Women's Retreat

My teammate Robin annually hosts a retreat for the women from several different churches and/or Bible studies with whom she works, and this year I arrived just in time to help her with the last preparations for the biggest retreat ever. We had a volunteer team come from Arkansas to help with the retreat. After 2 days of shopping, we loaded up the vans on Friday morning and drove an hour and a half to the water park where the retreat was held. (Our state, Aguascalientes, is named after the natural hot springs that exist here. For this reason, there are several water parks featuring pools, slides, etc. that use this warm water instead of cold. Many water parks also have housing accomodations.) Note my quiet passengers below. Because I had taken responsibility for many organizational and financial aspects of the retreat, I worked at the registration table and was grateful that Myrna was able to help me communicate with the women. Her help made it go much smoother!

There were a total of 70 people registered for the retreat, and 66 were able to attend. (This includes 4 of us from the IMB, 8 women from Arkansas, and 5 women from Guadelajara whom I will discuss in my next post. The remaining 49 were the guests.)

We had some great times of praise and worship in the beautiful weather. Is there any sound more precious than sincere worship in one's heart language?

We also had some amazing conference sessions taught by Cherry and translated to spanish by Robin. The theme was "Sharing What You Know." While I was still in Guatemala, I had been sent the outlines for the sessions and was able to put them into powerpoint form that we could use to help the women follow along and fill in their outlines. It was a VERY good study that challenged me as much if not more than it challenged the women in attendance.

The women seemed to be paying close attention to every word, soaking it in.

The schedule also included a craft time led by the Arkansas women as well as the meals and snacks that they prepared. This beautiful, precious woman showing her craft in this picture will probably soon become my hair stylist. She has an amazing story of transformation and is truly a light in her community. I can hardly wait to know her better!

At least some of these women are members of a church where I will probably become involved. Such beautiful spirits shine through their smiles!

There were 5 different churches represented at this retreat (as well as some women who are participating in home Bible studies). Please join me in praying for opportunities to bond with these women and to form parnerships to work alongside them to reach their communities.

Thursday Bible Study

Thursday's Bible study was a bit rougher than Wednesday's. There were more kids, and most of the kids needed more individual attention (including some escape artists and some who were a bit uncooperative). Plus, we were crowded into a very small front yard right next to the moms. It was very worthwhile, though, as the expectant mom in this picture prayed to receive Christ before the day was over!

Flexible? Usable?

After a whirlwind first few days including meeting the AR team at the airport last Tuesday night, I was more than a little surprised last Wednesday morning when Cherry was going through the schedule and mentioned that I would be leading the kids at the 2 Bible studies that week. Since one of those studies was that very afternoon, I was reminded that the call to missions so frequently includes a call to be flexible. I could protest that I should have been asked sooner, or I could stop focusing on me and choose to focus instead on being usable. Thankfully Robin has a lot of ready-made activities just waiting to be used, so it came together relatively easily. We went to the home of a young family I had met in church the previous Sunday, and I led the story of Noah, a couple of related crafts, and taught the kids songs. I was so blessed to have wonderful team members who soon jumped in to help the kids with the crafts.

While we were working with the kids, Michelle was able to share a devotional while Robin translated for the women.

Then Mama Sam shared her testimony and led the women's craft time. It is always neat to see how God uses a team working together.

AR Team

Last week we had an amazing team of women from Rogers, Arkansas volunteer to come down and work with us. Here they are pictured along with my teammate Robin in front of my lovely big green van. While they were here, they helped with a couple of women's Bible studies/craft times (and activities to keep the kids occupied while the mom's were in the studies); shopping, cooking, and packing for women's retreat; and the women's retreat. This was a team filled with jewels, and I was SO blessed to become acquainted with these sisters in Christ. Thank you Cherry, Michelle, Bobbie, Gail, Mama Sam, Virginia, Ann, and Nancy. Thank you for coming, for investing in the women here, for encouraging me, and so much more. Looking forward to visiting Rogers when I return to the States!

I'M HERE!

After 2 months in Virginia, 6 months in Guatemala for language school, 3 days in Mexico City, and 1 day in Leon (MX), I have FINALLY arrived and started getting settled in Aguascalientes! I am looking forward to having internet access in my house so that I can update my blog more often, but for now I just wanted to share that I am here and to ask you to pray as I begin to work here. I am meeting a lot of people and helping one of my teammates Robin host a retreat for national women this coming wekeend (April 10-11). We have a team of women from Arkansas who are currently flying in to help us this week/weekend. Please pray for this team, for the retreat, for the women attending the retreat, and for me as I drive a HUGE van in this unfamiliar city with this volunteer team as passengers. I have to say that this combination makes me a bit nervous, but that's just all the more reason to pray for God's protection/guidance/wisdom!

Please hang in there with me while I get settled and am not posting much. I've taken the first step toward establishing internet at my house, but it may take a couple of weeks before it actually happens.

Boys Will Be Boys

Last Sunday at the bilingual church we have been attending, we ended up sitting behind a row full of Guatemalan boys of varous ages, with an older white gentleman at each end of the row. It quickly became apparent that they would provide either a distraction or some entertainment, if not both.

The youngest boy was sitting directly in front of me, and he chose to stay in his seat while the rest of us stood to sing. Before long, he fell asleep. The other boys pointed and laughed and then brought it to the attention of the man on the far end, who laughed and gave them a camera to take a picture of their sleeping friend.

Some of the boys were doing an exaggerated clap with the music, and my friend Ryan standing beside me joined their clap, which gave them something else to laugh about. When the serman began, one of the older boys decided to draw a picture of Ryan on an offering envelope. (I should point out that Ryan has allowed a beard to grow during his time in language school and is therefore looking a bit wilder than before he came here.) Between his appearance and his clapping performance, the boy decided to label him "Ryan Loco" ("Crazy Ryan"). When he gave the picture to Ryan and saw how funny we thought it was, he began drawing again, continuously looking over his shoulder at me. I must saw I was a bit nervous about what he might choose to include in his drawing. I have to saw that he was very kind, except I guess I was labeled crazy because I was with Ryan?

Then he drew Olivia and then Paul, but they were given the kinder label of Amigo (Friend). Ryan's picture was by far my favorite, but I have to say I was also entertained by his inclusion of Olivia's hairstyle that flips out at the bottom.

As entertaining as all of this is, I keep thinking about that row filled with boys and wonder what their story is. Where do they live? With whom? What do they know of our Savior? Although it is very unlikely that our paths will cross again, these silly drawings will prompt me to pray for them.

Light in the Darkness

Our weekly Bible study is in the home of an extremely poor family. They have suffered many hardships in life and struggle to get by, yet they extremely kind, generous, happy people. This evening they shared a testimony of how God has worked in their lives this week. They were obligated to buy a uniform for their teeenage son for his school, the electric bill was overdue, and other expenses were looming. Their electricity got turned off. Isabel said that she laid in bed one night talking to God, saying that she wanted to have faith in Him but couldn't escape the doubts that were invading her mind. As she cried out, "How, God, how?" she received His assurance that an angel would come to their door and provide for them. Each night with no electricity for TV or other activities, the family has gathered by candlelight to read and discuss the Bible and pray. They said that it has really been a blessing because without the darkness they would not have spent this time seeking the Light together. Then Isabel's father came to their door with money in hand and asked if they needed it. She immediately recognized it as God's provision and was able to go pay the bills. As darkness descended on our Bible study, she shared that the electricity should come back tomorrow but that it didn't really matter because they had the joy of the Lord in their hearts. She said people often ask them how they can have so much joy when their situation is so dark; what an amazing opportunity to share about God! It was so powerful to hear them share all of this tonight! Please pray for Luis and Isabel and this precious family. Please pray specifically for a job for Luis so that he can provide for his family.

Walking in Spiritual Darkness

My current Spanish teacher and I are taking one or two field trips a week during class so that I can have a break from classwork at the table and practice Spanish in different settings. Today we ventured a little further from home to a town called San Andres Itzapa, where many Mayan/indigenous people (among others) journey to visit the Temple of San Simon (also known as Maximon). Visiting this temple made me very sad, much in the way visiting Hindu temples in India made me sad. The people are praying to this statue, lighting candles, performing rituals, paying to be spiritually "cleansed" by the brujos (witchdoctors), etc. All I could see were people desperate for hope, for love, for a Savior but looking in the wrong direction.

At one point, one of the brujos was patting me on the back and saying something I couldn't understand, which compelled me to pray. I prayed not only for myself but also for the people in the temple who so desperately need to encounter Truth. Inside the temple, I saw a man carry his little baby up to the statue and allow a bruja to perform a cleansing ritual on both of them. Outside the temple, we watched as a brujo performed a ritual around a campfire of sorts to cleanse a woman. When the fire began blowing in the opposite direction from where she was standing, the brujo explained to her that the direction of the fire indicated that the bad spirits within her were so bad that it would require more money and a longer ritual to cleanse her. We watched as she paid him around $65 to continue.

Please pray for these people who are walking in spiritual darkness.

Obscured Vision

I think it was a month or so ago that I got a bad eye infection, and I described my adventure in seeking medical expertise in my entry Always An Adventure. After a week and a half of antibiotic eyedrops, my eyes seemed fine and I tried wearing contacts again. Within a couple of days the infection was back. I removed my contacts again and used the eyedrops for another week. Finally, I was able to wear contacts again. That lasted a week or two. Then Sunday I discovered that the infection had returned. This time I stopped wearing contacts but did not use any eyedrops. My eyes have cleared up again, but I think I should take the hint that I am not supposed to wear contacts right now. One teacher told me that doctors here usually don't advise people to wear contacts because there is so much dust (and ash) in the air. For over a month now, it has been windier than it was before, which stirs up more dust in this dry season. (Occassionally it blows so hard that I have to close my eyes.) Furthermore, there has been road construction in front of my house for over a month now. My current teacher Ana and I have formed a hypothesis that these factors combined are probably the source of my problem. Dust, etc. has probably been getting under the contacts and irritating my eyes.
Please pray that I won't have any more problems with my eyes and that no permanent damage has been done.

Yet Another New Teacher

I wasn't progressing with Sara, my 5th teacher, so after just 2 weeks (instead of the typical 4) I changed teachers. Teacher #6 is Ana. I have already learned far more in 3 days than I did in the last two weeks, and the situation right now is very good. She understands that after 18 weeks, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day, I need a break from the table/class setting. So, for tomorrow she has planned the first of several little field trips during class time: we are going to the market in Antigua. Lots of potential new vocabulary there! I am so grateful for Ana this week.

The Power of a Gentle Breeze

This morning in class my teacher Sara asked me to read a passage from the Bible aloud and then explain it to her to practice my Spanish. It is hard for me to choose a passage in a sudden, open-ended situation like this. I flipped through a bit, and, without knowing why, settled on the parable of the servant who was forgiven yet refused to forgive in Matthew 18. I read it, retold it in my own words, and then related it to us who, as sinners, have been forgiven by God and should therefore be willing to forgive others. She immediately gave a "what-if" situation where it is really hard to forgive an egregious trespass. We talked about how it isn't easy but that it is possible to forgive with the God's help, then she admitted that she was sharing her own real story and that she is wrestling internally with this inability to forgive this person.
I asked her a couple of questions. First, if I carry anger in my heart, who is hurt more by this anger, me or the person with whom I angry? Second, is it possible for anger with another person and the love/peace of God to co-exist in my heart?
As we talked, I kept trying to decide what scripture to share with her. Our classes are held outside in a garden, and about this time a breeze began to flip the pages of my Bible. I looked down to see that it had stopped on Matthew 22 where Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment. I read this to Sara and explained that if we truly love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we will certainly forgive them and even go a step further to be kind to them.
God's methods never cease to amaze me. He guided me through the power of the wind He created. I don't know if these deep conversations will continue, but please continue to pray for guidance for me and for Sara. Also, please pray for her to be able to forgive this person who caused such deep pain in her family.

Sara

This is my first week with my fifth teacher, Sara. During the first couple of days, she mentioned that part of her family is Catholic and part is Jehovah's Witness. She goes to a Catholic Church fairly often, but is not devout. She also has repeatedly told me how she thinks all religions are good and that all worship the same God. Today she was explaining to me one of the many Guatemalan Catholic holidays and mentioned that it is symbolic of when the mother of Jesus crushed the head of the snake. I paused and then very politely asked her where we could find that story in the Bible. She said that she didn't know exactly.
I opened my Bible and shared with her from Genesis 3 where God tells the serpent that the son of the woman will crush his head. Sara got a little excited and said that I was sharing the same story she had shared. I agreed that it was the same story but pointed out that there was one important difference; that it was the Son, not the mother, who would crush the head of the snake. Sara shrugged off this difference and said that it is basically the same thing.
I was grateful for the opportunity to share this through conversation but was saddened by her lack of understanding. A few minutes later our conversation led us to talk about the fact that God gave us freewill. She commented that she thinks freewill is bad because it has led to so much pain, suffering, evil, etc. in the world. I agreed with her that the sin in the world has horrible consequences, but I also went on to explain that the world is Satan's kingdom and that only through free will can our worship have meaning. She wasn't following my point on that last part, so I gave her the first analogy that "popped" in my head. I asked her to imagine a marriage that was arranged by someone else; she would have no choice in who she married, and the marriage would not be for love. Then I asked her to contrast that with a marriage with a husband that she had chosen to love. I told her that this is what I was trying to say aobut our worship of God. If He forced it, what meaning would it have? What joy would it produce? If we choose it, it is based on a loving relationship and has amazing results. She was very excited by this analogy and the image it painted in her mind. She explained to me the customs of arranged marriages that exist in nearby indigenous villages and how they are unhappy. I am in awe of God's faithfulness to provide the words that I did not know would make such an impact.
Please pray for Sara to see the Truth and for me to have the right words to say at the right opportunities. Also, please continue to pray for our weekly Bible study with some national friends, which now meets at 4:30 on Thursdays.