New Shoes

This story was told to me by Beth Hicks in the Philippines.

     On my first visit to Ozamiz City, in the Philippines, I had a new pair of hiking boots with me. The day before we left, the Lord impressed upon my heart to give these boots to a young man that served us in the kitchen each day. Honestly, I was nervous about doing that because I didn't want to make him feel ashamed. But I knew I was supposed to give him the boots, so I took them out and asked him to try them on. Of course, they fit perfectly. When I told him he could have the boots, he cried and I didn't know what to do. He told me he had prayed for two years for a good pair of shoes. He lifted his foot and showed me that the bottom of each shoe had a large hole. My heart broke, but at the same time I was so thankful that I had those boots to give. I was sad that I didn't have a pair for everyone. This young man eventually completed his degree and now works as one of the top accountants for Shell Oil Company.

      The people here really need good shoes, especially the children, they are one of the greatest gifts they can receive. Most have never been taken to a store so that they can choose a new pair. So we started buying a few pairs of shoes at a time until a box could be filled for them. Over the years our family, friends and church family have become partners in our "New Shoes for the Philippines" drive each year. As the shoes are packed we pray for each pair and the person that will receive them. When the boxes arrive at Happy House around Christmas each year, we put them out as if they were on display in a store and the people are allowed to choose a pair.

Rick and Beth Hicks have been ministering with Salvation and Praise Fellowship (a.k.a. Happy Church) for 18 years. God has called them into full time ministry in Ozamiz City, Philippines. The Salvation Praise Fellowship has an orphanage, deaf school and elderly home that they support.

Please pray for God to give them opportunities to disciple new believers and share the Gospel, as well as for financial supporters for the ministry.

An Evangelist's Dream

The beginning of March this year Preacher Mike and I were set up at a small festival in Greynold’s Park in North Miami. Mike emcees this show and our Gospel Sing booth is set up in a prominent place.

A young eight year old precocious girl named Raquel came up to the booth and asked us, “What is the Gospel?” She saw our Bluegrass Gospel Sing & Jam table cloth on the table and was curious about it.

An evangelist’s dream to have such a wide open door! We answered that the Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Raquel replied, “Well I’m Jewish so I don’t believe in Jesus.” We responded with, “Well, Jesus is also Jewish and we believe in the Old Testament that you hear at Temple but we also believe in the New Testament that Jesus is the Messiah and that is what the Gospel is about.”

Raquel then admitted that she and her family do not attend Temple so she really didn’t know what the Bible said.

Throughout the course of the day, she returned to ask more questions such as, “Who wrote the Gospels?” As Mike was on stage emceeing, I answered her question; the Gospels were written by men who lived and followed Jesus during his three years of ministry and miracles. I further explained what an eye witness account is by explaining that if she were to go home that night and write down the things she saw at the festival such as her brother playing on the big rocks and the music she heard from the stage she would be describing things she personally saw with her own eyes. The Gospel is an eye witness account of Jesus. They witnessed his miracles and teaching and his death and rising from the dead to confirm that he was indeed the Son of God.

The other interesting thing she said was that her family celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas because Christmas is just fun.

She continued to come back with questions that we answered in a way that an eight year old could comprehend.

When I saw her skipping with her family as they left that evening, I prayed the Lord would use the seeds planted to reach this precious child with his saving grace and I thanked the Lord for giving us this Divine Appointment.

Mike and Mary Robinson are full time missionaries and members of
Christ Community Church. The purpose of their ministry, the Bluegrass Gospel Sing and Jam, is to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the community of people who gather together around the love of bluegrass music. They would love prayers for divine appointments and that the Lord would design their schedule, especially for 2019 where two big festivals they attend might conflict.