Wednesday, March 2, 2016

February

Here in Guatemala, they say everyone who was born in February is crazy... Well, its's true! This month we started off by celebrating Lydia's 21st birthday- and she is crazy ;) And it was a crazy day! It was the first day of the bus ministry! We were in charge of getting 80+ kids on one bus with permission slips signed and everything! At the same time, another group was on a different bus picking up another 80+ kids. It was an awesome day of kids club. We had almost 300 people on property that afternoon.
We had a mission team from Boston here for the first week of February. It was such a blessing- really! Just to serve with them and get to know some of them. We had the opportunity to go to Escuintla with a ministry called Building Guate. They are located right next to a huge garbage dump and are ministering to the community by building houses, teaching in the school, teaching bible studies, doing a soup kitchen at least once a week, and doing kids programs. I absolutely love going there! My day was spent cutting up vegetables and shredding chicken for the soup then playing with kids all afternoon. I had a blast! The day we went was a holiday for the kids. It is called "carnival." And how they celebrate is by making these hallowed out egg shells and filling them with confetti, painting them and sealing them up. They do that the week prior, then when it is "carnival" day, they go around smashing these eggs on each others heads! It is literally one of my favorite days. You get confetti everywhere!!!
Sadly, that day was my last day with my family here. They had been serving with Potter's Field for a year and their commitment was up. So that night we went to dinner as a family (with Lydia), and Lydia and I nailed them with the confetti eggs :D it was a blast and a good way to send them off! I miss them a lot but I know they are being obedient to the Lord and enjoying being back in Maui.
Something else exciting happened this month- the IGNITE 10 interns got their field locations! It has been cool to see them all growing in the Lord and now preparing even more for their country assignments. Three of the students are going to a new location for their 6 months of field time- Browning, Montana! There is a Blackfeet Indian Reserve there and the door is wide open to go minister to them, so they are going! it is really exciting to see what the Lord is doing in this ministry and the opportunities that come! The rest of the interns will be sent out to Cambodia, Kenya, and Guatemala. But first they have to complete training! Time has flown! And they have about one more month left. This class has been really fun. We try and do outreaches within the city at least once a week. Or sometimes, the interns get to go other places for outreach. This month we did outreaches in the market, the park, and the interns even got to come to school with Lydia and I for recess!
They also got the chance to go to Escuintla. Lydia and I planned a kids club, some people helped with construction, and some helped with them men's and women's bible study. It was a blast! We did a skit for the kids and they loved it!
The public school ministry is going really well. I love all my classes and they know a lot of English- it's really encouraging! But, obviously, the best part is being able to share from the bible every class. I have been going through a children's bible with pre-K- 3rd grade and then with 4th-6th I'm going through Matthew. We have been learning parables, Jesus calming the storm, when Jesus asked the disciples "who do you say I am?", and so much more. God is stretching me, but He always is faithful to give me words. I have had some difficult classes who just need to be disciplined. This is something that is super hard for me, but God is teaching me that I need to discipline them to show love. If I just let them do whatever they wanted- I wouldn't be loving them. But it gets hard, I am bad at being stern! I just want to give grace and let things slide, but I know that isn't what I am to do. So pray for me please. God gives wisdom to those who ask, and I am daily asking Him for that wisdom.
Like I said, we started the bus ministry this month! It has been so so so SO incredible! Wednesdays are crazy! I spend 5 hours teaching in the morning. Then when school gets out, I get together all the kids who are going to come on the bus, I have to make sure they all have permission slips and everything. Then, I walk them form the school to where the bus will pick us up and we wait for Lydia to come in the bus already full of kids from 2 other schools. We all get on and ride to the center where we have kids club. We eat, dance, play, hear a bible lesson, then get back on the bus to take kids home. 9 hours straight of kids for me :) I wouldn't have it another way. But when I get home, work still isn't over. I just give thanks to God for what He has done and ask for strength to carry on with the responsibilities that I have. He is so good! I get tired, I get worn down, but His joy really is my strength.
Prayer requests:
- the bus ministry
- all my students, that they would be transformed by the Word of God that they hear from me once a week
- kids club; it has changed so much since the bus ministry so we are trying to figure out what to do with the change in numbers from 40 to 170 or more!
- for me to find rest in the business and take that time to just sit at Jesus' feet, to come away
- the interns as they are finishing up their training!



The girl RAs :D

day off with Lydia

Girls tea:) IGNITE class 10

Escuintla with the Boston team

coca-cola in a bag (like the locals)


bus ministry

so many students :D

outside of one of the schools I teach at

Escuintla

"pica-pica" the confetti filled eggs


more fun at Escuintla

Antigua