I woke up this morning to rain and cooler temperatures...that makes getting out of bed SO difficult on a Monday morning! However, I'm up and the day is off to a running start!
I don't have much to report from this week...Chelsea and I officially moved into our new house last Wednesday. I'm still unpacking some of my junk and working on getting settled in. Not to mention she and I are hoping to go out and do a bit of exploring on the buses that pass by the house so that we'll know where they go and so that Chelsea (especially) will be able to have a bit more freedom. We are closer to school than we were before so it was nice to be able to get here so quickly this morning. I had hoped to attach some pictures of the house this morning to my blog...but I haven't gotten a chance to take any. I'll do my best to get some on here very soon.
Yesterday at church we had one of our evangelistic services, which we often do on the last Sunday of the month. It was a typical tea, organized by the married women in the church. There were several different kinds of typical snacks, tea, coffee...as well as a time of fellowship and presentation of the gospel. The congregation was strongly encouraged to bring friends, neighbors, and coworkers who didn't know the Lord...I was very excited to see that we had about 25 visitors! Please pray that God will draw these people unto Himself and that He'll continue to allow us to be lights in a dark world.
Next weekend, I have agreed to start teaching a Master's level class in the mission's department at one of the local universities. The class, which only lasts a month, involves having the students read a book (in English) and then using class time for discussion (mostly done in Spanish). The purpose of the class is to teach the students skills for Reading in English (such as using context clues), and to encourage them in their ability to use English as a source for information and study in missions. As this is a new adventure for me, please pray for wisdom as I begin this class...that God would help me to prepare well for the class. Pray also for the students, that God would bless them through this time of studying together.
Well...I guess that's about it for this week. It's time to get going on all the things I need to accomplish at school today. Thank you so much for your prayers!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
We're Moving This Week!!!
Greetings from a rather frazzled missionary!!!
As you can see from the title...Chelsea and I are moving this week...actually tomorrow...hence the delay in my up-date this week as it has been a VERY hectic week. I have been actively trying to get things packed up into boxes, make arrangements for help from the missionary community, and balance ministry at the same time! Needless to say, I'll be thankful once we're moved in and I can actually work at a slower pace, unpacking and really getting settled! I am taking tomorrow off of school in order to organize the move. Then we are off of school on Thursday and Friday for a national holiday...giving us a long weekend to get ourselves settled before starting back to school next week! Praise the Lord for such a positive and supportive response from our SAM missionary community! Many have volunteered time and vehicles to help us move and clean the house tomorrow, getting it all ready for us. I am so thankful for that! I have also had several from church and school who have volunteered to pitch in where they can...tomorrow and/or over the next few days, helping to unpack or purchase/loan us things that we will need in the new house! It has been such a blessing and encouragement to me!
Thursday is "Santa Cruz Day", which basically is the day to celebrate the department of Santa Cruz. It is of course a local holiday and my church will be taking a day trip to a nearby river for a picnic lunch and baptismal service! It's always LOTS of fun! Pray for safety as we travel about an hour out of the city in cars and bus. Also, pray that I will be able to rest and enjoy myself, without spending the whole time concentrating on the boxes awaiting me at home!
I had an exciting experience tonight that I wanted to share with you. A friend of mine from church, whom I will call Jose, called last week and asked if I would help him and a friend of his from the university (whom I will call Ana) with their English homework. They came over and spent a couple of hours with me that afternoon. As it turned out...Ana lives close to the SAM base where I'm currently living (for one more night). She also discovered that I enjoy drinking mate (pronounced ma-ta, short "a" sound at the beginning and long "a" sound at the end...a social herbal drink, similar to a tea, which is extremely common in Argentina and also parts of Bolivia and Paraguay). She then said she would like to come again and drink mate with me. I talked to Jose over the weekend and asked him if she is a Christian. He said that to his knowledge, she isn't, and then went on to describe a few more things about her and her family. Next weekend at church we're having an evangelistic service...so I suggested to Jose, that I would like to invite Ana to be my guest for that event...and then maybe all of us could hang out for a bit afterwards. However, I figured it would be easier if we had visited a little bit more first. So, before moving...I invited Jose and Ana over to the house so that we could drink mate together. I then had the chance to invite Ana to the service on Sunday. She not only accepted my invitation, but also when I took her home (so that I would know where her house is in order to pick her up later)...she invited me in and we sat and talked for another hour or so more. Praise the Lord for this new relationship that He is placing in my life. Please pray not only for Ana's salvation, but also that God would help me take time to be diligent in following up with her...in mentoring and discipling roles. I'm excited about the opportunity to serve the Lord in this way. Also continue to pray that nothing will come in the way of her attending the service with me this Sunday!
Well...it's getting late and I still have some more packing to do! Thank you so much for your prayers this week! The joy of the Lord will be my strength!!
As you can see from the title...Chelsea and I are moving this week...actually tomorrow...hence the delay in my up-date this week as it has been a VERY hectic week. I have been actively trying to get things packed up into boxes, make arrangements for help from the missionary community, and balance ministry at the same time! Needless to say, I'll be thankful once we're moved in and I can actually work at a slower pace, unpacking and really getting settled! I am taking tomorrow off of school in order to organize the move. Then we are off of school on Thursday and Friday for a national holiday...giving us a long weekend to get ourselves settled before starting back to school next week! Praise the Lord for such a positive and supportive response from our SAM missionary community! Many have volunteered time and vehicles to help us move and clean the house tomorrow, getting it all ready for us. I am so thankful for that! I have also had several from church and school who have volunteered to pitch in where they can...tomorrow and/or over the next few days, helping to unpack or purchase/loan us things that we will need in the new house! It has been such a blessing and encouragement to me!
Thursday is "Santa Cruz Day", which basically is the day to celebrate the department of Santa Cruz. It is of course a local holiday and my church will be taking a day trip to a nearby river for a picnic lunch and baptismal service! It's always LOTS of fun! Pray for safety as we travel about an hour out of the city in cars and bus. Also, pray that I will be able to rest and enjoy myself, without spending the whole time concentrating on the boxes awaiting me at home!
I had an exciting experience tonight that I wanted to share with you. A friend of mine from church, whom I will call Jose, called last week and asked if I would help him and a friend of his from the university (whom I will call Ana) with their English homework. They came over and spent a couple of hours with me that afternoon. As it turned out...Ana lives close to the SAM base where I'm currently living (for one more night). She also discovered that I enjoy drinking mate (pronounced ma-ta, short "a" sound at the beginning and long "a" sound at the end...a social herbal drink, similar to a tea, which is extremely common in Argentina and also parts of Bolivia and Paraguay). She then said she would like to come again and drink mate with me. I talked to Jose over the weekend and asked him if she is a Christian. He said that to his knowledge, she isn't, and then went on to describe a few more things about her and her family. Next weekend at church we're having an evangelistic service...so I suggested to Jose, that I would like to invite Ana to be my guest for that event...and then maybe all of us could hang out for a bit afterwards. However, I figured it would be easier if we had visited a little bit more first. So, before moving...I invited Jose and Ana over to the house so that we could drink mate together. I then had the chance to invite Ana to the service on Sunday. She not only accepted my invitation, but also when I took her home (so that I would know where her house is in order to pick her up later)...she invited me in and we sat and talked for another hour or so more. Praise the Lord for this new relationship that He is placing in my life. Please pray not only for Ana's salvation, but also that God would help me take time to be diligent in following up with her...in mentoring and discipling roles. I'm excited about the opportunity to serve the Lord in this way. Also continue to pray that nothing will come in the way of her attending the service with me this Sunday!
Well...it's getting late and I still have some more packing to do! Thank you so much for your prayers this week! The joy of the Lord will be my strength!!
Monday, September 14, 2009
September 14, 2009
Well, it appears that I've gotten out of the habit of updating my blog each week...I'll try to do better at remembering! In general Monday mornings continues to be a good time for me to do it...so I'll work at getting back into that routine! This week I don't have anything major to report...just some updates, praises, and prayer requests!
School is well underway once again! We're about halfway through the first quarter! On Friday night we had our first open house for the year. As I don't usually get much traffic in the Resource room during open house hours, I volunteered to serve as a translator in the Kindergarten room as there are a couple of parents of students in that grade who don't speak English and the teacher doesn't know Spanish. I enjoyed that, it was a different role and I felt a bit like I was doing public relations for the school (which this introverted girl does enjoy from time to time). Please continue to pray for our students and staff. You can particularly pray for us in the resource department as we work to figure out the best methods for reaching our students. There are a couple of students whose disabilities are causing them to be quite a bit below gradelevel. One of my goals for this year is to get an Individualized Education Plan in place for them that will be a help to teachers and families alike. Please pray for wisdom and strength in this endeavor...as this isn't an aspect of Special Education that I have enjoyed in the past...although it does appear to be a necessary one at this time!
God has been reminding me quite a bit over the past week that He is in charge and that this, all of this, all of what I'm doing here...is not about me, but about Him! Sometimes His reminder has been in small ways...such as when I didn't feel well prepared for a couple of different classes or Bible studies last week and God worked through me anyway, giving me the exact words to say and often the appropriate skills/materials needed. Other times God has just taken my breath away in amazement...for example...there were 10 of us at the girls' meeting on Saturday night at my house (with the girls from the youth group at church) and two regular attenders weren't even there!!! However, that's not the only amazing part of that situation...as three of us were in fact missionaries...the REALLY amazing part is the way the girls have gotten so excited about these meetings that they are even anxious to tell/invite others! Three of the girls who came on Saturday night were first timers! I think we've had about 6 visitors in the last couple of months and at least a couple who attend regularly right now aren't even Christians! I love the excitement and interest that God has placed on the hearts of these young women!!! It's super exciting! May I continue to remember that it's not about me as God continues to use me and my home in discipling and pointing these young ladies to Him!
I guess my only other news for this week is that my roommate Chelsea and I are hoping to move sometime next week. While we have been waiting for a house owned by another missionboard to be available, we have been living in an apartment at the SAM guesthouse. Although there are many perks to living in the guesthouse...I'm anxious to get settled into one house that I can call my own...rather than to have all of my things stored in about 5 different places!!! Praise the Lord for providing this house for us that we can afford...with GREAT landlords, some added furnishings, a location not far from school, friends nearby, etc. However, we covet your prayers for us as well while we prepare to make this transition.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support of this ministry to which God has called me! I feel so blessed to be used by Him in this way and so very thankful this week to be able to see a bit of the fruit from that labor.
(Side note...I almost forgot my very exciting news...I bought my plane tickets in order to go home for Christmas...I arrive at night on December 15 and leave in the morning on January 2...Praise God for the extra time I'll be able to spend at home!!!)
School is well underway once again! We're about halfway through the first quarter! On Friday night we had our first open house for the year. As I don't usually get much traffic in the Resource room during open house hours, I volunteered to serve as a translator in the Kindergarten room as there are a couple of parents of students in that grade who don't speak English and the teacher doesn't know Spanish. I enjoyed that, it was a different role and I felt a bit like I was doing public relations for the school (which this introverted girl does enjoy from time to time). Please continue to pray for our students and staff. You can particularly pray for us in the resource department as we work to figure out the best methods for reaching our students. There are a couple of students whose disabilities are causing them to be quite a bit below gradelevel. One of my goals for this year is to get an Individualized Education Plan in place for them that will be a help to teachers and families alike. Please pray for wisdom and strength in this endeavor...as this isn't an aspect of Special Education that I have enjoyed in the past...although it does appear to be a necessary one at this time!
God has been reminding me quite a bit over the past week that He is in charge and that this, all of this, all of what I'm doing here...is not about me, but about Him! Sometimes His reminder has been in small ways...such as when I didn't feel well prepared for a couple of different classes or Bible studies last week and God worked through me anyway, giving me the exact words to say and often the appropriate skills/materials needed. Other times God has just taken my breath away in amazement...for example...there were 10 of us at the girls' meeting on Saturday night at my house (with the girls from the youth group at church) and two regular attenders weren't even there!!! However, that's not the only amazing part of that situation...as three of us were in fact missionaries...the REALLY amazing part is the way the girls have gotten so excited about these meetings that they are even anxious to tell/invite others! Three of the girls who came on Saturday night were first timers! I think we've had about 6 visitors in the last couple of months and at least a couple who attend regularly right now aren't even Christians! I love the excitement and interest that God has placed on the hearts of these young women!!! It's super exciting! May I continue to remember that it's not about me as God continues to use me and my home in discipling and pointing these young ladies to Him!
I guess my only other news for this week is that my roommate Chelsea and I are hoping to move sometime next week. While we have been waiting for a house owned by another missionboard to be available, we have been living in an apartment at the SAM guesthouse. Although there are many perks to living in the guesthouse...I'm anxious to get settled into one house that I can call my own...rather than to have all of my things stored in about 5 different places!!! Praise the Lord for providing this house for us that we can afford...with GREAT landlords, some added furnishings, a location not far from school, friends nearby, etc. However, we covet your prayers for us as well while we prepare to make this transition.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support of this ministry to which God has called me! I feel so blessed to be used by Him in this way and so very thankful this week to be able to see a bit of the fruit from that labor.
(Side note...I almost forgot my very exciting news...I bought my plane tickets in order to go home for Christmas...I arrive at night on December 15 and leave in the morning on January 2...Praise God for the extra time I'll be able to spend at home!!!)
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