When Louis was a young boy he was a very sensitive caring young boy with a passionate spirit and zero tolerance for bullying. “noting irritated him as much as an abuse of strength against the week” one of his friends commented.

He also spent much time in prayer and fasting and in his journal wrote: ‘fasting and prayer are the two great keys to success in time and eternity…nothing can resist fasting when it is done with humility, and sincerity. Fasting opens prisons and releases the most hardened criminals…three or four days of fasting can accomplish more than an army on a field of battle.”

He stood up for the rights of the Metis and woke up the sleepy nation of Canada at that time. He also championed the French and Indian people during a time of hunger because of poor crops. He successfully forced Prime Minister Macdonald to recognize Metis land rights and to accept Manitoba into Confederation as a full province. On May 12 1870 the Manitoba act was passed based on the Metis ‘list of rights’ by the Canadian Government.

At church Louis sometimes was overcome with weeping and deep sadness and sometimes with intense joy. He tired to hold it in but said “my pain is sometimes as great as my joy” as he prayed for the things God placed on his heart. He said. “My life belongs to God. Let Him do with it as He wishes.“

However as time went on not all believed in his cause. The English who had a large vested interest in the province saw things differently and when one of their members, Scott was executed, Louis was forced to flee as he had not stood up to prevent the execution. He was on the run for 15 years but at the request of the French, Indian.and Metis peoples came back.

When he came back he was arrested by the English as a traitor and after a few months hanged.
Before he died he wrote this in his diary “ Jesus, author of life! Sustain us in all the battles of this life and on our last day, give us eternal life. Jesus give me your grace to really know your beauty! Grant me the grace to really love you. Jesus, grant me the grace to know how beautiful you are.“

Thus lived and died a man whom we acknowledge today as the founder of the Province of Manitoba and defender of the rights of the Métis and of French Canadians

If you want to read more on the biography of Louis Riel go to
http://www.shsb.mb.ca/Riel/indexenglish.htm

• What does Louis say is a key to success?

• What unlocks prison doors? Is there a story in the Bible that would agree with that? (look up Acts 12)

• Do you know someone else who wept over a city? Check out Luke 13:34

• Is there a way that you can stand up for what is right today? Is someone in your class at school or home being bullied or picked on? Ask Jesus to open your eyes to injustice and then ask Him what he would have you do. When He does, DO IT and ACT.

Have you come to a place in your walk with Jesus where you can say:

“My life belongs to God. Let Him do with it as He wishes”?

If not would you like to?
Just pray and tell Jesus something like this:

“Lord I really want to make a difference for you in the world today. Today I give my life to you and ask you to lead me to what ever you have placed me on earth to to for you. I want to be totally obedient to you from this day on. As You only did what you saw the Father do, I want to do only the kind of things you do. Let me feel the pain you feel for a lost world and help me make a difference no matter what” Amen

Let us join in the Prayer that Louis penned this week:

Jesus, author of life! Keep us strong in all the troubles we face in this life and on our last day, give us eternal life. Jesus give me your grace to really know your beauty today! Grant me the grace to really love you. Jesus, grant me the grace to know how beautiful you are.“

* Quotes taken from the book “Stand On Guard” By Fayteene Kryskow

Why I dreaded Christmas

The meat was gone. Celestin was not willing to serve ‘borrowers’. We were doomed; another painful Christmas. But, oh well, this was just another of those many Christmases. We were getting used to them, or so we thought.

As soon as I arrived home from the butcher’s shop I started crying. Papa had talked to Celestin the night before. He had explained to him how he (Papa) had not been paid by the tea factory for almost three months. He wanted to borrow some meat for his children for Christmas. It was well known in the village that every butcher had some meat left at the end of the day. But not this Christmas of 1987. I was 12. I arrived at Celestin’s butchery at around 6:00 AM. I was the first customer to arrive. I waited.I watched Celestin and his friend Paul grab the bull by the horns, lay it on the ground, and skin its thick brown coat off. It was Christmas in the making. I couldn’t wait. Paul grabbed the thigh by its bone and ran a three-cord string through it. He mounted it on a tall eucalyptus tree and started chopping at it. By that time many children had arrived, some with their parents, others with their big brothers or sisters. I started wondering how many of them had money and how many were here to borrow a kilo or two. Paul started chopping off pieces of the Christmas delight and laying them on a brown, and slightly rusted, weighing scale, the size of an old record player… One kilo, two kilos, one after the other. He chopped the thigh to the bone and was ready for the next one. Mrs. Celestin was seated quietly on his three-legged stool pocketing old and new shilling notes from the shoppers. If the whole thing could be sold in one day, Mr. and Mrs. Celestin would walk away with more than fifty thousand shillings. That was a lot of money back in 1987’s Uganda.

The third piece of Christmas was gone and customers were still arriving- with lots of cash, mostly old notes stacked away for 12 months in preparation for Christmas. Others were waving new notes from the bank. These were mostly teachers and other civil servants. I waited. The sun began to turn yellow. The clouds gathered. Paul chopped. Paul chopped away the last piece of Christmas. Mrs. Celestin pocketed the notes. The meat was gone. Nothing left for the borrower.

I looked around to make sure I was not missing anything. Tears started to form in my eyes. A big and dark lump of sadness grabbed at my throat. This was one of those Christmases where the poor had no chance to celebrate.

I slowly eased out of the happy crowd and headed home. My mother saw me first and knew something was wrong. “What’s up Muneneza?”, she inquired. “You don’t look happy”. And how could I. The greatest day in the year 1987 was slipping away. And the greatest gift was gone; gone to those who had the money to spend.

This young boy is now grown up and there are still children all over the world with no Christmas diner or meals many days of the year. The name of this boy is Amon and he wrote this story. He was Rwandeese but fled Rwanda and grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda. But he had a dream of getting out of this poverty, going to school and making a difference in Africa. Since he understood the sadness of standing outside… hungry, watching others have Christmas, or going to school and not being invited in, he is now able to do something about it. He invites you to participate in his dream.
You can check out his website www.africamissionalliance.org

Be an answer to this little boy’s dream. Let him hear Merry Christmas this year in his own language!

How To Say Merry Christmas In Africa

In Kinyarwanda (Rwanda) Noheli Nziza
In Luganda (Uganda) Haleluya Haleluya or Sekukulu eyessanyu
In Kirundi (Burundi) Noheli NzizaIn Akan (Ghana) Afishapa
In Zimbabwe Merry Kisimusi
In Afrikaans (South Africa) Geseënde Kersfees
In Zulu (South Africa) Sinifisela Ukhisimusi Omuhle
In Swazi (Swaziland) Sinifisela Khisimusi Lomuhle
In Sotho (Lesthoto) Matswalo a Morena a Mabotse
In Swahili (Tanzania, Kenya) Kuwa na Krismasi njema
In Amharic (Ethiopia) Melkam Yelidet Beaal
In Egyptian (Egypt) Colo sana wintom tiebeen
In Yoruba (Nigeria) E ku odun, e hu iye’ du

Yet as amazing as it may seem to us, these are actually some of the things God is doing through children today. Take for instance the All Children’s Church in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a church of about a thousand children that started when a teenage preacher’s son began ministering to the street children in his city. As he reached out in compassion, many of those unwanted kids became believers. They then turned around and began winning their street friends to the Lord. In a short period of time they had a functioning church body! They eventually decided to bring in some adult leadership to help give it oversight, but to this day the children lead the worship, preach the sermons, and conduct every aspect of the services including doing prophetic outreach through very powerful children’s intercessory prayer ministry that they have become well known for. It is possible to visit this children’s church through the ministry of Harvest Evangelism with Ed Silvoso.

A woman who traveled to Argentina as an intercessor for a large outreach where ten thousand people were in attendance shared this. They kept the intercessors in a large area especially set aside under the platform during the services. She related that off to the side were approximately thirty children ages four to twelve who were down on their faces in the grass in the freezing cold, crying out, “God, save our nation! Save Argentina! Souls, Lord, souls!” In her words, they were not concerned about their Nike tennis shoes–they wanted revival for their nation! She was told by some of the Argentine leadership that there is an estimated thirty thousand child intercessors in the country of Argentina! IMAGINE!

It’s reported that orphans in Uganda–eight hundred of them–have been raised up as intercessors to pray for other orphans just like themselves. They were trained by a team out of a ministry called Children’s Global Prayer Ministry that has trained thousands of kids around the world in intercessory prayer. It was birthed out of the Global Consultation on World Evangelism sponsored by the AD2000 and Beyond movement of which C. Peter Wagner was involved. During those meetings in Korea, the children would huddle together, face down on the floor, crying out in intense prayer for up to three and fours hours at a time.

Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida captured an incredible event on video of one of their revival services in which a group of their children who had been otherwise occupied in the children’s auditorium began watching the service on closed circuit TV. They suddenly fell into intercession. They began to work their way up to the hallway right behind the platform where the service was going on, and weeping uncontrollably, began groaning and travailing for lost souls. It went on for a half an hour or more, bringing the service almost to a standstill as they miked their voices broadcasting them across the sound system–a chilling sound to hear. As you can imagine the altar call that night was powerful.

As you read these stories, WHY can’t God use kids in your county to pray? Let’s pray together that God would raise up children across Canada to pray for their friends that don’t know Jesus. For friends in their schools that are hurting and need to know of God’s love for them. Pray that God would touch kids ALL over your nation and that He would start something that would change nations! Why not now? Why not this year?

Check out the New Generation Prayer site www.newgeneration.ca

God chose to visit Thornbury, but when He did He didn’t send a famous evangelist or a wise prophet to “wake up” the people in the area. Instead He chose some kids that were in a berry field picking berries to start something amazing. One day, some little girls, ranging from eight to twelve years of age, went out to pick berries. While they were picking, one of them spoke of a sermon she had heard on the previous Sunday, in which something was said about children coming to know Jesus as savior. They talked on for a while, and then they decided to hold a prayer-meeting RIGHT THERE and ask the Lord to convert them. They gathered into a thicket of berry bushes, and started to sing and pray. Before long God heard and answered their prayer to be saved, and all of them were filled and were made as happy as they could be.

Some men who were passing by on the road heard the noise and went to see what the children were doing. They found them in a “perfect ecstasy of joy” and quietly left them without disturbing them. But the story of the children’s prayer-meeting soon spread through the village. Some laughed but others were seriously impressed by it.

I had only been there a short time and was a stranger to most of the people, but after a business meeting at the church I made arrangements for an all-day meeting, to be held in a nice field not far from our church. A large crowd showed up and at the service, one woman was converted, and many of the old professors, both from town and country, were “abundantly blessed”. We started a series of revival meetings in the church at once. The people came out in crowds, and many people gave their hearts to the Lord. The kids that had met Jesus in the berry –field was a great help to me. Everybody wondered at the purity of their testimony, and the fervor and earnestness of their prayers. For a few days these little ones did a good share of praying for penitents at the altar.

During the first week we recorded twelve conversions, and a number more were earnestly seeking the forgiveness of sin. The work went on with increased power from day to day, so that at the end of the fourth week some sixty said they had been converted, and the community was impacted for miles around.

At the end of the third week of our meetings, the altar was somewhat crowded, and we were trying to find a way to make more room. Some of the leading workers said to me:
“We shall have to put these children in a corner by themselves, so as to make more room for grown-up people.”

I told them that I was afraid to interfere with the Lord’s way of doing His work. But they seemed to insist on it, and I let them have their way. The children were put in a corner by themselves, and the altar left for older people.

For two nights this arrangement was kept. The meetings were cold, and dull, and dry, and lifeless. Next night I called the little workers back to the altar and all went well again.”

Thornbury is in Ontario Canada

Adapted from “Experiences of a Backwoods Preacher”, written by Rev. Joseph H. Hilts
First published in 1887 by William Briggs of Toronto. It was republished by The Bruce County Historical Society in 1986 - reprinted by Echo Graphics & Printing of Wiarton, Ontario. The Bruce County Historical Society had the assistance of the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture - Minister Lily Munroe. The story came about shortly after Rev. Hilts was assigned to Thornbury. page 139.

Me and my family flew to Florida for the Revival that is happening there. The leader, Todd Bentley, is very powerful. He prays for ears to hear, they hear. He prays for eyes to see, they see. He prays for people to rise from the dead, they rise from the dead. Between forty and sixty people have been raised from the dead! “Come On!” There is five thousand chairs filled with people every night. Once, one quarter of the countries of the world were represented. Most of the people had to stand outside of the “big white tent.”
Do you know someone who is deaf? Blind? Speechless? Dead? Come to the revival in Lakeland, Florida. God does miracles in the big white tent!

You can watch the revival on the Internet too! Go to freshfireministries.com

Isn’t that a neat idea? There are many elderly people in nusing homes that are lonely and some hardly every get visitors. I know as I work at a home for seniors part-time, and some of the people there have only had one or two visits in the 7 years I have been working there.

This is something YOU can do as well. Check out a seniors home close by, and see if you can volunteer to visit someone there on a regular basis. Some one that has been forgotten. When you do Jesus says it is just as if you are visiting Him. Read what He says about that in Mathew 25:34-40

Secret Agents for Jesus - Go Camp May 007

“We love Port Townsend” was the focus of the outreach for our King’s Kids camp on Memorial Weekend May 2007. Thirty kids gathered from as far away as Vancouver, WA to spend time growing in their faith and reaching out to Port Townsend. The theme of Secret Agents focused on listening to God’s voice, reading His word, and using the weapons of prayer and worship He has given to us. On Friday and Saturday we had lots of training and worship together. Then On Sunday we reached out and served Port Townsend by visiting the nursing home, hosting a free car wash, handing out free drinks, and picking up garbage. On Monday we did a prayer scavenger hunt. It involved talking with people to find the locations listed on the map and praying for specific things at different places all over town.

The most meaningful car we washed belonged to a single mom whose daughter had just turned 9. She had wanted to get her car clean and take her daughter out for her birthday but couldn’t afford it. Her car was the dirtiest of all the cars we washed, but the kids scrubbed and scrubbed. Not only did the kids enjoy seeing the transformation, but the woman was incredibly blessed. She, like all of the others, was completely amazed that it really was free and was truly grateful.

We spent time walking downtown giving out free water, juice and candy. One woman thought we must be advertising for something. When the kids told her they just wanted to love Port Townsend she was surprised and began to ask questions about their faith and why they would give up their weekend to do this. Her words to them were, “you are the first group I have ever met that would do something like this.”

When the kids were praying for outreach to the nursing home, before we went out, one of the boys, Jason saw a prayer picture of a woman. At the nursing home you can imagine his surprise when he met the woman that God had shown him, and was able to give her the card that he had made.

While in the nursing home the kids gave out cards that they had made. Many of the residents were blessed by the company and kindness. One of the groups visited a man named Bob who was wearing a Buddha shirt. His room was full of pictures that his mother had painted. He told them about his life and how he is looking forward to dying because he is tired of living in pain. When a staff member kindly asked if he had peace about where he would spend eternity when he died, he acknowledged that he was still uncertain. Then the staff member shared about his father who had been an alcoholic but gave his heart to Jesus the day before he died. Bob had been raised in a Danish/Lutheran home but had never made a commitment to Christ. On Sunday May 27th with the prayers of one man and three young boys Bob gave his life to Jesus!

If you live in the north west USA and are interested in being involved in this year’s Go-Camp contact:
becky@ywamdb.com or info@ywamdb.com

Saturday, the DPG kids (of which I am a part), went to the Bethlehem Aboriginal Church, to help with their muffin ministry. What we wanted to do, was to go outside in small groups with a bag or two of muffins. We would gave them to the people in the streets, without cost, and share with them words of encouragement, such as “Jesus loves you”
However before we went out, we sang worship songs and prayed that God would let us know who to speak to. Then we went outside to look for people. My group passed a few houses and we gave a muffin to a man in his yard. A few people said ‘no’ but they were kind about it. Finally we saw a car with a number of people in it, and gave them 12 muffins. They had just been at a funeral. The driver of the car knew the pastor of the church, and offered us $20. We tried to say. “no” but he insisted and told us to give it to the church. We saw a few kids and gave them each a muffin, and the last one we gave to one of the kids to give to his younger brother. We returned to the church to share and sing, and say our last prayers. After we went home. It was a great experience, one that I want to do again.

For the kids that speak French, Alana, who is in French immersion at school, wrote her entry also in French. (Please excuse the lack of accents, as my computer would not add them)

Samedi, les enfants de Daniel Prayer Group ( de ce que je suis partie) ont alle a L’eglise Bethlehem Aborigional pour travailler avec le ministere des muffins. Ce que’on voulais faire, c’etait a’aller dehors en petits groups avec une ou deux sacs de muffins. Nous avons donner a les personnes sur la rue sans charge, et dissent les mots encourager que Jesus nous aimons. Mais avant qu’on avait partier, nous avons chanter les chansons d’adoration, et nous avons dis une priere pour savoir quelles personnes avec qui parler. Alors nous avons aller dehors pour chercher les personnes. Ma groupe avait passer quelques maisons et nous ont donner une muffin a un home dans son cour. Quel’que personnes ont dissent “non”, mai isl etait vraiment gentils. Finalement, nous avont vu quelque personnes dans un auto a qui nous avons donner 12 muffins! Le conducteur d’auto a connais le Pasteur de l’eg;ise, et a nous offrir vingt dollars!~ Nous avons essaient de dire “non”, mais il a nous dire que c’etait pour l’eglise. Nous avons vu quelque enfants et lui donnes chacun une muffin et la dernier pour leur petit frere. Nous avons retournes a L’eglise pour chanter et pour dire les dernires priers, ensuite on a retourne a la maison. C’etait une experience excellent et amusent. Je vouudrais faisait encore!

“I love watching children find Jesus. I love to see them come alive to what they were created for. I love to see their little faces the first time they ever hear Jesus speak to them. I love to have the holy privilege of feeding, clothing, and caring for the poorest of the poor. I love watching Jesus rebuild broken lives. I think I have the best job in the world.” (Jennifer Toledo)

AJ interviews Jennier Toledo

AJ: Could you tell us about some of the miracles you are experiencing ministering to the children.

JENNIFER: We have been working in Bungoma, Kenya for four years now and we have seen God demonstrate some of the most amazing miracles through the children time and time again. When I first arrived in Bungoma, in so many of the churches, children were a forgotten group. The churches didn’t have much value for the spiritual capacity of children. It was while I was there that God commissioned me to work with children. He asked me to teach the next generation the ‘undiluted gospel’. Quite honestly I laughed at first, because coming from the West, I knew I didn’t know an ‘undiluted gospel’. But there began my quest to relearn all that I knew and to begin to teach children this undiluted gospel.

The majority of the kids I originally worked with were all orphans and street kids. But God began to totally transform them with the gospel of the Kingdom, and it wasn’t long before everyone everywhere noticed that God was truly with these children. There were multiple occasions where the children would go into large hospitals and pray for the sick, and we would see entire hospital wards get cleared out. People dying of AIDS, malaria, typhoid, etc were completely healed, got up out of their beds and went home! Of course all the doctors and nurses got saved witnessing this.

One time, the children felt like God wanted them to go to the hospital to pray every day during their lunch break. So out of obedience they went, and sure enough every single day people got miraculously healed. The doctors phoned us a few weeks later and thanked us for sending the children, but told us that we would have to start praying for them because if this kept up they would be without a job. We thought they were surely joking. But, over the next several weeks as the children saw healings daily, the hospital was forced to shut down as it could no longer stay in business. People were healed from their diseases before they could be treated by the hospital! We’ve seen so many miracles!

‘This interview was used with permission from AJ Butel’s website - www.ajbutel.com.’

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, ‘Hi.’ He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. ‘Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster,’ the man said to Erik.

My husband and I exchanged looks, ‘What do we do?’

Erik continued to laugh and answer, ‘Hi.’

Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, ‘Do ya patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek- a-boo.’

Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk.

My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. ‘Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,’ I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby’s ‘pick-me-up’ position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man.

Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love and kinship. Erik in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man’s ragged shoulder. The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby’s bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time.

I stood awestruck.. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, ‘You take care of this baby.’

Somehow I managed, ‘I will,’ from a throat that contained a stone.

He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, ‘God bless you, ma’am, you’ve given me my Christmas gift.’

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, ‘My God, my God, forgive me.’

I had just witnessed Christ’s love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking, ‘Are you willing to share your son for a moment?’ when He shared His for all eternity.

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, ‘To enter the Kingdom of God , we must become as little children.’

How will you respond to God’s most extravagent gift today? His sacrifice paved the way for you to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, when you achnowledge and accept that He died for your sin.

Today get alone by yourself and Let God know How much you love Him and thank Jesus for opening the door for you to leave the kingdom of darkness, and enter the Kingdom of Light.