Thursday, November 3, 2011
Sexual Healing
I saw this during summer and was reminded of it today. I'd say it's worth sharing. I hope it's memorable, impacting and worth sharing for you too.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Are You Listening?
“Hiro, are you listening to me?? I asked you a
question!” It was another Monday afternoon and
Hiro, my adorable, yet difficult, 4-year-old client was once again
giving me a
run for my money during our therapy session. He wasn’t
paying attention to anything I was saying and
refused to participate in what I had planned. “How am I
supposed to help him with his language problems if
he won’t listen to me??” I asked myself in frustration. Every
time I asked him a question, he would
talk about a number or a color he noticed hoping that that answer would
be
sufficient. That was his typical reaction when he didn’t know the answer
to
something. Instead of working hard
at figuring it out, he blurted out something about numbers or colors,
something
that he was really good at. Later
during the session, he started getting out of his seat and copying
everything
that I would say to him. When he
realized that I wasn’t going to back down and let him go off and play
Candy
Land, he stuck his hand in front of my face and said, “stop talking!”
Was this really happening? I was literally
speechless. Hiro then looked at me with a serious
face, pointed at me with his tiny 4-year-old sized finger and stated,
“This One,
bad.” When Hiro forgets my name,
which happens every session, he calls me “This One.” He
was calling “This One,” Deanne, bad?? I was hurt,
confused, and tremendously
disappointed.
The therapy session felt like a complete failure. All the time I spent carefully planning out the session felt pointless and I wished at that point that Hiro was old enough to understand how much I cared. How much I wished that he would just pay attention so that I could help him get better. If Hiro would just pay attention, he would improve very quickly.
Isn’t it the same with us and God? God knows exactly what areas of our lives need improvement. He plans out perfect therapy sessions for each of us every day. Sometimes we show up and sometimes we don’t. And even if we do, we don’t always pay attention. We don’t listen to His carefully thought out activities that, we may not always like, but are designed for our improvement and growth. When we realize that God is challenging us to grow in our weaknesses, we don’t like that it’s hard. And what we do instead is bust out with our strengths hoping that they will compensate for our weaknesses. Sometimes we get so fed up that things aren’t going the way we want them to that we stick our hand out in front of God’s face and say, “stop talking!” And sad to say, we can get so selfish and self-absorbed sometimes that we even forget the name of God.
It makes me smile that God could take this makes-me-want-to-rip-my-hair-out-of-my-head-little-boy, Hiro, to teach me about the true Hero in Heaven, God my Father. God is the perfect therapist and He has the perfect session planned for you and me everyday. Let’s pay attention and stop trying to be the heroes of our own lives.
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
Deanne Kazumi Snell
The therapy session felt like a complete failure. All the time I spent carefully planning out the session felt pointless and I wished at that point that Hiro was old enough to understand how much I cared. How much I wished that he would just pay attention so that I could help him get better. If Hiro would just pay attention, he would improve very quickly.
Isn’t it the same with us and God? God knows exactly what areas of our lives need improvement. He plans out perfect therapy sessions for each of us every day. Sometimes we show up and sometimes we don’t. And even if we do, we don’t always pay attention. We don’t listen to His carefully thought out activities that, we may not always like, but are designed for our improvement and growth. When we realize that God is challenging us to grow in our weaknesses, we don’t like that it’s hard. And what we do instead is bust out with our strengths hoping that they will compensate for our weaknesses. Sometimes we get so fed up that things aren’t going the way we want them to that we stick our hand out in front of God’s face and say, “stop talking!” And sad to say, we can get so selfish and self-absorbed sometimes that we even forget the name of God.
It makes me smile that God could take this makes-me-want-to-rip-my-hair-out-of-my-head-little-boy, Hiro, to teach me about the true Hero in Heaven, God my Father. God is the perfect therapist and He has the perfect session planned for you and me everyday. Let’s pay attention and stop trying to be the heroes of our own lives.
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
Deanne Kazumi Snell
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Taylor Street Open House: Worth It for at Least One Young Man
After weeks of planning and publicizing the Taylor Street Open House through flyers and personal invitations in the neighborhood of the location as well as announcements at church the event finally ensued at 11 A.M. April 16, 2011. The REACH Philadelphia Interns and their supporters were organized together, prayed for God’s leading and blessing and they were expectant. The Ministry House sign was freshly set, gospel music was playing into the streets, the scent of freshly prepared vegan sandwiches and other goodies invited passers-bye into the kitchen for food and conversations. Some of our members even went into the streets to bring people into the home but honestly...it was a harder sell than most expected. But that didn’t take away at all from the amazing work that God had for the team to do that day.
The guests who came and the contacts the young adults acquired made all the effort well worth it. One example of those connections is Young Ervine. Shortly after this youth’s entrance he shared with those around the refreshments that he had a hard time trusting people but that he felt safe in the Ministry House for some reason. He’s already had Bible studies since the open house and is extremely interested in more. Though we weren’t overwhelmed with more attendees than we could accommodate, it is overwhelming to realize how God uses our humble efforts to bring in a harvest for His kingdom. Luke 15:7 NLT states, “heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!"
This is the Taylor Street Ministry House before the sign was added.
The guests who came and the contacts the young adults acquired made all the effort well worth it. One example of those connections is Young Ervine. Shortly after this youth’s entrance he shared with those around the refreshments that he had a hard time trusting people but that he felt safe in the Ministry House for some reason. He’s already had Bible studies since the open house and is extremely interested in more. Though we weren’t overwhelmed with more attendees than we could accommodate, it is overwhelming to realize how God uses our humble efforts to bring in a harvest for His kingdom. Luke 15:7 NLT states, “heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!"
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Muzungu!
There I was, the only muzungu (white man) for miles standing before a congregation of over 800 Kenyan church members. I was about to preach to them a message that I was actually unenthusiastic about for the audience I had. I was speaking about healthy living and the guidelines we find in the Bible and I was confident that they already knew the message well. I prayed that God would help me in the moments before the talk. I needed inspiration and fresh insight to get beyond the rules that nobodies excited about, past the stereotypical apologetic sermon, to share a message of God's love revealed in His Word and experienced in my life.
All I want to say is that somehow God provided. He made the topic come alive as Satan's counterfeits were exposed and God's unmatched blessings were revealed. The way to an abundantly healthy life became clear: commit yourself ad submit yourself to following God's Word. Science is has finally understood why it is unhealthy to eat pork, thousands of years after God commanded us not to eat it. There's probably a reson I grew up hearing of people getting sick because of eating crab meat, oysters and so on. God told us to drop it in his Word before we were born. It's clear to me that soany are suffering because they don't know the truths of God's Word.
The Word is an amazing gift that needs to be shared and studied. It needs to be spread wide. We need to dig deeper. We need to pray big prayers in accordance with the Bible and expect answers that will shock our confused minds into a new reality. If we trust in God, He will show up, he will do miracles. I believe it.
May God forgive me for the years I've only dabbled in His Word, in prayer and in applying it to my life. I want to live for Him now and to trust His Word that is filled with thoughts far superior to my own.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow that He could inspire someone like me to preach with power. All scripture is so useful and He is glorified in it. May we move from skeptical scoffers to faithful witnesses. God bless Kenya, God bless Africa, God save the people o this world from the deep deception of Satan into the freedom of God's own truth.
-Nick
All I want to say is that somehow God provided. He made the topic come alive as Satan's counterfeits were exposed and God's unmatched blessings were revealed. The way to an abundantly healthy life became clear: commit yourself ad submit yourself to following God's Word. Science is has finally understood why it is unhealthy to eat pork, thousands of years after God commanded us not to eat it. There's probably a reson I grew up hearing of people getting sick because of eating crab meat, oysters and so on. God told us to drop it in his Word before we were born. It's clear to me that soany are suffering because they don't know the truths of God's Word.
The Word is an amazing gift that needs to be shared and studied. It needs to be spread wide. We need to dig deeper. We need to pray big prayers in accordance with the Bible and expect answers that will shock our confused minds into a new reality. If we trust in God, He will show up, he will do miracles. I believe it.
May God forgive me for the years I've only dabbled in His Word, in prayer and in applying it to my life. I want to live for Him now and to trust His Word that is filled with thoughts far superior to my own.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow that He could inspire someone like me to preach with power. All scripture is so useful and He is glorified in it. May we move from skeptical scoffers to faithful witnesses. God bless Kenya, God bless Africa, God save the people o this world from the deep deception of Satan into the freedom of God's own truth.
-Nick
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Our Anniversary!
It was a special day for my wife and I. It was our 730th day of marriage (also known as a two year anniversary). It's almost like it was a holy day for our relationship where we pulled away from the rest of the group a tad to focus more on each other. We had some sweet moments at lunch time at a table for two by the pool. A couple of members of the team even served us the samosas (probably the best I've ever had) without us asking them. We have an amazing team.
Sadly we lost a dear member of our team today as Rob Lloyd, our Share Him day block manager from Hawaii, left us in Eldoret to rejoin his church group in Chuka where they are finishing up their campaign. Before he left God used him to bless us with a very thought provoking worship called the "buts of the new testament." It was about how we as Christians shouldn't have an "if only" mentality that looks back on our lives with regret, rather we should have a "but now" mentality that is filled with hope for every new day. He also helped us to cut down four sermons that are coming up so they wouldn't be so long or confusing. He worked on these from four o'clock in the morning. He is a great example of a servant leader. We took pictures and had some closing thoughts and hugs and sent him down the bumpy road to Nairobi.
As far as preaching and preparations go it was an interesting day too. We needed to get two sermons ready so we could travel to Kisumu the next day for a safari and still be ready to preach after a long day of fun, sun and travel.
The sermon prepared for the first night was called, "Your Day in Court." This was the first sermon I've ever preached where a person came down to the front during the sermon and started yelling and raising their hands. My site is in a cool location because it is right out in the open air in a field next to a small town with lots of shops which enables anyone in the area to hear the message and see the presentation because of our loud speakers and our big screen where we show a movie about Jesus before the presentation and a slideshow during the sermon. The hope is that many will hear the message and be drawn in and that seems to be exactly what happened with this man. When the yelling man first came and all throughout the sermon and the appeal I didn't know if he was filled with a spirit because he was raising his hands and speaking a language I didn't know or what. But I found out as he and many others came down for the appeal that he was filled with a different kind of spirits. He was drunk and yelling "I repent" in the local language.
Pastor Maiyo, who is also my translator helped me to take a picture of the man and informed me that he believed this man would soon be in the church because he had seen many others come that same way.
Praise God that Jesus covers us in the judgment and doesn't reward us according to our mistakes, but now he claims us as His own when we respond to his invitation for forgiveness. May we renew our commitment to our Lord and savior now and pray that many more will come to Jesus through these campaigns in Kenya and around the world.
Nick Snell
Sadly we lost a dear member of our team today as Rob Lloyd, our Share Him day block manager from Hawaii, left us in Eldoret to rejoin his church group in Chuka where they are finishing up their campaign. Before he left God used him to bless us with a very thought provoking worship called the "buts of the new testament." It was about how we as Christians shouldn't have an "if only" mentality that looks back on our lives with regret, rather we should have a "but now" mentality that is filled with hope for every new day. He also helped us to cut down four sermons that are coming up so they wouldn't be so long or confusing. He worked on these from four o'clock in the morning. He is a great example of a servant leader. We took pictures and had some closing thoughts and hugs and sent him down the bumpy road to Nairobi.
As far as preaching and preparations go it was an interesting day too. We needed to get two sermons ready so we could travel to Kisumu the next day for a safari and still be ready to preach after a long day of fun, sun and travel.
The sermon prepared for the first night was called, "Your Day in Court." This was the first sermon I've ever preached where a person came down to the front during the sermon and started yelling and raising their hands. My site is in a cool location because it is right out in the open air in a field next to a small town with lots of shops which enables anyone in the area to hear the message and see the presentation because of our loud speakers and our big screen where we show a movie about Jesus before the presentation and a slideshow during the sermon. The hope is that many will hear the message and be drawn in and that seems to be exactly what happened with this man. When the yelling man first came and all throughout the sermon and the appeal I didn't know if he was filled with a spirit because he was raising his hands and speaking a language I didn't know or what. But I found out as he and many others came down for the appeal that he was filled with a different kind of spirits. He was drunk and yelling "I repent" in the local language.
Pastor Maiyo, who is also my translator helped me to take a picture of the man and informed me that he believed this man would soon be in the church because he had seen many others come that same way.
Praise God that Jesus covers us in the judgment and doesn't reward us according to our mistakes, but now he claims us as His own when we respond to his invitation for forgiveness. May we renew our commitment to our Lord and savior now and pray that many more will come to Jesus through these campaigns in Kenya and around the world.
Nick Snell
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thoughts from Kenya!
Greetings from Kenya!
What a journey this has been. Since our last post Deanne and I have moved to Philadelphia where we have been constantly on the move. We worked in a literature evangelism ministry with about 30 others and God blessed us with great success and many stories and miracles.
Now nine of us from the summer program we did have flown to Kenya and are preaching to the locals of Eldoret.There are actually many Seventh-day Adventist Christians here that seem to be much more excited about the gospel than the people I commonly meet in the good ol' USA. These people are inspiring!
Being here and prepping sermon has actually allowed me more free time and internet access than the busy, busy summer program permitted. It's amazing how when you really do put God first some of the other things just fall away. It was interesting to talk to one of my group members here today. He ended his Facebook account because he wasted too much time on there looking at many, many pictures and so on. I told him that didn't think Facebook was bad but pointed out that our priorities determine how much time we spend doing what.
Working in ministry full time with many others who are extremely committed has been a great blessing to me and has added so much quality to mine and Deanne's lives. We get to celebrate our two year anniversary in Kenya! God is so good and I'm looking forward to going on many more adventures with Him.
I pray that all who come across this post will seek God first and see Him add amazing gifts and goodness to your life! I'm not financially rich as some of the locals wish I was but I have all I need in Jesus. Amen!
Nick
What a journey this has been. Since our last post Deanne and I have moved to Philadelphia where we have been constantly on the move. We worked in a literature evangelism ministry with about 30 others and God blessed us with great success and many stories and miracles.
Now nine of us from the summer program we did have flown to Kenya and are preaching to the locals of Eldoret.There are actually many Seventh-day Adventist Christians here that seem to be much more excited about the gospel than the people I commonly meet in the good ol' USA. These people are inspiring!
Being here and prepping sermon has actually allowed me more free time and internet access than the busy, busy summer program permitted. It's amazing how when you really do put God first some of the other things just fall away. It was interesting to talk to one of my group members here today. He ended his Facebook account because he wasted too much time on there looking at many, many pictures and so on. I told him that didn't think Facebook was bad but pointed out that our priorities determine how much time we spend doing what.
Working in ministry full time with many others who are extremely committed has been a great blessing to me and has added so much quality to mine and Deanne's lives. We get to celebrate our two year anniversary in Kenya! God is so good and I'm looking forward to going on many more adventures with Him.
I pray that all who come across this post will seek God first and see Him add amazing gifts and goodness to your life! I'm not financially rich as some of the locals wish I was but I have all I need in Jesus. Amen!
Nick
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Our Trip to Holland Michigan
Recently Michigan has been trying to promote tourism in the state to boost the economy with the slogan "Pure Michigan" and I've gotta say that growing up here I love this place. We live near lake Michigan, we've got the seasons and their colors and today I found one more thing to love about this state in Holland.
We’ve been talking about going for a while now and since it’s now tulip season, we’re moving to Philly on Monday and today was date day it was a prime opportunity.
On the way we stopped at a little pond about a minute from our house to check out some geese and their goslings.
Centennial Park.
An interesting fountain.
Cool texture! I think they were called Swan’s Wings.
Trying to be artistic:)
Dancers in wooden clogs...I think they wore like five pairs of socks.
A quick lesson from Ben.
This was like my third shot of Deanne in her elegant squatting position because I eventually decided I wanted to include the yellow hydrant.
My dad liked the toilets in the background.
This is art!
Tourist shops on Windmill Island.
Nice clogs!
Cool Tree.
Just a cool picture
The Windmill! Over 100 years old, hid Jews in WWII, shipped to Holland MI, the only one like in the U.S.
On top of the mill.
My favorite spot of the day!
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
-Psalm 50:2
I hope your day is filled with beauty!
We’ve been talking about going for a while now and since it’s now tulip season, we’re moving to Philly on Monday and today was date day it was a prime opportunity.
On the way we stopped at a little pond about a minute from our house to check out some geese and their goslings.
Centennial Park.
An interesting fountain.
Cool texture! I think they were called Swan’s Wings.
Trying to be artistic:)
Dancers in wooden clogs...I think they wore like five pairs of socks.
A quick lesson from Ben.
This was like my third shot of Deanne in her elegant squatting position because I eventually decided I wanted to include the yellow hydrant.
My dad liked the toilets in the background.
This is art!
Tourist shops on Windmill Island.
Nice clogs!
Cool Tree.
Just a cool picture
The Windmill! Over 100 years old, hid Jews in WWII, shipped to Holland MI, the only one like in the U.S.
On top of the mill.
My favorite spot of the day!
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
-Psalm 50:2
I hope your day is filled with beauty!
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