Grace Niu

God answered my prayers, but I know there is still more work to be done. I asked God for a heart that loves others because I knew that sometimes I didn’t care about others the way Christ does. Through this trip I saw God’s beautiful heart. This is a heart that loves anyone and everyone no matter the circumstances, personality, age, nationality. God’s heart is to bring back the lost and dying souls to Himself, and this summer, He called our team to take part in expanding His kingdom. I know God wanted to move my heart for His people as well, and He did in a small way the 3rd week of the trip. We were in Chilpancingo, just a day or two after we left Morelia, and it was at a Christian school that the church there supported and helped start just this past school year. It was the children’s last day of school and normally, kids cannot wait to go on summer vacation. But that day, children were crying and weeping everywhere because some of them couldn’t afford to go to that school in the fall again, and because some of the teachers were leaving after having committed one year to teaching at the school with no salary. In that moment, I saw how God had blessed that school and how much the children were impacted. Because they had teachers who were willing to invest in their lives and teach them about Jesus, they considered this school different from other schools. There was something special about this school – the children really loved God and knew that He loved them. God’s heart was for those children to grow up to be men and women of God, and to spread His name among the nations. I started to cry too, seeing how sad some of them were. I didn’t want them to have to go back to public schools either but I prayed that wherever God would take them, they would follow and obey Him wholeheartedly, being a light in that place. These children touched my heart as God told me, “Just as these teachers invested their time and sacrificed a salary, so I want you to constantly invest in my people, no matter where you are or what you do.” I don’t necessarily have to go to a different country to do it. I can love and pray for people right where I am now. I don’t want to forget to care for people’s hearts by investing in their lives. It requires selflessness, proactivity and a heart like Jesus’, but I want to try my best for His glory. Especially with people that don’t know God, I want to remember that one small prayer of mine for them can have the potential to move God’s heart and mine too. Whatever I can give, all that I have, is for God’s use. So before we left Mexico, I gave the rest of my money I brought as an offering to the school so that God can continue to work through it and in the children’s hearts. I know that God will use the little that I gave to build up His kingdom workers in that school.