Why This All Matters
This
morning, these girls who live along the Rio Coco in Nicaragua will put on clean clothes, comb
their hair, and walk to the school building near their home.
There, a teacher
will read a passage from the Bible to begin the day, and continue math and
other subjects for the next four hours.
Further up river, a young teenager will
receive an invitation from the Young Life Bible club at school to attend a
week-long camp where he will have an experience with God.
All
of these projects will make in difference in our world in these next few years,
and they are all connected to you.
Seek
The Lamb has 17 schools in “Project Ezra” along the Rio Coco, with over 2500
students attending today. These schools
are being taught by Miskito Indians who were educated by Project Ezra in the
last century (1980’s & 90’s). These teachers are supported by your donations,
child sponsorships, and profits from our Rio Coco Bean coffee. It is a work
that is bearing a lot of fruit.
Rio
Coco Beans buys green coffee from the Young Life ministry in Northern
Nicaragua. They grow these delicious
beans on a farm that serves as a camp for young students who are members of
Bible clubs that Young Life has started all over Nicaragua. The week-long camp experience is what often
cements a student’s relationship with Jesus. This camp is funded from the sale
of the green coffee grown on the property.
In
Ethiopia there is an indigenous evangelical church movement that is training up
pastors and sending them and their families out to Muslim areas to plant
churches. This movement is assisted by New Covenant Ministries, who buys coffee
from the Christian coffee farmers in Yirgacheffe, and imports it to the U.S.
where their “for-profit” company Dominion Trading, sells it to companies like
Rio Coco Beans. They in return take their profit back to Ethiopia and help fund
the church planting.
These three projects are all having their impact in
changing our world, one life at a time.
We have the honor to be involved through what God is doing through your
participation in Seek The Lamb, and through your purchase of Rio Coco Bean
Coffee.
Can
I make a difference in the world? The answer is YES! In your relationships with
those in your community, you have the opportunity each day to shine the Light
of God to a culture who has lost its moral compass and is experiencing the
consequences of life without God’s wisdom and blessings. Through your donations to Seek The Lamb, you have the
opportunity to directly impact the lives of children in a culture where
Christianity is relatively new. Through your purchase of Rio Coco Bean coffee,
you touch children all over Nicaragua, and families in Muslim villages in
Ethiopia.
Be
encouraged today! You have the chance to
change your world. Will you take it? Maik
Seek The Lamb Rio Coco Bean Coffee
Lamb Bleatings By Laura
We
get knocked off our feet in many ways in life. Every now and again we all need
an awakening. For some, it may by a swift kick or a hard swat on the “okole”
(butt). Most discipline comes with a
price that moves us to change.
My
children have often responded well to such discipline. It wakes them up from their selfish little
stupor that overtakes them in their small little world of “me, myself and
I”. We want them to be a joy and a
blessing not only to us but to the world around them. It takes training and discipline to get them
to this point in many areas of their lives.
All of this demands a level of commitment on our part to see that they
grow into their God given design and function on this side of heaven. It is a continual challenge and intentional
decision on our part to see them through via our training and discipline.
We
are sure their precious lives have a destiny to fulfill.
In
one way, I hate it very deeply. It makes
me mad, sad, disappointed, emotional and at times struck with hopelessness and
a tinge of depression. I have even been
known to throw a little tantrum. Bad girl.
The Lord Himself could
actually say with all truthfulness….”this HAS hurt me more than it will hurt
you….suck it up…it is nothing compared to my pain and ultimate death on your
behalf…”
“All
discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those
who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the
hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for
your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather
be healed.” Hebrews 12:11-13
These
words breathe life and hope back into my corrupt system and help me to gain
perspective from above. I am in training
to yield a result of right living. I am
gaining strength for my weary limbs that I might walk straight on my path of
healing and wholeness. The path of
shedding all that hinders and disqualifies me from effectiveness, freedom and
blossoming relationships. How can God draw all men to himself if I am in the
way? He must be seen, heard and felt
through this vessel if I desire my life to account for anything of eternal
value.
It is interesting that our behavior is mainly evident through
“relationships” that surround us. We
practice the things that are in our hearts on others. It is revealing as we discover our attitudes,
feelings and emotions that we display as we interact with our world. We learn a lot if we want to and are open to
such learning. God our Father is such a
great Teacher and perfect parent.
If we
don’t, we are open to the ugly root of bitterness which has taken over many a
life and affected countless more in the process. A destructive path to be sure….completely out
of line and crippling to all who enter such a road…
I have often
heard myself say to parents with younger children….”pay now or pay later…..if
you don’t discipline and train misbehavior when they are little, you will pay a
higher price later….” There is a lot of
physical energy when they are little, but as they grow older, parents tend to
exert more emotional energy.
“But
let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in
regard to another. For each one shall
bear his own load. And let the one who
is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap
corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap
eternal life. And let us not lose heart
in doing good for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do
good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
Gal 6:4-10
Through
life experiences and consequences;
Loving
God and loving others.
I
sense disentangling within my own life by God who is purifying me and setting
me up to run my race more effectively for Him.
I count it a blessing to be loved and
received by so great of a Teacher, Friend and Father. He is good and no good thing will He withhold
from those who love him.
Drafting By
Mikaela
My
brother and I go on bike rides with my dad from time to time. I’m not gonna
lie, sometimes he has to force us out there with him, but after that fact were
good to go. Once I’m out there picking up speed, feeling the wind on my face, I
wonder why I give such a fuss about it. It is a top 10 feeling.
When we ride together we try ride
into the wind first then come back with the wind at our backs…JUST in case were
super tired and need that extra “Umph” to get us back home minus a heat stroke.
That plan doesn’t really work out for us. We always end up riding with the wind
at our backs on the way out and on the way back the wind is coming straight at
us. This happens EVERY TIME!
This is where the art of “drafting” comes in. I
love drafting. I love drafting off my father…hehe.
My dad on the other hand is doing all the muscle work in front, blocking
almost all the wind force. Since he is the more “experienced” rider, we always
are considerate to let him go up front on the way home… I’m not sure if he
likes that or not, but you’d understand if you were in the position. We go into
survival mode. The goal is to get home in the midst of the Florida heat. Every
man/woman for himself…etc, etc. We give him a better work out so I’m assuming
he appreciates our generosity of letting him go first on the way home. That’s
just me though.
Without my dad there in
front, our ride home into the wind would be very much a difficult thing.
It is like that with our walk with
God. Without him there drafting for us we start to get tired, we start to give
up. When we have Christ and are actively serving him, we get to draft behind
him. He blazes the path for us, all we have to do is say yes.
If you don’t know about “drafting” with God, I encourage you to look into it. Because trust me, life without Jesus, is no life at all.
I dislike not having my dad there to block the wind
for me, I get tired faster, and my speed declines very quickly, and I do not
like it when I’m not drafting behind God. I start to lose sight of the plan he
has for me. When I get off course I feel lost, directionless. Once I’m back on
track drafting with him, I feel safe again. I feel like I have my purpose.
Aloha, Mikaela
Passion By Lukas
Passion
is that lasting drive that will get you to the finish line.
I had the
opportunity of going for a run with my family the other day. On this run my dad
told us that we were going to time ourselves and see how fast we could run a
mile. Now I’m not in the best running shape at all. I’m a swimmer. So running a
mile without a break is kind of a big deal to me after going so long without
running at all.
After starting and coming around the first lap (a mile is 2
laps at the park we were at that morning) I was feeling alright, but by the
time I was a quarter way through the lap I just felt like lying down on the
ground under my feet and giving up.
This
is where I think in life situations everyone messes up and falls short. True
character is proven when things get tough, and the people still there after it
gets tough are the people with character and a passion in their lives.
I
finished the race… and won it as well! With a good time of 7 and a half
minutes… not too shabby eh?
The
Bagby Bunch Corner
We are in Hawaii this month and hopefully seeing
many of you! It has been almost two
years since our last visit! Our time in
the islands have historically been our busiest, as we so want to connect with
you and share many of the experiences of these past years.
God has indeed brought us through many
situations where He has been our only hope, and He has shown Himself to be all
sufficient. He is taking us in some exciting and faith-stretching directions,
and teaching us more about Him, and our life as members of His Kingdom. These are the “nuggets” that we so what to
share with all of you in person.
We are also hoping to
visit our friends on Oahu and Kauai.
The
Seek The Lamb Team has many players scattered around the globe, and we are
honored to be your representatives as we participate in the work in Nicaragua
and other places that God has taken us these past years.
I spoke with
Truman a few days ago, and there is a severe problem on the Rio Coco with food
due to the flood in August. He asked me
to ask you all to pray that they will be able to get bean seed for planting a new
crop. The flood wiped out 80% of the rice harvest, so many families are
planting early a bean crop. Please lift
our families up for this emergency need.
If you want to help, we can get the money to Truman and he will purchase
the seed and get it downriver. As we
spoke about teacher salaries, and money to finished the construction of the
Waspam Center,
Truman reminded me: “It is through prayers that God meets the needs.” Good reminder from a
man of faith.
Laura & Michael - Cell # 
772-63...
A & M Coffee Club
A few months ago Moselle and I
opened up the A & M Coffee Club. If you are not
familiar with The A & M Coffee Club it is where my
sister and I roast coffee and ship it right to your door every month.
The main reason why my little
sister and I started the A & M Coffee Club was because of all
our school kids in Nicaragua. All of the coffee money goes straight to the
Miskito Children.
I want to tell you about the
steps we take to make all this happen. The first thing we do in the roasting
room is wash our hands and wipe down the counter top. We then weigh the green
coffee beans and wait until the roaster is ready and warmed up. While we are
waiting we start labeling our coffee bags. By the time we are done with that
the coffee roaster is warmed up and ready. We put the green coffee beans inside
the roaster and it stays in there for 14-18 minutes, but for our light coffee
we roast it for about 15 or 16 minutes.
After we complete all this, we
clean up. This includes sweeping the floors, and vacuuming out the roaster. We
also wash the bins and pack up the coffee. We make sure to lock up before we go
home.
It usually takes us like an
hour and a-half to roast one batch of coffee and bag it all up, but when we do
a big bunch it takes like three hours. God has been so good to the A & M
Coffee Club because he has done so much by providing us a roaster and a LOTS of
coffee and giving us a lot of members to support the Miskito Children. Please
join the A & M Coffee Club and help support
our school project!
Thank you! <3 Arielle Bagby A & M
Action Time
Seek The Lamb
Rio Coco Bean Coffee
Purchase some fresh roasted high altitude coffee and support the Nicaragua school project.
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