At this point, it is also important to note how useless I felt. The people in the village speak very fast, and it is hard for me to keep up. I didn't understand at that moment why God had chosen for me to go there, and I still don't. However, I know that Psalm 73:6 says "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." His Word also says in Isaiah 55:11 "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Amen. God is Sovereign, and He always accomplishes His purposes. His ways and thoughts are higher than mine, and though I may never see the fruits of the labor, I trust He has purpose in the labor. So, to continue with this saga, let's pick up where we left off.
Wednesday: The entire barn outside our house (not really a barn, but the pigs, rooster, and dogs) woke me up again at 4 am. I was so exhausted. I remember praying again asking God to shut the mouths of those animals just like He shut the mouths of the lions with Daniel. Every time, He answered. Either I fell back asleep, or He shut their mouths. Either way, I am thankful for a God that takes EVERY prayer and request and answers them. They may not always be answered in a way that we want, but He answers. Praise Him. Later that morning, we went with the Crosspointe Team to the beach.
The name of this beach is San Diego. It was so beautiful! We played in the water (The Pacific Ocean) and had a great time. We went back to our house around 1 pm or so, made lunch, and tried to finish organizing the house. I took a small nap, and then, church was that night at 6 pm! We went to church, and I remember having no idea what was going on. Pastor H ended up getting JO, another translator that was helping the Crosspointe team this week (he works with the Holemans in Oaxaca), to translate so it made it much easier for my brain. We also had dinner with the Crosspointe team that night. Sadly, the only picture I have of us and the team is the following one, and it's blurry. Also, some people's heads are missing.
My selfie game was strong this past week. Anyways, we went home that night and we were all looking forward to a peaceful night of sleep. However, the enemy had other plans. I woke up at about 12:30 am that night to glass breaking. I got out of my hammock and realized C and Anna Beth were at the door. Someone else was at the door, too. It was raining, and I couldn't see anything because it was so dark. Anna Beth turned the light on, and we realized that it was a drunk teenager at our door. C walked him outside the gate, and everything was fine. He accidentally bumped one of the glass panes while coming to our door. It just interrupted our sleep time and kept us up for a little longer that night adding to our exhaustion. (To assure you that I was never in any danger, we spoke with the owner of the house and the pastor, and they contacted the police and gave us the numbers for the police. They said that it usually is not something that happens and that this is peaceful, safe village, so we know it was just the enemy trying to freak us out and add to our exhaustion. God is Sovereign and our Mighty Warrior. He protects in each and every circumstance, and we haven't had an issue with it again at all. Our house is very safe; we have a locked door, and a gate that locks. )
Thursday: We wake up and get ready to go to the English class at 10 am that the Crosspointe Team. The English class was at the church with several kids. It was so fun to see the kids learn and sing songs about The Lord. Each day, the Crosspointe team taught a Bible story that went along with the words that they were teaching the children. After the English class, we had lunch, and went back to our house. Praise The Lord for giving me rest because I took like a two hour nap in my hammock and felt amazing when I woke up. He is so good to provide rest. Anytime I get rest now, I am reminded that He alone provides eternal rest for our souls. That night, we had another English class at 6 pm at the church. This time, Brittany, Anna Beth, and I helped to teach. Anna Beth played a song with her guitar, Brittany reviewed words, and I reviewed one of the Bible stories with the kids. It was so much fun. I got a little dramatic with my retelling of the story and acted out as much as I could. It was so sweet to see the kids giggling and laughing at my ridiculousness. Lol! That night, we ate with the Crosspointe team for dinner. We got into our beds early that night with hopes to have a wonderful sleepy night.
Friday: REST! BEAUTIFUL REST! Wow. I woke up feeling so refreshed. God is gracious. We met the Crosspointe team for coffee after they had breakfast to say goodbye. It was so great to be encouraged by them and for them to help us with things we needed at the house. After they left, we cooked lunch on our element, makeshift stove. C left soon after that to head back to Oaxaca. She was there to help us get set up in the house and get ready to work in the village. After that, J taught us how to wash clothes by hand!
We hung them up on our clotheslines and felt so empowered. Haha! At least I did. The church has a service/Bible study on Friday nights at 6 pm, and M, the pastor's wife, invited us over afterwards to teach us how to make gorditas. So, the service was good (I understood more of what he was saying in Spanish), and then we met up with the women to learn how to make the gorditas. While cooking, some of the women shared their testimonies with us about how their husbands left them when they began following Christ. They are such strong women. They kept saying how they know God will provide. Once we made the gorditas, all the youth in the church (or most of them) ate with us, and we had so much fun! We bonded with them and talked about things they liked to do (play guitar, futbol, etc.) and just got to hang out and laugh together. This was such a precious moment to me because for the first time I felt like I had relationships with these people. We went home that night, and I couldn't stop smiling and finally feeling at home in our sweet village.
Saturday: Saturday mornings, the youth of the church have a service at 10 am where they sing a few songs and share different things about passages of scripture. It was so neat to be able to worship with them. Anna Beth got to share her testimony with them, and once again, I saw God working in a big way by helping us to forge those relationships. We got home and started cooking lunch. It took a while, but Brittany made these awesome quesadillas for us and J and Y. At three, we had planned to meet with some of the youth to go to the aguaje which is this natural spring where people can go to wash clothes and wash themselves. We went in order to swim!
We had so much fun, splashing around in the pool. After that, the guys invited us to go play futbol (soccer) and basketball! Anna Beth and I went to go play with them, and we played for three hours on a concrete court. If you know me, then you know that I love sports, and I had the best time getting to play with them and make those relationships even deeper. I was so tired that night though that I had no problem falling asleep.
Sunday: I woke up early this morning because we had invited J and Y over for breakfast that morning. We made pancakes, eggs, and beans. They liked the pancakes. Not many people make pancakes in that area, so it was something new for Y. We left our house and went to church to be there for the 10:15 am service. This time, I understood a little more of what Pastor H was saying in Spanish. Slowly, but surely, I feel like I'm understanding more and more. Praise! After church, Hector asked if any one of us wanted to share tonight with the church. I said yes, I would like to, and he said The pulpit is yours. I thought oh my goodness. I didn't realize he meant preach. Lol. That afternoon was spent studying and praying, asking God to show me what He wants me to preach on. I ended up going with Mark 1:16-20. This is about how God chose ordinary fisherman to be his disciples and how we don't have to have some kind of awesome training or understanding of the Bible or incredible skills to be effective. We just have to be obedient. J translated everything for me. While I'm preaching about this, I was so humbled. I don't have to know everything in Spanish or full of every piece of knowledge about Jesus and the culture. I just have to be obedient. God will provide! Amen.
Once again, I was so thankful for J. At one point, I was ready to start talking, and J was like you need to tell them to sit down, and I looked up and everyone is still standing! Hah! After church, we packed up all of our stuff to go back to Oaxaca.
Monday: After six hours, we made it to Oaxaca!
As I'm writing this blog, I'm in awe of all the incredible ways God provided this past week. In every situation where the enemy wanted to tear us down, God provided sweet, precious moments to remind me that He is in control! Gloria en lo alto!
Wow, this was a great read. I loved "watching" you live out 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.
ReplyDelete