in what to say when I was asked to speak and boldness to share from my heart no matter how many people were listening.  I am here to honor and bless these people and I pray that will be my attitude and mindset every time I stand before them!

So I was asked to go with Ruth to a women's meeting Tuesday morning instead of teaching in the "littles" class.  I had no idea what to expect, but was pretty confident I would be asked to say something!  Sure enough, on the way, Ruth asked if I would give a greeting and a word of encouragement.  Keeping the verses in mind from Sunday, I read from Psalm 66 about declaring what God has done for me before sharing a little of my testimony and encouraging them to trust God and believe that He has a plan for their life.  After the meeting, 5 of us ladies crammed into one of the auto rickshaws and headed back home. 

Wednesday night was the youth meeting at the church.  Ruth asked me again to share some encouragement like I did at the women's meeting but to also teach them an English chorus.  This time it was with a microphone!  So I shared a little encouragement about being like Jesus and then taught them a song about Jesus that I've been singing since I got here.  When my part was done, it was really fun to watch them do Bible drills!