Happy Saturday

It was Found Empty!
It is with tears in my eyes that I am writing this devotional, this Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011. For over two months I have been praying daily for a miracle to happen in the life of a young girl named Haydelle, who I never had the opportunity to meet.

Like any teenager, she had plans for a bright future, a future where she would make a difference in people's lives. However she had a condition that was deteriorating rapidly. She had cancer that metastasized quickly into her liver, lungs and other organs as well, and her doctors were far from hopeful.

I have a son who is about her age, and I can only imagine the nightmare she had to face on a daily basis. But she didn't let it get to her. She was fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who gave her encouragement.

And in return, she gave them hope! Each day she would joyfully say that even though her prayer was not yet answered, she was one day closer to its fulfillment. She would truthfully declare that she wasn't disappointed that she hadn't yet received her miracle, for she trusted in God!

This girl's faith was contagious. Although she was suffering deeply, she focused on the positive and relied on the Saviour she believed in.

One of the volunteers with this ministry felt led to make her a beautiful frosted glass egg, adorned by a butterfly. Just like an egg is found empty once the chick hatches, this one was empty. Why? Because Jesus' tomb was found empty, this empty egg signified hope.

The volunteer who made the egg wrote, "The design on the egg is just handmade, but it carries with it the love of Jesus and mine. While I was making the egg, I prayed over every item that became a part of it, just as Jesus fashioned each part of us all for His glory."

It took almost 4 weeks for this present to reach this young girl, four days before her death. Upon seeing the egg, she uttered in her faint voice "Thank you". The words "The tomb is empty because 'He is not here. He is risen' had such an important significance to that youngster. Her wish before she passed away was to see her Heavenly Father and to hear Him say "It is finished!"

Just a few days later, during the night, Haydelle's wish was fulfilled. No one doubted that this young one was now in the presence of her Maker, enjoying His glorious company.

Without knowing it, this youngster has touched more lives in her death than she could ever have done if she had lived a full life on this Earth. Her message is clear to all of us: "There is hope in our God!" Her dream of making a difference in this world was realized, as was her wish for healing. Haydelle is now walking on the golden streets of Heaven. How can she stop herself from laughing? Jesus redeemed her! He welcomed her personally into His Kingdom. There is rejoicing, absolute rejoicing in heaven, for that pure soul believed in the empty tomb where Jesus had been buried, as was symbolized by that present she received.

Those of us who are left behind mourn. We have lost someone precious. One day though, I will personally experience that empty egg as well! Why? Because I also believe in the promise of the empty tomb! Haydelle is indeed alive and well, and she wouldn't want to be in any other place, except in the arms of Jesus.

Easter is a reminder to all of us that the tomb is indeed empty. We also commemorate this every Sunday. And because the tomb is empty, we have hope!

When those, who had seen Jesus die 2000 years ago, realized that He had, indeed, been raised from the dead, they were also filled with hope. Read their words of excitement, their words of hope:

"I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18 NIV)

"We have seen the Lord!" (John 20:25 NIV)

"This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true." (John 21:24 NIV)

"They found the stone rolled away from the tomb ... " (Luke 24:2 NIV)

"He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:6 NIV)

"He has risen from the dead." (Matt 28:4 NIV)

"He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep." (1 Cor 15:6 NIV)

Because Jesus has risen from the tomb, we too can expect a bright future!

"If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (Rom 8:11 NIV)

"But about the resurrection of the dead - have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." (Matt 22:31-32 NIV)

We are truly alive if we are filled by His presence, the presence of victory, the presence of the Risen One.

The tomb is indeed empty. "He is not here; he has risen!" Hallelujah!

Welcome home, my friend!

Rob Chaffart


Take My Hand Precious Lord
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on,
Let me stand
I'm tired, I am weak I am worn
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near
When my life is almost gone
Hear my cry,
Hear my call
Hold my hand lest I fall
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet,
Hold my hand
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on,
Let me stand
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Daily Smile:
Mr. White and his wife went for a gathering. At commencement of the program, the MC said the people were going to be grouped into two. He said "those whose wives' are the head of the family move to the left-hand side of the auditorium, while those whose husbands are the head of the family should move to the right". 

Mr. White asked his wife "Honey, which group should we move to?"

In The News:

Only 57 Churches Remain in Iraq, Down From 300 in 2003
Iraq had 300 churches and 1.4 million Christians in 2003, but now only 57 churches and about half a million Christians remain, with members of the minority fleeing Islamist attacks, the Christian Post reports. "The last 10 years have been the worst for Iraqi Christians because they bore witness to the biggest exodus and migration in the history of Iraq," said William Warda, head of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, a registered local non-governmental organization. Patriarch Louis Sako of the Chaldean Church said the remaining 57 churches also continue to be targeted. Iraqi Christians have faced several bomb attacks, killings, abductions, torture and forced conversions to Islam ever since the U.S.-led liberation war began in 2003. Christians have not only been targeted for their faith by al Qaeda and related terror groups, but have also been caught in the crossfire of the Arab-Kurd and Shi'a-Sunni conflicts, which rose to new heights after the 2003 U.S. operations.

Kerry Finally Condemns Saeed Abedini's Detention
Last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry finally addressed the case of Saeed Abedini, the Iranian-American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith, WORLD Magazine reports. In his statement, Kerry said he was "deeply concerned" and "disturbed" by Abedini's eight-year sentence in the notoriously brutal Evin Prison. Kerry also condemned what amounts to torture: Abedini has been physically and psychologically abused and denied proper medical attention. In a letter to his wife, Abedini wrote that guards beat him but deny him medical care because they consider him "unclean." Kerry's statement, the first official word from the State Department on Abedini's case, is long overdue: Iranian authorities have detained Abedini for six months for his involvement in the house church movement in Iran, even though he hasn't worked actively with house churches since 2009. His wife, Naghmeh, has ceaselessly lobbied for awareness and action on her husband's case. Earlier this month, she testified during a congressional hearing sponsored by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. "Our family needs your help," she said. More than 100 people attended, but none from the State Department. Following the hearing, six congressmen sent a letter to Kerry, condemning the State Department's absence and virtual silence on the case.

Oregon High School Creates Unisex Bathrooms for Transgender Students
An Oregon high school has created six unisex bathrooms to be used by transgender students, Fox News reports. Officials at Portland's Grant High School, the district's largest, say four student restrooms and two staff restrooms will be open to all students, but create an option for five to 10 transgender students at the school. The move is a first in the district and an unusual move for a K-12 school when compared to others in the country. Typically, according to The Oregonian, schools make staff or other small bathrooms available. "We just need to make sure that all students are safe and comfortable here, and that they have their needs met," said Kristyn Westphal, Grant High vice principal. "If they feel unsafe using the bathroom, that's a problem." The conversion cost less than $500, most coming from changing to interior locks.

Nigeria: Kano Bus Bomb Prompts Religious Leaders to Joint Call for Urgent Measures
A car bomb attack in a Christian enclave of Kano, the largest city in majority-Muslim northern Nigeria, has heightened religious and ethnic tensions throughout the country, World Watch Monitor reports. At least 25 people have died and at least 60 others were injured following the March 18 suicide bomb attack in a bus station in the Christian district of Sabon Gari, primarily used by passengers heading for Nigeria's mostly Christian south. Five buses were destroyed, one reported to be full of people. No group has yet claimed responsibility, but the manner of attack is similar to previous ones by the Islamist Boko Haram group. Its scale prompted Christian, Muslim and political leaders to urge the federal government to take urgent measures to avert a major crisis. The Christian Association of Nigeria and its main Muslim counterpart, Jama'atu Nasril Islam (Society for the Victory of Islam), both noted the Kano suicide attack was capable of threatening the unity of Nigeria if such attacks continue. CAN president Ayo Oritsejafor condemned "the barbaric and sustained bomb and gun attacks on innocent Nigerians" and called on the federal government to support the Christian association's call for the branding of Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, or FTO.