I suppressed a sigh as the little girl wandered over our way.  Ladane loves to sit next to me in church, hanging over my lap, watching Abigail.  My first instinct often is to want to brush her away – to have her sit somewhere else.  She’s a quiet little girl, and wouldn’t cause any problem – except Abigail loves to play with other children and has a hard time not playing with them during church.  It’s enough struggle to hold our baby and try to keep our own daughter somewhat involved in the worship (or at the least not distracting others too much) without having other children close by to distract her. At 10 years old, Ladane is a lot older than our daughter Abigail (who is not quite 3), and I feel she’s old enough to pay attention to the service.  But sometimes I let compassion take hold, and I allow Ladane to lean on my lap.  Her own parents do not come to church – she comes with her aunt.  I wonder why her parents don’t come, and I wonder if this quiet little girl who still sometimes sucks her thumb is taught about Jesus in her own home.  So, I try to direct her attention to the service, helping her find the right page and follow along, and I pray for patience in caring for a third child.
 
I find myself frustrated as a missionary “Mom” now with little time to do “real” missionary things.  Many of the activities of the church take place at night – when I need to be at home putting the kids to bed.  Even Sunday Bible study is right at Abigail’s nap time – I can barely manage to get her through church without a meltdown, let alone have her wait through Bible class.  I wanted to join in when the members went out canvassing the neighborhood around the new property, but with two small children in the hot sun, it wasn’t a good idea. I wanted to help out with Vacation Bible School in August, but mostly I just held Gabriel and tried to help with Abigail since she was really too young for the youngest class. There are so many things I want to do, but it seems that besides caring for the kids all day, I can barely find the time to get meals on the table and clean up after them, let alone all the “grand” things I’d like to do.  I know that raising our children to know Jesus as their Savior is the best thing I can do right now.  But it pains me that now that we have kids, I don’t even do as big of a share of the housework as I used to – so I’m not “helping Bruce do his mission work” by freeing up his time as much as I would like.
 
There are a lot of “grand” things that I would like to do.  But what would Jesus have me do?  I’m sure He wouldn’t mind me doing more, but what He asks me to do is what He puts before me.  And He keeps patiently putting “little” tasks in front of me – things that I can handle – that is, when I have the right mindset.  There’s little Ladane in church.  There’s the lady who stops by our house once or twice a week, looking for food and always wanting to talk a while when I’m not too “busy” to offer a listening ear and a friendly word of compassion.  There are the countless people I meet on the street asking for money to buy food – it’s so easy to just give them some food without comment – but why couldn’t I spend the extra minute or two to offer a word of hope?
 
Perhaps these (and countless other) seemingly small opportunities to lend a hand are greater in God’s eyes than they are in my own.  After all, He’s the one that’s put them in my path, and He knows what is needed and how much I can handle. May we all have the grace to humbly accept the tasks the Lord puts before us – whether big or small. 
 
“Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” Proverbs 25:25

Lutheran Hour Update:
In our last newsletter we mentioned the loss of the budget for the Lutheran Hour here in Jamaica.  We have managed to keep the LH broadcast on the air by changing stations and program times.  And donations are starting to come in from people and congregations in the States that will keep Patrick Jones working here.  If you are interested in helping support this important ministry, please make checks payable to “Jamaica Lutheran Mission Society”, and send them to Randy Gardner, 72863 Road 428, Arapahoe, NE 68922-2228, Phone 308-962-5266
 

Please pray with us . . .
…for the DeSoto family as they prepare to leave their current call to their congregation in Georgia, sell their house, and go “without salary or benefits” until they raise their support to come here.  Pray that they would not have any unforeseen expenses, and that their fundraising would go quickly.
…in thanksgiving for the two Vacation Bible School volunteer teams from the States that were here in August.  Over 150 children were blessed with the chance to learn about Jesus.
…in thanksgiving that we have been able to keep the Lutheran Hour on the air and Patrick Jones in ministry.  Pray for people to continue to support this valuable outreach.
…for wisdom and guidance as to how to best “reach the unreached” here in Jamaica.  We tried going door to door, but with little success.  In this city, most people have a gate and will often not answer your calls if you come unannounced.
…for progress on the development of the new property.  We still are awaiting permission to build, but one of the volunteer teams that came for VBS spent a couple afternoons and laid the cement driveway.  Pray for all the paperwork to go through quickly so we can start on a building!
…for God’s leading for the youth who have begun confirmation classes, that they might recognize the need for faithfulness in attendance so that their faith may grow in an orderly fashion.

To support our work financially, send contributions to: LCMS World Mission, 1333 S. Kirkwood Rd., St. Louis, MO 63122-7295 Make all checks payable to “LCMS World Mission”
Mark checks “Support of Bruce Lesemann” for use towards salary, housing, etc.