Dry Bones

The Valley of Dry Bones- Ezekiel 37

 ¹ The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

   I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

 ⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

 ⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

 ⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

 ¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”

Spirit breathe on me. I feel like a bag of bones. I understand Ezekiel, how he must have felt. God is telling him what great work He is going to do with this fleshless army. God has placed a mandate on my shoulders: build schools for impoverished girls all over the world. Not just any school, schools that focus on performing arts. God has spent twenty years pouring skill, determination, and audacity into this pint-size prophet. But the hard part has not been untethering my lines, for I know with whom I am sailing at the helm of the boat.

The hard part is heading out alone. But alone, I must head. I see them just as Ezekiel saw the bones take on life. I see their shining brown, black, white, and tan faces. I have heard their prayer:  teach me with excellence all that I need to know to live a godly impactful life. It is different from the prayer I have prayed for ten years: give my students a desire for excellence in their education. I am going to be the answer to prayer now, and I won’t be alone for long.

When I visited Kenya this summer as part of a missionary team, God commissioned me to build schools for these impoverished girls within their native  countries. I would like to introduce you to Teachers of the Nations Ministry, which is dedicated to building schools for emotionally and physically traumatized girls in Africa and beyond. The Christian curriculum that will be used to educate these girls will provide an open doorway to share the Gospel message, as Christians are commanded by Jesus to do (Matthew 28:18-19). 

Girls in Third World countries, such as Africa, are more often the victims of war, sexual trafficking, female circumcision, and ethnic cleansing than are females in other parts of the world (Sengupta 2005). Consequently, these traumatized girls find it difficult to cope emotionally, are often sexually and physically abused, unable to find gainful employment, and live in poverty.

 In fall 2012,  the vision begins to take on flesh as God breathes life into communities and countries by raising up an army of young girls. Here are God's mandates:

         Provide a godly-educational setting for girls who are unschooled.

         Provide medical services to meet the girls’ physical needs.

         Recruit mental health professionals to donate time to help with the girls’ emotional needs.

         Teach students viable economic skills so that can support themselves and their families.

         Equip students to share the message of Christ within their own communities

I see those bones come together and begin to dance, sing, and become an orchestra of praise to God.

 Spirit-filled,

mj