Ameni and Juliette Make a Big Decision

They are just 17 and 16 years old...
They are both orphans...
One is Muslim, the other has never believed in God
Their names are Ameni and Juliette...
Juliette has been to 4th grade...
Ameni has never been to any school...
They sell stuff in the back alleys of Kigale to get some food...
They sit in shopkeepers stores, while the owner runs errands or goes to the mosque
They are 2 of my favorite new friends...
like Jambi, and Andrew, and James Juma, and Nadia, and Sasha

I met Ameni and Juliette and her sister, Janet, while looking for wool blankets the other day, and I haven't been able to get them out of my mind since.

Something just connected, especially with this little Islamic girl, Ameni, who from behind her veil and prayer garb, kept asking who we were, and where we were from, and why we were in her country, and in her store, and why we wanted $1000 of blankets and cups and basins and fabric, and who was it for?
why, why, why...

Even though I invited them to come to the Samaritan's Purse Shoebox day...I never really believed they'd find out where it was and actually show up.

At a church clear across town...down a long dirt road...up a hill...behind an iron gate...
We had drivers and cell phones and we could barely find this place...but there they were...
Ameni, in her prayer veil, Juliette, and Janet.

Then all of a sudden, I started to get it...
God was moving in these girl's hearts...
They were leaning into everything we'd say...

Sunday morning, at church...Deliverance Church, with Pastors Joseph and Rose... I was walking up onto the stage to preach at the first of 2 services.
And there they were...
Julliette and Ameni, still in her Muslim garb.
Janet was caught up in feeding her other sister and ran late for the church service.

After the message, I turned the service over to Pastor Rose, to close in prayer.
We offered that if anyone wanted to begin walking a new journey wth Christ to come forward and pray. My heart almost jumped through my chest when I saw these girls, these new friends, get up out of their seats and walk to the front.

Marilyn Mohr and others greeted them as they approached the front of the church and they began to pray.

I watched as Ameni lowered her veil, wrapped it around her shoulder and began praying to Jesus Christ for the first time in her life. Juliette and others joined her in that prayer to confess their sins and failures and to place their faith in the Lord Jesus.

We have been around Ameni now about 5 more times...at the stadium...at the town center...at a coffee shop...and I have never since seen the Islamic veil...

Pastor Rose took me aside Sunday afternoon and said, "These girls really want to change their lives, Steve. They are sincere." She told me that she would do everything in her power to make sure the girls got in with good Christian girlfriends at their church. Rose said, "Orphans need love, I can assure you they will get that at our church."

Thank you to everyone who paused to pray for these girls to come to the Lord. I believe Janet will soon trust too, but it has to be her decision...not her sister's or friend's choice.

PRAYER WORKS