By Diane Davenport

I had a conversation the other day with a Maori woman who attends the local university where Dan Blanton and I are doing chaplaincy work. Not long after we met, she said, “I wonder if you’d pray for me. I’m trying to stop doing drugs.” In further conversation, it became evident that the drugs were interfering with her studies, her family, and especially her relationship with God. She said, “I’m just too ashamed. I want to fix things, but I don’t think God will accept me.”

As we read Jesus’ parables of the great banquet and the prodigal son (Luke 14 and 15), she recognized God’s amazing grace. She knew the decision to follow Christ would come at a cost. She needed to get into a rehab program, find some accountability and a church, and stop visiting her daughter as that is where the drugs were coming from. However, she decided that her relationship with Christ was most important. That day, in a dingy classroom, she prayed to rededicate her life to Jesus.

Please keep praying for Lavinia. She has a tough but bright road ahead.

Learn more about Chad and Diane Davenport, special assignment missionaries to New Zealand by clicking here.