Thoughts About Readers

We have been continuing our work at the high school, the place where our congregation meets on Sundays. We have some very dedicated students there and enjoy the time we get to be with them. We have some students that are Christians and know a lot about the bible and they seem encouraged by our time together. Other students consider themselves "religious" but it is obvious that they aren't very familiar with the bible. It is good to see the power of God's Word work on them. A few of the students are searching, they know about Jesus, but they don't believe. The variety is a good illustration of the parable of the soils that Jesus tells in Luke 8:4-15. We read this story in Lesson 11 of our workbooks. It is interesting to think that most Christians at different times in our lives have been all of the soils. We must give attention, every day, to our soil to become and remain good ground.

In addition to our work at the high school, we meet with some other readers. These are adults and we have been meeting with them continual since we started our work in Panama City. As we see the end of our time in Panama approaching, we are focusing on spending as much time with them as we can. When you make friends with people that live in another country, it makes the possibility of never being together again greater. We all know that there is no guarantee of future time with other people, but sometimes we forget that and take for granted the time we have with people because we always think we have more time. The reality of the uncertainty of our time together hits home as we spend our last minutes with friends that live in another country that we have no set plans to return to. So, we are trying to take the opportunity to enjoy this time with our friends and not be greedy for more.

Luke 12:30b and 31
Your father knows that you need those things. The thing you should want is God's kingdom.

GREG'S BLOG

Greg has written a new blog giving an update about our work and he has a link to some pictures.
Click here to see Greg's blog

The Latest

We are in the midst of big changes in our Panama project and we wanted you to know what is going on.

As you should know, we have been working at a university, UDELAS since March. The semester is ending there and the students are now taking final exams. Most of our readers are UDELAS students and they are have many the end of the semester pressures, so it is difficult for them to continue with our reading sessions. We ended our project there on Friday. During our 4 months at the university we had reading sessions with about 45 different people, many of them were with us the whole time. We also got to work with two other LST teams at that location. There are a few of those readers that we will continue to meet with. Some ongoing through July and August and others that we will reschedule in August.

Now, I'm sure you are curious what's next for us. Today we spent the day at a local high school organizing our next project. It is the high school where our church meets on Sundays. We will spend the next three weeks meeting with students from that school during the day and then at night we will try to meet with some of our current readers. We spent today at the school organizing the schedule and meeting the students. Tomorrow we hope to begin reading sessions. Although we don't usually prefer to work with high schoolers, we know that this will be a great project. These are great students who are very excited about practicing their English and we hope to get them excited about Jesus, too. Another reason this is an exciting project is the impact it will have on the congregation we worship with. They really want to reach out to the community of the school and this is one way to do that. Greg and I are so glad to do something to bless this church that has been so good to us!

LESSON 13

I used to dread Lesson 13 in the LST workbook. I would just try to get through it as fast as I could and hope that my readers would just kind of overlook it and move on.
As I read over those two sentences, I realize, that doesn't sound very good. That's not the attitude of someone who likes to read the Gospels and talk about Jesus. But when I tell you what scriptures this lesson covers, maybe you will understand and forgive me. Lesson 13 is Luke 19:28-36, in English we refer to this occurrence in Jesus' life as "The Transfiguration". This is when Jesus and Peter, John and James go up on a mountain to pray and Moses and Elijah came to visit. Now let's be honest, this piece of scripture can be hard to understand in an "easy to read" translation of the Bible in your own language. Why are two "ghosts or angels" meeting up to chat with Jesus? Why is Peter wanting to put up tents (yes, our LST version says "tents", which makes the discussion even harder) for these three guys? Why does God interrupt Peter when he is talking? Is he angry at Peter? What does it mean, "Peter did not know what he was saying"?
Well, reading the same passages of scripture over and over for 10 months provides many blessings. Mainly, the blessing of new insights that the Holy Spirit will provide as you continue to re-read those passages. It is true that the Bible is the "Living Word". I know it is alive, because I continue to encounter that "Life" in my heart and I see that "Life" in the hearts of many of my readers.

Of the truths I have learned about this particular passage, two stay on my mind and cause me a great feeling of AWE. First is the realization that I don't need to know the answer to all the "Why?" questions to know that God had a definite purpose in this event. He wanted everyone to know and understand that Jesus is his son and he wants all people to obey only Jesus. (It was important for the Jews to let go of their obedience to Moses' and Elijah's teachings, and that couldn't have been an easy message for them to take in, they had been doing that for generations.) The second truth comes to me from the end of the lesson. The scriptures say, "And for a long time after that they told no one about what they had seen." A great question to ask my LST readers is, "Why didn't they talk about this to other people?" This question makes for good, easy conversation but it also gives me an opportunity to share my faith, because many months ago the Holy Spirit taught me a truth through this question. My answer is that although we don't know exactly why they didn't tell anyone, I think that maybe they were overwhelmed by the presence of God. In other places in the Bible when people encounter God they are overcome by strong emotions and reactions, fear being one. These guys have just heard the voice of God, I'm sure that was stunning. Maybe they just needed to process that encounter internally for a while. Although I have never heard the audible voice of God, when I encounter Him in my heart, I am overwhelmed, I don't know how to process it and I usually can't share the experience with anyone, at least for a while. Telling this makes me think of the song "I Can Only Imagine". I don't know how I will respond to the presence of God, will I stand and sing and shout for joy or will I fall to my knees unable to speak?

I can truthfully say, I no longer dread Lesson 13. I love the chills I get as I share this with my readers. I love the unanswered questions, they are evidence of faith. And best of all, I love the fact that many readers say, "I'm going to go home and read this in Spanish to try and understand it better." That is the power of the "Living Word"!

Here is a link to Youtube, if you want to listen to Mercy Me singing "I Can Only Imagine".

Encouragement

Today we had a great surprise, we received a card of encouragement from the ladies of Greg's childhood church, Hermitage Church of Christ. It means so much to us to know that we are remembered and prayed for by people at home. We feel so loved by their act!
Ladies of the Hermitage Church of Christ in Hermitage, PA we offer our heartfelt thanks to you. God willing we will be with you for a visit sometime this fall.

READERS

I'm sure most of you remember but just in case some don't, in LST we refer to the people we are meeting with as "readers".
They are the reason we are doing this work. Actually, the reason we are doing it is because we felt led by God to do it, but the readers are the recipients of our work.
The situation in Panama has been very different than we were used to or expected. Most of the readers at our current site are beginning college students at the university. They are very young and some are a bit lacking in maturity. The way that affects us is that they often miss our sessions and don't contact us to let us know they aren't coming. Another problem that presents is that many of them have a pretty low level of English. This makes it difficult to conduct the sessions in the way we were trained to do. But one thing we have learned over the last year is flexibility. Since we meet on a university campus, many of them just see this as another class and view us as "professors". In addition to that, we had to take so many readers from the previous teams that we can only meet with most of them once a week. So, developing relationships are difficult. We are trying to adjust our expectations and work with the situation as it is. The North American missionaries here in Panama tell everyone that visits that the best way to get along here is to have no expectations. We are working on that, but it is definitely contrary to our nature.
Now, back to the real reason I'm writing this blog. On Monday I had one of those reading sessions that makes all the trouble worth it. This particular reader is a university student, but not at our university. She takes an hour bus ride to get to our sessions. She always contacts me if she can't make it. She is a bright spot in my week because she has enough English to have real conversations with and she seems to really value our time together. In a session several weeks ago we read about Jesus' baptism. She told me that she has not been baptized. She knows this is important for her to do, but she isn't ready yet. Her grandmother is always pressuring her to be baptized and she doesn't want to do it for that reason or to be acceptable to a religious organization. She said that when she is baptized she wants to do it for the right reasons. I really respect that and encouraged her to continue to seek God's purpose for her in this area. This week we read about the time Jesus used the illustration of the foundation of a house and compared that to obeying his teachings. When I asked about her "house" she said she thinks part of it has a good foundation and part doesn't. She knows that she doesn't obey Jesus completely. I know you are all hoping that I will now say that she said she wanted to be baptized. Well, sorry. You will be disappointed. She isn't there yet. She left the reading session with a hunger to continue to learn more about Jesus' teachings and a desire to grow in her obedience. I am trusting God to guide her to the point of realizing that the part that is missing just might be baptism. She has enough people pressuring her to do it and I don't want to add to that. I just want to help her realize how much she needs Jesus. She needs to obey him because of her own desire and not to please me or any other person. I truly believe she will be baptized one day, but I accept that it may happen long after I am gone and I may never even know about it. But, it is God's work to add to His number. My work is in the fields. Planting some seeds and watering others.

I pray that we can all see our role in the Kingdom work as clearly as the apostle Paul saw his.
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow."
~1Corinthians 3:6

Pictures

Greg has put together a slide show that gives an idea of what our life in Panama looks like.
Click here to see it. It's called LST in Panama City.

LST at UDELAS

Now that we have settled into a bit of a routine in our new project, I thought it was time to give you a glimpse into the work here. As most of you know, there was an 5 person LST team here from New York doing a three week project. While they were here, we worked alongside them for the most part, but now that they are gone, Greg and I are on our own with lots of love and support from the local missionaries.

In some ways, our work is the same here in Panama City as it was in Natal. We are doing one on one english conversation classes with people who are learning english (we call them readers), using the book of Luke from the New Testament as our curriculum. But in many ways, our work is very different. We are meeting primarily with university students on a university campus. The university has provided a room for our exclusive use and they are even providing some of our meals. Greg has about 17 readers and I have about 25. We meet with most of them once a week, but if possible, we meet with some more often. Although we are mostly working with university students, there is a little variety among our readers, from campus janitors, to first year students, to professors, and a few that come over to meet with us that have no connection with the university.

Another difference we are learning to adjust to is how we connect our readers with people from the local church. Many of our readers commute to the university and have very long bus rides to get here. And to make the situation harder, the church family that we have most contact with here in the City is comprised of people spread out all over the city, so it is almost impossible for them to gather together at times other than Sunday morning worship. In our past LST experiences, we have worked really hard to get church members to develop friendships with our readers so that as they come to know the Lord, they are also developing relationships with His people. Our contact missionaries here in PC have recommended that as we have readers who are coming to a level of faith that develops an interest in involvement with the church we try to connect them with a church in their own community. So, instead of regular social events we will probably try to visit them in their town and hopefully attend their local church together. Please be in prayer with us that we will see the leading of the Lord in this.

We are enjoying this new phase of our year of LST. It is great to be on a university campus and interact with our readers as we pass them in the halls or on the grounds. It is exciting to develop relationships with the cafe lady and the man that works at the desk (exciting and good for practicing our Spanish) and the english professors. And we look forward to seeing how the Lord will work out all the changes!

The Passing of a Hero of Faith

I found out this morning that yesterday my Aunt Terecia (my dad's oldest sister) passed away. That was bittersweet news. Sweet because she has been battling cancer for several years and her body was worn and weary and she has been ready to go home to the Father for a while now. Bitter because of the pain that her absence will cause in the lives of those who love her, especially her husband, Uncle Doyle. Aunt Terecia and Uncle Doyle are some of my personal heros of faith. My time with them was always limited to visiting at the biennial family reunion or short visits in their home but that was enough time for me to get the impression that their faith in God was the most important thing in their lives. When I picture their faces in my mind, I see them singing praises to the Lord with a look of love, joy and peace. My favorite memories of them are the times I was privileged to worship with them.

My parents went to visit Aunt Terecia in her home a few weeks ago and while they were there, I got to talk to her and Uncle Doyle on Skype. I appreciated that so much, in just that little time despite her physical discomfort, she had words of encouragement for me in this work we are doing. I am so thankful to God that He gave me one last opportunity to connect with her in this life and I know my next reunion with her will be even better.

On a selfish note, a lot of the family will be gathering in Panhandle, Texas this weekend for her funeral, and I am very sad to have to miss that time together. I would love to be able to join in Cousin's Chorus to sing songs of praise at her memorial as a tribute to her and as an encouragement to Uncle Doyle but I will be with my family in spirit. I know Aunt Terecia and Uncle Doyle support the work I am doing and they wouldn't want me to leave my work to go to her funeral.

One thing that God has been teaching me over the last several years is to stop trying to possess everything and just try to enjoy the things of this life without having to own or horde them. Not too long ago I realized that goes for people too. We can love, admire, appreciate and enjoy people for whatever time we have with them, whether that is 2 minutes in a taxi or 50 years of marriage and when that person is not present in our lives, that doesn't change the love, admiration, appreciation and joy or diminish the importance of the relationship. Instead of focusing on the time we don't have together, we must just be thankful for the time we were together. I think the loss of Aunt Terecia will be an experience that God will use to help me continue to learn this lesson. And how fitting that in death, just as in life, she is teaching me how to grow more like Christ.

"Don't be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry." Colossians 3:5b

More pics

Greg uploaded pictures of our project in Chepo and also of our apartment in PC. Follow this linkto see them.

Odds and Ends

If you read Greg's blog, you know that we are back in Panama City and have moved into our own apartment. The Lord provided richly. The day we returned from Chepo we moved right into an apartment. We live in a neighborhood very close to the university where we will be working and we are paying much less in rent than we thought we were going to have to pay. We have spent the last week getting settled in and except for a few little details, we have made the place our home. Greg has been working full-time for the Bible Study Guide this week and will continue to do that through February. Our work at the university will not begin until late March so I am trying to find some other English students to do LST with until that time. I have the names of several former readers and am hopeful that I will be able to arrange a full schedule by the end of the week. Also, I may have an opportunity to learn the administrative end of LST projects from the missionaries perspective. It is very exciting to really find out what the life of a missionary is like. The slide shows we see when missionaries visit our congregations just doesn't do justice to the demands on their lives.

In other news, Greg and I will begin Spanish classes tomorrow. A lady at church is a bi-lingual Spanish/English teacher and will come to our home to give us private lessons. We are very excited and a little nervous. We have been working hard to learn the language, but it is definitely going slowly. The lessons are a little expensive, so we don't know yet how many we can take. The teacher recommends that we have 3 or 4 classes a week (one hour each). We plan to take at least two a week and will see if we can afford more. We will just have to crunch the numbers and see what we can do.

This has been a week of excitement for us. The missionaries (David and Lisa Carter) that coordinate the LST work in Panama City have been away since we arrived in December. This week we finally had a chance to spend some time with them and get to know them. We feel very comfortable with them and feel confident that we will have a smooth transition into a working relationship with both David and Lisa. And if that weren't exciting enough, another couple (the Carter's in-laws) just moved to the city to began missionary work. We are amazed at their faith and courage in taking this step to leave their family (they left 3 children, ages 18-28) and life in the U.S. to dedicate themselves to the Lord's work in Panama City. We are especially blessed by them because they are our upstairs neighbors. I can't tell you how comforting it is to have a brother and sister right upstairs.

The greatest news of all, there were three baptisms in the city this week. One that we got to witness. The ministers here have an amazing gift of outreach and evangelism and the church is really growing in Panama City. LST is just one effort that they are involved in.

Well, I think that just about gets you up to date on what is going on in my life.
Every day I am aware of the love and protection of God and I'm sure that without Him, some days I would want to just hide in the closet. But, since our apartment doesn't have any closets, I'll just keep turning to God and receiving courage and strength from Him.

The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace. ~Psalm 29:11

Chepo

Here is the latest.
We had our LST Information meeting in Chepo on Sunday, Jan. 4. Although many people attended, only a small handful actually have enough English to do the program. So, I am attempting to provided beginning English classes for all the others. One for older children and two for teens and adults. This has been scary for me since I am not a teacher and have never taught English. But the Lord is so good and works through our weaknesses and He is providing help and inspiration. One of his greatest provisions in Chepo is the sister-in-law of the local preacher. She has been studying English for 3 months and she has come to stay with them during our visit (she lives in another city) so that she can help us communicate a little. Of course, after only 3 months of study, her English is pretty limited but considering that without her we would have no one who spoke any English, we think her English is great!!! She is also helping me with the beginners classes and I can't imagine how I would have done it without her.

Now, although all that sounds well and good, we have had a big snag in our work this week. Last Thursday night Greg came down with a high fever. On Friday we headed into the city so that we could take him to a doctor in an environment where we could communicate with the medical staff (either through people who speak fluent English and could interpret for us or, as it turned out, with a doctor that speaks fluent English). Greg kept having fever for 2 or 3 days and has had some digestive problems since then. On Monday night, I started getting fevers and digestive problems. We are still waiting for word from the doctor about what we might have had, and chances are, he may not be able to identify it for sure. But we are happy to report to we are both recovering. Although we aren't back to normal yet, we're very weak and tired, we are getting out of bed and eating solid foods. We have been staying in Panama City at the house of one of the local preachers and they have taken great care of us! We haven't decided yet when we will go back to continue our work in Chepo, but hopefully we will head back this weekend. We are sad to have missed a week of time with our contacts there but are trusting that the Lord is working through all of this. Originally we were suppose to work in Chepo only 2 weeks and we had decided to do 3. I guess we were only suppose to do 2, just not 2 consecutively.

One positive about our unexpected time in the city, we are very close to having an apartment. We have found one that is in the area we need to live and is affordable and it is suppose to be ready when we return to the city on the 24th or 25th. Only the formalities remain. I am very hopeful and excited about this. It was starting to look like we were not going to find a place and would have to crowd in with some local family or stay in a hotel. We are praying for the Lord to work out the details so that we can move into our own apartment when our work in Chepo is done.

But he said to me (Jesus to Paul), "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
~2 Corinthians 12:9&10

Quick Update

I got online to tell you all about our next work site, but as I reviewed Greg's last blog, I see that he has written about all the things I thought you should know about, so, if you haven't read Greg's blog lately go to this link and read all about our next adventure. We ask that you please be in prayer about this work. Greg and I will be called upon to do many things that we have never done before and that will challenge us but the effort is worth it if we can share the love of Jesus with even one person.

Panama Pictures

Since it is holiday time and summer break time in Panama, we have a LOT of free time. So we are doing some exploring in our new city. Follow this link to see the pictures.

Wayfaring Strangers

As you might imagine, leaving Natal, Brazil was very hard for me and Greg. For almost a year we had been planning and preparing (along with Lacy Hefley) to live and work there for a full year. When we found out that wasn't going to be a possibility because of problems with our Brazilian visas, we were very disappointed but resigned ourselves to make the most of whatever time God allowed us to have there. We feel blessed and honored to have had three months to work with Comunidate de Cristo and our little LST family (Cris Carpenter, Lacy, Greg and I). From the first day, we were warmly welcomed and felt immediate connections with our christian family. Since our time there was limited we got to work right away. Over the course of the 3 months, I was able to meet with 22 different people for reading sessions, many of whom will be life long friends. I can't say exactly what God will do in their lives or how He will use my efforts, but I can say that I feel I was being obedient to Him by reading His Word with people and being an illustration of that Word as I shared my beliefs and my life with them. A bit of my heart will always be in Natal, Brazil.

Now, Greg and I have a new work to do. When we realized that we could not serve our entire LST year in Natal, we started searching for another site to work. (Actually, Craig and Leslee Altrock started searching for a site for us). LST works with churches all over the world and there are many that need long-term workers or interns. We prayed over the choices presented to us and after looking at the needs, we all decided that Panama City, Panama was a good place for us to go for the remainder of our year. We have been in PC for a little over 3 days so far and we feel a real peace over our situation. Although this year has not worked out the way we planned, we trust in God and his plan for us. So, we are striving to submit to his will with joy.

Because of the holiday season and the fact that students in Panama have just begun their 3 month summer break, we can not immediately begin our work here. That is o.k. because we have a lot of settling in to do. We are spending our time apartment hunting (We are currently staying in the apartment of American missionaries that went home for Christmas. Thanks, David and Lisa Carter!), familiarizing ourselves with the area, getting to know some of the church members and studying Spanish. Not to mention catching up on rest! We are excited at the opportunity to experience a Christmas celebration in another culture. It will be hard to go through a family oriented time without our family, but maybe this will give us an opportunity to grow closer to our christian family here in PC. We learned in Natal, when you are a child of God, you've got family all over the world.

"The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." Psalms 37:23&24

May we all be aware of His Hand in ours and trust Him like children.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday.
I love the cooking, the visiting, the card playing, etc. I love dressing and cranberry sauce and pie. But what I really love is that one of the major holidays in our country is a day set aside to be thankful.
This year was my first year to spend Thanksgiving Day in another country. I didn't really know what to expect. Although the holiday isn't celebrated in Brazil, we decided to take the day off. The local American missionary family (the Jewels) invited all us Americans and also the Brazilian missionaries to spend the day at their house for a traditional Thanksgiving Day celebration. We all brought some food to add to the dinner and despite some challenges getting ingredients we were used to, we had a pretty typical Thanksgiving meal. It was a wonderful day. And you might be surprised to know that our day probably wasn't very different from yours.
We ate turkey, stuffing (not dressing, Greg loved it), mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, and pie. The women all joined in the kitchen and got the food prepared, the men fell asleep in front of the TV, the children ran around the house, after dinner we played a card game. Just the usual stuff. My favorite part of the day was after dinner when we sat together and everyone shared what they are thankful for. I said that I am thankful that no matter where I go in the world, I have family, a christian family that loves and accepts me. Today I missed my earthly family very much, but being with this church family helped.
Everyone at the dinner had something to give thanks for, but there is one in particular that I want to tell you about. We had a special guest at our Thanksgiving dinner, his name is Talis and he is one of Lacy's LST readers. Talis has participated in LST for about 6 months and he has become a regular at worship services and church functions. Today he told us that he is thankful for the LST program He started coming for the English but he began to learn more about the bible and it changed his life completely. He has made a decision to be baptized. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how thrilled we are at this news. This made the day unforgettable! And it just gets better. Talis brought a friend to our October social event and that friend has been coming to the church regularly and studying the bible with one of the missionaries and he has also decided to be baptized. We are praising God tonight and full of thankfulness to Him that we have two new brothers here in Natal!
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29
God is already keeping this promise and I am so thankful for that blessing. And no matter how much I was missing my earthly family today, I know the sacrifice is worth it.

What is the foundation for your life?

Recently I have done one lesson with several readers that has caused me great frustration.
The lesson is taken from Luke 6:46-49
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do what I say? The people who come to me, who listen to my teachings and obey them, I will show you what they are like: They are like a man building a house. He digs deep and builds his house on rock. The floods come, and the water crashes against the house. But the floods cannot move the house, because it was built well. But the people who hear my words and do not obey are like a man who builds a house without preparing a foundation. When the floods come, the house falls down easily and is completely destroyed."


This is one of the shortest readings and on the surface, the concept is very simple: If you obey Jesus teachings, your life will be built on a strong foundation and you will be prepared to withstand the troubles that come. Almost every reader answers the questions correctly and seems to get the concept right away. When I ask if their life is built on a strong foundation, they say yes. Next I ask them to tell me about that foundation and I get all kinds of answers, anything from family, experiences, ancient prophets, etc.. One even said his mother is religious and that makes his life strong. This is where the frustration begins. They have just said that a strong foundation is built on obeying Jesus teachings and in the next breath they are telling me about their strong foundation built on something totally different. Sometimes I just want to get out my bible and whack them over the head with it (it's paperback, it won't hurt too much). Okay, not really, but I do have to find a gentle way to try to help them see the discrepancy. Often I have to leave the session without any real assurance that they realized the difference in what Jesus said and what they are saying. It is not my job to get my readers to conform to what I think is right or best for them, it is my job to encourage them to learn about Jesus and to illustrate to them what a life built on the foundation of obedience to him looks like. And as my father-in-law so wisely reminded me of tonight, their is power in the Word of God and that power can lead them to Jesus. I might be able to convince them to conform, but Jesus will transform them.

PICTURES

Greg added more pictures to our online photo album. If you would like to view them, click here.

"Joy In The Journey"

I heard a song by Michael Card called "Joy In The Journey". It is so beautiful. It talks about the joy and freedom that comes from being in Christ. This song resonated with me because I think it really describes my life and what I want for others. Here are the lyrics:

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who've been born in the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin

Forget not the hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And freedom for those who obey...

One of the reasons I am doing what I'm doing is because I remember the "hopelessness when I was lost" and I want to help the lost find the same kind of hope that I have found. The peace and joy we receive from obeying God is amazing to me! And when we are living our life in obedience to Him, He does require sacrifices, but He also showers us with love and joy!

Let me share with you one of the little "joys" in my journey. Sometimes the accent and the pronunciation of our readers provides for some very amusing situations. For example, one girl pronounces h's as r's. Imagine how hard it is to keep a straight face when she is talking about the "Rolly" Spirit.
Another reader was studying about the time that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert fasting and praying and the devil came to tempt him. I asked my reader where Jesus was and he answered, "Jesus got into the dessert". I guess Jesus has a sweet tooth. Of course he hadn't eaten in a while, so there is no worry about him ruining his dinner.
Don't think I share these stories with you to laugh at them. Definitely not! Far from it! These people are very intelligent and are on their way to being fluent in a second language (some have even more languages). Since I have begun studying portuguese, I have a better understanding of just how difficult that is! I have great respect for them.
I'm sharing these stories to give you a glimpse of the fun we have doing our work and the joy we get from spending time with our readers. Each morning I wake up excited to start my day and to meet my friends to read the bible together and have great discussions. And we enjoy being together, we share lots of laughs and lots of struggles.

I pray that you have many joys in your journey too! Please, share them with me!!!
And if you are feeling hopelessness, seek the pardon that comes from obedience to God!
If you would like to listen to the song by Michael Card, click here.

Independence?

This morning I walked to the bakery and fruit market alone. This isn't a big deal, they are just a few blocks away and I can just point to the things I need, I don't need to be able to speak. But I really enjoyed it! This wasn't my first time to do this alone, I've gone several times, but this morning I really enjoyed the feeling of freedom and independence of doing what I needed to do all by myself. I didn't need anyone to drive me or escort me, I didn't need anyone along to translate for me, I didn't have to rely on anyone else to show me the way. Like most people my age, I am used to being independent and self sufficient. Well, now, that is all out the window. I can't even go get my hair cut without help!
But I have been learning over these last several months, that I am not independent and self sufficient. No matter how much I earn, learn, and accomplish, for the important things in life, I need help, I need other people, and most of all, I need Jesus!
Greg and I could not have made it to this place and this work on our own. We needed God to provide the vision and the means to accomplish it. He used his people, his church to help us along every step of the way, from arranging travel plans to raising support. Now that we are here, we need his people to help us accomplish many of our daily tasks and we definitely need him to help us with our work. We rely on the Holy Spirit to gives us word to speak (1 Cor. 2:13) to our readers as we share with them about Jesus.
In Mark 10:15 Jesus says that anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. So, like a child, I am to be totally dependent on my Father for everything. And I can rely on Him to provide all I need without worry. This isn't easy. I'm a grown-up adult and the world says I should be taking care of myself. But I am slowing learning that totally depending on God to provide is a blessed way to live and it is life to the fullest! I may enjoy an outing alone to the bakery, but I don't want to go back to an "independent, self sufficient" life, because, "my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Ph. 4:29)