Hey everyone! this blog is going to be pretty random! It's some little tidbits that I wrote while we were in the village!
blog #1
So, Sarah and I just got back from our first Bible Study of the week. We found 3 existing believers! Not just people who believe, but people who hunger and thirst after God and desire to reach their people! We sang 2 songs in Waray. They said that as they sang, a cool, refreshing feeling came over them. That they knew the HS was in the room. (I wish I was that sensitive!) Ate described how she had been praying for 3 years that Christians would come study the Bible with them. And here we are! Now that is the definition of perseverance! 3 years! We asked them to invite their friends for a BS tomorrow afternoon in the home, but she said "no, not in my house. there will be too many people! we must teach outside by the river!" How incredible! I hope a lot of people come tomorrow to hear the Word of God! I also asked if we could daily meet at 8, so that I can teach them and encourage them. THey said "YES!". ALl they want to learn is how to teach others to accept Christ! Their passion is such an encouragement to me!
Lord, I thank you. THank you for answering the prayers of these women and of my team. I ask that you would send your Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of the people in this village. Give us the courage to persevere even when people might reject God. Let your power fall, let your voice be heard!
Blog #2:
The sound of voices being raised to Jesus is the most beautiful thing in the world. All 25 + of us are in this small room, sitting on the floor, on stairs, on uncomfortable wooden benches and small chairs. These teenage girls will sing at the top of their lungs singing praises to the King who they committed to follow today! They have these small Bibles open with very little light, listening intently to Sarah teaching about Nicodemus. They are so eager to learn about God's Word! As sarah is explaining the love of Christ, every eye is glued on her and smiles are on every face. She legitamately gave an invitation for them to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Once again, the Lord has moved. Hearing over 15 people repeat the prayer of salvation is an answer to prayer of salvation is an answer to prayer. The sound of souls entering the Kingdom of God. The sound of Satan losing people from his grip of death. The sound of angels rejoicing in heaven. Music to my ears.
prayer:
Lord, I pray for a spiritual awakening in this village. The bonds need to be broken. The spiritual blinders on these people are keeping them from fully understanding the Gospel. These DCs know about the BIble, but they have not let it change their hearts and have a personal relationship with the creator of the world. The Lord has started to do this. Some people are truly being brought from death to life, but it breaks my heart when people reject God's Word and choose to live their lives headed straight for Hell. I pray that the people who have let the Gospel save them will continue to learn about Him. So that the one time decision will become a daily walk. I pray that the spirit continues to dwell here.
Blog #3:
It is really so different here. This week we have done our bathing in the river. 1. I can catch dirt and sand with my hands. 2. trash and sewage goes in the river. 3. There is a strong current. Therefore it is quite interesting. Especially when there are like 10 people watching us bathe and the children are hanging over us.
About 30 minutes ago I watched the caribou (water bufalo) get killed and skinned! it was pretty awesome! (guess what we had for dinnner???)
The storms every afternoon are incredible. The beautiful scenery, rolling thunder, flashes of lightening. It truly screams the greatness of our God!
Ministry this week has also been really different. When we first arrived, there were 2 Christian women. One of them, Ate Nora, accepted Christ in 1986, was baptized in 87, then her husband came to know the Lord. I have been leading Bible Studies with them all week!
Other than that, this village is filled with devoted catholics who are turned off to Christianity. We would not be welcomed into homes and people would not even listen to us. But after the first few days of intense prayer for God to break the chains of the bondage of the RC, He started doing so! I had about 40 people at one of my Bible studies. People started asking questions, asking for BSs in their homes, and asking how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So far, 53 people have prayed to receive Christ and all of them have become further involved! They have invited new people to every BS! They eagerly show up to BS with Bible in hand. We got a little note today from twin girls who are like 13. They thanked us for coming to teach them how to love and follow Jesus. Many people have said they can just feel the presence of God in their lives, like they have something to live for now! They are so excited to keep meeting together and studying the Word of God, even though we are leaving!
These are some things I am struggling with:
1. There is no way we can reach EVERY person in this village and I pray that the new believers will tell them! It would hurt so bad to hear that no one told them.
2. The children. They love us so much! Yesterday, Roserose and Oday starting crying saying, "Please dont leave. I do not want you to forget me." It is impossible to know whether or not the children understand the Gospel. I pray that the adults will teach them, but also that they will remember these BSs and songs their whole lives.
3. I just want to be home. I still have some focus, I am just praying for a renewed strength this break. The cross is bigger than any of my desires. The vast number of lost people is bigger than my number of complaints. The need for the Gospel is bigger than my need for American amenities.
It might seem as if I am suffering, but whatever this is, it's ll for Jesus! I do not want any praise for what I"m doing this summer. Because it is not about me. I have given up on me and handed it all to the Father. It's not me living, but Christ living in me. Read Matthew 5:16. When people see my good works, they should glorify my Father in heaven. Christ magnified, not me. But speaking of my "good works", it is filthy rags. My works mean nothing, I am saved my grace alone. Ephesians 2:1-10.
I really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. I could not get through this without the body of Christ at home lifting me up. It is what keeps me going. I cannot wait to be home and see all of you. For those of you who know me and those who don't, I love you!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Someone worth losing everything for....
Hey everyone!! This is going to be a little briefing of what I do on a daily basis ministry wise, then a recap on this last barangay.
Well, from Oras, which is our basecamp, we catch a sketchy little boat ride to our village. We step off the boat, and its like the red carpet. People are taking pictures on their cell phones. (Don't know why they have cell phones when there is no service). They all think I am a super model or a movie star or something. So our first task is to find the Kapitan. After we ask for a place to eat, sleep, use the CR and bathe we get settled. Normally we do a Plaza Presentation the second night we are there. That consists of a few songs, a skit that shows the Gospel, a testimony, and a presentation of the Gospel. There have normally been about 50-60 adults there. This is not counting the thousands of children running around.
After this we spend time doing Bible Studies. We walk around the village and ask families if we could teach them the Bible. When they say yes, we set up a time with them. We teach stories in the New Testament that communicate the Gospel. For example, my first story in my set is Jesus and the Samaritan woman. I teach how Jesus went out of His way to talk with her, and then offered her Living Water, or eternal life. Then I move into the Gospel and what eternal life is. Honestly, most people speak up before we even give an invitation. They verbally communicate that they want eternal life, or to follow Jesus, or a personal relationship. After this we ask if they would like to have another Bible study, to which they always reply yes. So throughout the week we continue to go back to the family, discipling them and teaching the Gospel to their family members. It is so hard to leave them like babies in the jungle at the end of the week. That is pretty much a general idea of what we do ministry wise.
Here are some recaps from my journal this past week:
6/24- Once again. Oh my goodness the Lord has shown His presence in this village. Now this is the way to start out a week. I taught the three adults about the Samaritan woman in John 4. The Lord used me to share about Living Water and eternal life. This is not even a place of pride, but a place of complete humility, at the feet of Jesus. I am astounded that He would use someone who has as many faults and weaknesses as I do. I then shared the Gospel. How we are sinful, yet God sent His only Son to take our punishment. I was just being led to different scriptures and words were coming from my mouth that were not exactly passing through my brain. After asking these people if they wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus, they immediatly exclaimed yes. They were led in a prayer by our translator and from that moment on dedicated their lives to follow Christ. Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to welcome a brother and two sisters into the Kingdom of God.
6/25
The stories of people coming to the Lord are always so incredible. I am so honored that I get to have such a part in this. The dead being made alive again is such a powerful event. The Spirit of God is moving so miraculously throughout these villages.I hope that they can continue to dig into the Word and follow God in complete obedience. We should not worry about what happens next, because we took our part in the task of sharing the Gospel. Only God can convict and change lives. We are only called to spread the Word. God does not guarantee that I get to see the fruits of my labor, but for some reason He has allowed me to take part in the harvesting of souls.
6/28
I was really struggling today in the area of leadership. This was my entry: I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. Like I am being ridiculed by Satan for not being a good team leader. I could be serving better and leading my team by example in more ways. I feel like I am failing at the task at hand. During team time, it seems like no one is paying attention. And even if they are, no one is learning anything. I feel like any opinion I have is being shot down, like my words do not even matter. It's like they could really do this without me, who needs Laura? not this team. I just really need some encouragement. I am about the lead a Bible study and I just feel useless. It's like I might as well just let a translator do the whole thing. Apparently I dont know how to communicate with the people here. I dont know how to serve or lead.
After about 5 minutes of prayer I wrote this: I will however go back to Scripture, the ultimate example of servant leadership. Christ. He was nothing, and yet gave everything. He has his "team" following Him, all because he loved and served. Lord, I pray that I will be a depiction of Jesus Christ today. That people will listen to and follow me, because I listen to and follow you. I consecrate my life to Thee.
This is one day after a Bible Study. It is very interesting watching the faces of those hearing the Gospel. Some just smile, some look upset, others are just thinking and processing. You can tell the Spirit is moving in hearts. You can see their eyes being opened to who Christ really is. The RCC has lied to them their entire lives. These people are finally hearing the message that we hear everyday. The Gospel that we take for granted. They are hearing for the first time and crying out Abba Father. I have seen eyes being opened. I have seen the dead be brought to life. I have seen a life be redeemed. There is power in the name of Jesus!!
37 people! 37 people who responded to the Gospel and said they wanted to follow Christ in a personal relationship with him!!
"You know that in the end you are not really giving anything away at all. Instead you are gaining. Yes, you are abandoning everything you have, but you are also gaining more than you could have in any other way. So with joy- with joy!- you sell it all, you abandon it all. Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything for... For the sake of more than a billion people today who have yet to even hear the gospel, I want to risk it all. For the sake of twenty-six thousand children who will die today or starvation or a preventable disease, I want to risk it all. For the sake of an increasingly marginalized and relatively ineffective church in our culture, I want to risk it all. For the sake of my life, my family, and the people that surround me, I want to risk it all." - David Platt, Radical
Thank you to everyone who is praying for me. It is really your prayers that get us through this. When I am on my face crying before the Lord, your prayers get me through. When we rejoice in the many salvations, it is because of your prayers! I really could not do this without the support of you at home. For those of you who I grew up with, thank you. For those who have no idea who I am, thank you. For my family who prays and loves me, thank you.
All praise, unto the Lamb, who sits on the throne, honor and power, dominion and praise!!!
Well, from Oras, which is our basecamp, we catch a sketchy little boat ride to our village. We step off the boat, and its like the red carpet. People are taking pictures on their cell phones. (Don't know why they have cell phones when there is no service). They all think I am a super model or a movie star or something. So our first task is to find the Kapitan. After we ask for a place to eat, sleep, use the CR and bathe we get settled. Normally we do a Plaza Presentation the second night we are there. That consists of a few songs, a skit that shows the Gospel, a testimony, and a presentation of the Gospel. There have normally been about 50-60 adults there. This is not counting the thousands of children running around.
After this we spend time doing Bible Studies. We walk around the village and ask families if we could teach them the Bible. When they say yes, we set up a time with them. We teach stories in the New Testament that communicate the Gospel. For example, my first story in my set is Jesus and the Samaritan woman. I teach how Jesus went out of His way to talk with her, and then offered her Living Water, or eternal life. Then I move into the Gospel and what eternal life is. Honestly, most people speak up before we even give an invitation. They verbally communicate that they want eternal life, or to follow Jesus, or a personal relationship. After this we ask if they would like to have another Bible study, to which they always reply yes. So throughout the week we continue to go back to the family, discipling them and teaching the Gospel to their family members. It is so hard to leave them like babies in the jungle at the end of the week. That is pretty much a general idea of what we do ministry wise.
Here are some recaps from my journal this past week:
6/24- Once again. Oh my goodness the Lord has shown His presence in this village. Now this is the way to start out a week. I taught the three adults about the Samaritan woman in John 4. The Lord used me to share about Living Water and eternal life. This is not even a place of pride, but a place of complete humility, at the feet of Jesus. I am astounded that He would use someone who has as many faults and weaknesses as I do. I then shared the Gospel. How we are sinful, yet God sent His only Son to take our punishment. I was just being led to different scriptures and words were coming from my mouth that were not exactly passing through my brain. After asking these people if they wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus, they immediatly exclaimed yes. They were led in a prayer by our translator and from that moment on dedicated their lives to follow Christ. Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to welcome a brother and two sisters into the Kingdom of God.
6/25
The stories of people coming to the Lord are always so incredible. I am so honored that I get to have such a part in this. The dead being made alive again is such a powerful event. The Spirit of God is moving so miraculously throughout these villages.I hope that they can continue to dig into the Word and follow God in complete obedience. We should not worry about what happens next, because we took our part in the task of sharing the Gospel. Only God can convict and change lives. We are only called to spread the Word. God does not guarantee that I get to see the fruits of my labor, but for some reason He has allowed me to take part in the harvesting of souls.
6/28
I was really struggling today in the area of leadership. This was my entry: I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. Like I am being ridiculed by Satan for not being a good team leader. I could be serving better and leading my team by example in more ways. I feel like I am failing at the task at hand. During team time, it seems like no one is paying attention. And even if they are, no one is learning anything. I feel like any opinion I have is being shot down, like my words do not even matter. It's like they could really do this without me, who needs Laura? not this team. I just really need some encouragement. I am about the lead a Bible study and I just feel useless. It's like I might as well just let a translator do the whole thing. Apparently I dont know how to communicate with the people here. I dont know how to serve or lead.
After about 5 minutes of prayer I wrote this: I will however go back to Scripture, the ultimate example of servant leadership. Christ. He was nothing, and yet gave everything. He has his "team" following Him, all because he loved and served. Lord, I pray that I will be a depiction of Jesus Christ today. That people will listen to and follow me, because I listen to and follow you. I consecrate my life to Thee.
This is one day after a Bible Study. It is very interesting watching the faces of those hearing the Gospel. Some just smile, some look upset, others are just thinking and processing. You can tell the Spirit is moving in hearts. You can see their eyes being opened to who Christ really is. The RCC has lied to them their entire lives. These people are finally hearing the message that we hear everyday. The Gospel that we take for granted. They are hearing for the first time and crying out Abba Father. I have seen eyes being opened. I have seen the dead be brought to life. I have seen a life be redeemed. There is power in the name of Jesus!!
37 people! 37 people who responded to the Gospel and said they wanted to follow Christ in a personal relationship with him!!
"You know that in the end you are not really giving anything away at all. Instead you are gaining. Yes, you are abandoning everything you have, but you are also gaining more than you could have in any other way. So with joy- with joy!- you sell it all, you abandon it all. Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything for... For the sake of more than a billion people today who have yet to even hear the gospel, I want to risk it all. For the sake of twenty-six thousand children who will die today or starvation or a preventable disease, I want to risk it all. For the sake of an increasingly marginalized and relatively ineffective church in our culture, I want to risk it all. For the sake of my life, my family, and the people that surround me, I want to risk it all." - David Platt, Radical
Thank you to everyone who is praying for me. It is really your prayers that get us through this. When I am on my face crying before the Lord, your prayers get me through. When we rejoice in the many salvations, it is because of your prayers! I really could not do this without the support of you at home. For those of you who I grew up with, thank you. For those who have no idea who I am, thank you. For my family who prays and loves me, thank you.
Friday, July 1, 2011
A day in the life of...
So hey guys, I just wanted to share with ya'll what a daily routine is for a riverboat backpacking missionary.
First once we arrive in a barangay (village) I as team leader must find the Kapitan (mayor-ish) of the village and explain our purpose. We then must ask for a place to stay and a place to cook and use the CR. That is the Comfort Room, or bathroom. And it is not really comfortable. At all. Once we get permission we start our stay in the village!
Well, we wake up about 6:00am. At least that is when the alarm goes off. The karoke, roosters and dogs start going off about 4. Not to mention the random rat scratches, dog fights, and demon possessed sounding pigs that sporatically alarm us in the middle of the night. We sleep in anything from a straw and bamboo hut, to a tree house, to a cinderblock square. All 6 of us sleep in the same room. So all those nasty boys who snore are also hard to sleep with. We have sleeping mats and mosquito nets. Let me tell you, the bugs here are crazy. The flies are insane. I feel like a corpse sometime because there are so many landing on me. The knats and other flying creatures won't leave me alone.
We then make breakfast. This is either over a fire or over charcoal. And if we are really lucky its over dried coconut which smells terrible. We will eat eggs most of the time. Until we run out. Because when we travel into villages we have to provide all our food, so we have to bring enough for about 10 days. We only have real meat for the first two days, when we can keep it fresh. For the rest of the days we eat rice, and sometime veggies. oh, and canned meat... gross!
After breakfast we have bathing time. Not in a shower. There is no such thing as running water. We grab a bucket and a scooper and head to the watering hole. Fill it with cold water. You pour this water over your body. Let me tell you, you still have your clothes on and we normally have an audience. Quite interesting. In the hotel this week we have a real shower. I have never been so thankful to be naked while bathing. And its also very hard to rinse soap out of long hair. I have many times contemplateld cutting it all off.
The toilets do not have seats on them. Its weird. so you have to flush it with water, pouring it down the back. Sometimes we have holes in the ground with like a toilet seat on top. thats even more interesting. You have to master the squat. Its essential.
I will later give you a run down on ministry things. But i have to switch computers so that I can skype with my parents!
First once we arrive in a barangay (village) I as team leader must find the Kapitan (mayor-ish) of the village and explain our purpose. We then must ask for a place to stay and a place to cook and use the CR. That is the Comfort Room, or bathroom. And it is not really comfortable. At all. Once we get permission we start our stay in the village!
Well, we wake up about 6:00am. At least that is when the alarm goes off. The karoke, roosters and dogs start going off about 4. Not to mention the random rat scratches, dog fights, and demon possessed sounding pigs that sporatically alarm us in the middle of the night. We sleep in anything from a straw and bamboo hut, to a tree house, to a cinderblock square. All 6 of us sleep in the same room. So all those nasty boys who snore are also hard to sleep with. We have sleeping mats and mosquito nets. Let me tell you, the bugs here are crazy. The flies are insane. I feel like a corpse sometime because there are so many landing on me. The knats and other flying creatures won't leave me alone.
We then make breakfast. This is either over a fire or over charcoal. And if we are really lucky its over dried coconut which smells terrible. We will eat eggs most of the time. Until we run out. Because when we travel into villages we have to provide all our food, so we have to bring enough for about 10 days. We only have real meat for the first two days, when we can keep it fresh. For the rest of the days we eat rice, and sometime veggies. oh, and canned meat... gross!
After breakfast we have bathing time. Not in a shower. There is no such thing as running water. We grab a bucket and a scooper and head to the watering hole. Fill it with cold water. You pour this water over your body. Let me tell you, you still have your clothes on and we normally have an audience. Quite interesting. In the hotel this week we have a real shower. I have never been so thankful to be naked while bathing. And its also very hard to rinse soap out of long hair. I have many times contemplateld cutting it all off.
The toilets do not have seats on them. Its weird. so you have to flush it with water, pouring it down the back. Sometimes we have holes in the ground with like a toilet seat on top. thats even more interesting. You have to master the squat. Its essential.
I will later give you a run down on ministry things. But i have to switch computers so that I can skype with my parents!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)