It is unbelievable that a week has passed since my last update and now we are less than a week from being home! Like every football team in America preparing for the last 12-15 minutes of competition, we held four fingers in the air this week and declared, “Fourth quarter’s ours!” Okay, perhaps WE did not, but I did…
Please join me in praying that we will finish strong! God has given us a lot of great work to do here and we want to honor him through the finish line! Lord willing, Sarah and I will lead three more afternoon devotions (Friday, Monday, and Wednesday). I will potentially lead music and preach on Sunday morning and I will probably preach next Wednesday night as well! For those who are counting, that is eight times that we will be responsible for handling God’s Word in less than a week! Pray that we would realize the gravity of the task and trust the leading of God’s Spirit!
In addition to the teaching responsibilities, we continue to work around Emmanuel, particularly in the clinic. We have had some welcomed breaks from the clinic in the last few days but that will change. The volunteers will be very shorthanded in the clinic when we are gone, so we are going to try to pull a little extra weight in the coming days! You can pray for Leigh, Leah, and Owen as they get ready to staff a clinic that has been covered by 7-8 people at other times, or you could pray that God would eradicate Chicken Pox!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Hola Gordito – THURSDAY (Day 18)
Sarah reminded me that I have neglected to share with you perhaps the greatest ministry we have had here and the most fun as well! We have been so blessed by the support of so many to get us here and it is our desire to share that blessing with others. One way we have been able to do that is by having Emmanuel staff families over for dinner! We have already shared meals with several of the staff families, some of the volunteers, and Evelyn (a young woman that Sarah sponsored for a few years). What a blessing it has been to share with these amazing people and to hear the incredible stories of how God is moving in their lives.
While we are on the subject of meals, it is no secret that I do not miss a meal. That fact has not been lost on the children at Emmanuel either! Tonight we were walking back to our apartment from having dinner with some of the volunteers. As we passed by the clinic, we stuck our heads in the window to say hello and see who was there. A few of the children have been in the clinic for two weeks and we have gotten to know them well. As always, they were excited to see us (Sarah really, they just tolerate me)! A beautiful 9-year-old girl named Natalia came to the window and I greeted her, “Hola Natalia.” With all of the excitement she could muster, she responded, “Hola Gordito.”
For those of you that are not chuckling already, “Gordito” translates something like “little fat one”. How is that for the refreshing honesty of children? I am going to give it a little further research, but I am told that Gordito is actually a term of endearment in Spanish speaking cultures. My suspicion is that it is endearing when speaking to a chubby infant and it is a reminder to me to go for a run!
Please pray for the health of the children as Chicken Pox continues to spread among them. We know that Chicken pox is not necessarily dangerous, but it is very uncomfortable for some of the kids and creates a lot of work for those caring for them.
Walk Worthy,
The little fat one
While we are on the subject of meals, it is no secret that I do not miss a meal. That fact has not been lost on the children at Emmanuel either! Tonight we were walking back to our apartment from having dinner with some of the volunteers. As we passed by the clinic, we stuck our heads in the window to say hello and see who was there. A few of the children have been in the clinic for two weeks and we have gotten to know them well. As always, they were excited to see us (Sarah really, they just tolerate me)! A beautiful 9-year-old girl named Natalia came to the window and I greeted her, “Hola Natalia.” With all of the excitement she could muster, she responded, “Hola Gordito.”
For those of you that are not chuckling already, “Gordito” translates something like “little fat one”. How is that for the refreshing honesty of children? I am going to give it a little further research, but I am told that Gordito is actually a term of endearment in Spanish speaking cultures. My suspicion is that it is endearing when speaking to a chubby infant and it is a reminder to me to go for a run!
Please pray for the health of the children as Chicken Pox continues to spread among them. We know that Chicken pox is not necessarily dangerous, but it is very uncomfortable for some of the kids and creates a lot of work for those caring for them.
Walk Worthy,
The little fat one
Recipe for Disaster – WEDNESDAY (Day 17)
After a long, hot, Central American day, what are we going to do for dinner? Well the thought comes to mind that we do not want to cook anything on the stove tonight because that just heats-up the house and all we need is more heat! Here is the plan; we will make conventional macaroni and cheese in the microwave and stir-in some tuna for protein. Not a bad idea in theory, TERRIBLE in reality! Something about cooking in the microwave made the noodles sticky and nasty and the whole thing was a bust! I could not eat enough crackers or put enough hot sauce on it to make it tolerable…
Sarah and I both taught in our respective venues today. Neither of us felt great about the way the lessons went! Please pray for us on Monday and Friday at about 4:30CDT and on Wednesdays around 5:30CDT. We deeply desire for the Word of God to be real to these students, but that is the work of the Holy Spirit and we covet your prayers to that end.
Grace and Peace
Sarah and I both taught in our respective venues today. Neither of us felt great about the way the lessons went! Please pray for us on Monday and Friday at about 4:30CDT and on Wednesdays around 5:30CDT. We deeply desire for the Word of God to be real to these students, but that is the work of the Holy Spirit and we covet your prayers to that end.
Grace and Peace
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)