Hello all! I should be back in Michigan soon! I'm excited to see everyone!
I find it sort of ironic that at Sunday school last week, one of John Piper's practical tips for the fight for joy in God was to take care of biological needs-- sleep, diet, and exercise. For on Monday this week, I went to bed at 8:30 p.m., then I got up at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday in order to finish a paper for science. Before that, I just had the biggest problem deciding whether I would take care of my body and get a proper amount of rest or just trust that God might give me lots of grace, so that I might not misrepresent Him in any way more than I already do, due to my lack of sleep. As it turns out, He did give me lots of grace, and He sustained me until 8 p.m., when I went to bed.
One thing that stuck out to me from one of my devotionals on Monday morning was that one cannot really know what God's will is, if one does not regularly spend time with Him. The devotional is written as if God is speaking directly to you, and it says, "In order to know My will, you must spend time with Me-- enjoying my presence. This is not an onerous task but a delightful privilege." This makes much sense. If one does not quiet himself and separate himself from the world's distractions, then how can he listen to God's voice? If one does not know God and His Word, then how can he know God's will?
Another thing that is awesome to think and reflect on is the fact that Jesus is the "perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Thus, it is not up to us to sanctify ourselves. Rather, it is up to God. He will shape us and mold us into the people whom He wants us to be. We just have to be willing to let Him do His work! I just love the images of the potter and the clay and the metal being refined by fire.
On Wednesday this week, I had a rough draft due in my English class. I should have planned my time more wisely, but I did not. It was evident that I would not be able to get it done on time. I was thinking to myself, "Oh, man, I really want to get the full amount of peer review points." Yet, I felt God saying to me, "Don't you dare spend time working on your paper instead of spending time with me." So I spent time with my heavenly Father instead, and let me tell you, it was the best decision ever! I felt incredibly blessed, experiencing such great intimacy with my Father. I also felt peace about the rest of the day when, before, I had been really stressed out. There are so many times when I do not want my quiet time with the Lord to end. I bet I could spend all day in His glorious presence! (Oh wait, I will-- one day. And that one day will actually be all of eternity! What a great thought to rejoice in!)
Blessings this week: classical music (particularly "Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel"), chewy peanut butter cookies, the sun (warmth) on my face and arms, the right amount of wind blowing, thunder.
Words I learned this week: monolith, hydrophobia, coda.
Quotes: (all taken from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer)
"The truth is that while God dwells in His world He is separated from it by a gulf forever impassible. However closely He may be identified with the work of His hands they are and must eternally be other than He, and He is and must be antecedent to and independent of them. He is transcendent above all His works even while He is immanent within them."
"In the beginning God, the uncaused Cause of matter, mind and law."
"Jacob had never been for one small division of a moment outside the circle of that all-pervading Presence. But he knew it not. That was his trouble, and it is ours. Men do not know that God is here. What a difference it would make if they knew."
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Week in Review April 16-22
Hello all,
Just one more week of classes, and then four days of exams. I think that if I can just get through this week, then I will be fine, and exams should be a cinch! I am so excited to come home and to see everyone!
On Monday of this week, as I was walking back to Mayfield after lunch, I began to notice how everyone's arms move when they walk. It's not a movement that they do voluntarily, but involuntarily. It just comes naturally. Another thing that I noticed was that whatever leg goes forward the opposite arm goes forward as well. I was just so mesmerized and amazed at this metronome-like motion. Our Creator is amazing!
I am in the process of writing a paper about suffering, so here is some of what I have written so far. Let me know what you think!
There is always one question in particular that comes up when people talk about why one’s mother is dying of cancer, even though she goes to church every Sunday and has been a “good” person all of her life. It is the same question that people ask when one’s daughter dies way before her proper time—because a drunk driver ran a red light. It is the question that Elie Wiesel dealt with while he was in concentration camps during the Holocaust. The age-old, difficult, mind-boggling question is: How are people supposed to reconcile a kind, loving, and just God with the suffering that is seen in the world? I myself have wrestled with this question time and time again. I have come up with different ways to answer the question, but, ultimately, I do not believe humans can ever know the full answer.
First of all, what is a Christian view of suffering? What does the Bible have to say about it? When God created the world and everything in it, nothing was wrong with it at first. It was perfect. After God created something, “[He] saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:9). If Adam and Eve had never sinned, then there would be no suffering in the world today. However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and chose to eat the fruit from the tree that God commanded them not to eat from. Because of this, everything in creation fell. Beginning with Adam and Eve, humans began to have a sinful nature. Every human that has been born since then has had one. Future humans who are born will have one. When sin came into the world, so did suffering.
Fortunately, there is a third part to human history, known as redemption. This is when God sent His only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of the world (people in the past, present, and future) because He wanted to have a deep, intimate relationship with them. When Jesus did this, He opened the way for people to know Him and to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Thus, people who want to have a relationship with Christ are filled with the Holy Spirit, but they also have the sinful nature that they had ever since they were conceived. These two natures are at “war” with each other. Paul describes quite well this battle within him:
I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members (Romans 7:21-23).
Thus, even if someone has the Holy Spirit inside of them, that person can still do evil acts. That is why someone can read his Bible one minute and then lash out at his little sister in anger the next. It is also why some people choose to fill themselves with alcohol, which causes them to have a slower reaction time to stimuli, like red traffic lights.
The rest of creation—our physical bodies and the physical world—is still under the curse of sin as well. This is why humans contract illnesses. It is also why tornadoes, hurricanes, and other weather elements often destroy human life. Thus, the only thing that was restored when Christ died on the cross was mankind’s relationship with Him. Everything else has to wait to be made whole until God makes a new heaven and a new earth.
It is simple to explain the origin of suffering—it all comes down to the fact that sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. However, still humans ask the question, “Why?” Why did my child have to be born with spina bifida? Why did my infant die in his crib? Why do I have terminal cancer? The intellectual answer does not satisfy these questions. Instead, people want to know how a loving, kind God could “let suffering happen.” Some answer this question by declaring that all suffering comes from the devil, over whom God has no control. However, this denies the Sovereignty of God. God is Sovereign over everything that happens. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and all-powerful. If He was anything less, then He would not be God. Luke 1:37 says, “For nothing is impossible with God.” Rather, a more probably explanation of how God’s Sovereignty and suffering go together is this: God allows suffering to happen. The key word is allows. Often times, it is the devil that wants to afflict people. This is seen in the case of Job. The satan came to God one day and said,
Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face (Job 1:9-11).
God then allowed the satan to do what he wanted to do, for it says, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’ (Job 1:12).
Since humans are made in God’s image, they have an idea of what is right and what is wrong. When they see a good woman suffering from the abuse of an alcoholic husband, they sympathize with her and have a twinge of the “this isn’t right” feeling. This is the justice of God being manifested in them. However, these people get angry and upset at the wrong thing. Instead, of getting upset at God over the suffering that is happening, they should feel sorrowful for the sin that was committed. The woman may not have done anything blatantly “wrong,” but her abusive husband has. He has chosen to please the desires of his sinful nature by over-indulging himself in alcohol instead of pleasing of God.
Yet, some may bring up the issue of natural disasters. When natural disasters happen, is it because all of the people in the town are horribly sinful? I think not. Rather, natural disasters serve to remind people of the first sin that Adam and Eve committed. It causes people to reflect on the frail state of humanity and realize their own need for God. This can be said not only of suffering caused by natural disasters, but also of any other type of suffering.
An important point must now be addressed: Some people think that God punishes people for their sin. It is quite understandable why they believe this, for Hebrews 12:5-6 says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” However, I do not believe that this verse intends to teach us that God is a punishing God. He is not sitting in heaven on His throne waiting for us to sin so that He can wag His finger at us and say, “Now, now, you know you aren’t supposed to do that. That will be five years of cancer for you.” Instead, the verse talks about holiness, rather than specific sins, for it is holiness that God is concerned with. It talks more about the process of being transformed into God’s image, rather than being disciplined for any specific sin. In a person’s heart, there may be selfishness present, which causes someone to steal what belongs to others and to speak harsh words to his mother. God is not worried about punishing the person for stealing, and He is not worried about punishing him for speaking harsh words to his mother. These are just manifestations of what is in his heart, which is what God actually cares about. Thus, bit by bit, God soon works in the man’s life to weed out of his heart the selfishness that he has. In other words, God does not punish; rather, He sanctifies.
Even with all of this head knowledge about suffering, it is still quite difficult to understand it from the heart, especially while one is facing it. However, one can be assured that God has a perfect plan and that He does everything for His glory, including the allowance of suffering. Just consider the cross: Jesus endured great suffering and death, and, as a result, God has been glorified by it. Many people now confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. Isaiah 48:11 says, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” It may be difficult to understand, but God is somehow glorified through suffering.
Have a blessed week!
P.S. Please pray that I will find a job for this summer.
Just one more week of classes, and then four days of exams. I think that if I can just get through this week, then I will be fine, and exams should be a cinch! I am so excited to come home and to see everyone!
On Monday of this week, as I was walking back to Mayfield after lunch, I began to notice how everyone's arms move when they walk. It's not a movement that they do voluntarily, but involuntarily. It just comes naturally. Another thing that I noticed was that whatever leg goes forward the opposite arm goes forward as well. I was just so mesmerized and amazed at this metronome-like motion. Our Creator is amazing!
I am in the process of writing a paper about suffering, so here is some of what I have written so far. Let me know what you think!
There is always one question in particular that comes up when people talk about why one’s mother is dying of cancer, even though she goes to church every Sunday and has been a “good” person all of her life. It is the same question that people ask when one’s daughter dies way before her proper time—because a drunk driver ran a red light. It is the question that Elie Wiesel dealt with while he was in concentration camps during the Holocaust. The age-old, difficult, mind-boggling question is: How are people supposed to reconcile a kind, loving, and just God with the suffering that is seen in the world? I myself have wrestled with this question time and time again. I have come up with different ways to answer the question, but, ultimately, I do not believe humans can ever know the full answer.
First of all, what is a Christian view of suffering? What does the Bible have to say about it? When God created the world and everything in it, nothing was wrong with it at first. It was perfect. After God created something, “[He] saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:9). If Adam and Eve had never sinned, then there would be no suffering in the world today. However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and chose to eat the fruit from the tree that God commanded them not to eat from. Because of this, everything in creation fell. Beginning with Adam and Eve, humans began to have a sinful nature. Every human that has been born since then has had one. Future humans who are born will have one. When sin came into the world, so did suffering.
Fortunately, there is a third part to human history, known as redemption. This is when God sent His only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of the world (people in the past, present, and future) because He wanted to have a deep, intimate relationship with them. When Jesus did this, He opened the way for people to know Him and to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Thus, people who want to have a relationship with Christ are filled with the Holy Spirit, but they also have the sinful nature that they had ever since they were conceived. These two natures are at “war” with each other. Paul describes quite well this battle within him:
I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members (Romans 7:21-23).
Thus, even if someone has the Holy Spirit inside of them, that person can still do evil acts. That is why someone can read his Bible one minute and then lash out at his little sister in anger the next. It is also why some people choose to fill themselves with alcohol, which causes them to have a slower reaction time to stimuli, like red traffic lights.
The rest of creation—our physical bodies and the physical world—is still under the curse of sin as well. This is why humans contract illnesses. It is also why tornadoes, hurricanes, and other weather elements often destroy human life. Thus, the only thing that was restored when Christ died on the cross was mankind’s relationship with Him. Everything else has to wait to be made whole until God makes a new heaven and a new earth.
It is simple to explain the origin of suffering—it all comes down to the fact that sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. However, still humans ask the question, “Why?” Why did my child have to be born with spina bifida? Why did my infant die in his crib? Why do I have terminal cancer? The intellectual answer does not satisfy these questions. Instead, people want to know how a loving, kind God could “let suffering happen.” Some answer this question by declaring that all suffering comes from the devil, over whom God has no control. However, this denies the Sovereignty of God. God is Sovereign over everything that happens. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and all-powerful. If He was anything less, then He would not be God. Luke 1:37 says, “For nothing is impossible with God.” Rather, a more probably explanation of how God’s Sovereignty and suffering go together is this: God allows suffering to happen. The key word is allows. Often times, it is the devil that wants to afflict people. This is seen in the case of Job. The satan came to God one day and said,
Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face (Job 1:9-11).
God then allowed the satan to do what he wanted to do, for it says, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’ (Job 1:12).
Since humans are made in God’s image, they have an idea of what is right and what is wrong. When they see a good woman suffering from the abuse of an alcoholic husband, they sympathize with her and have a twinge of the “this isn’t right” feeling. This is the justice of God being manifested in them. However, these people get angry and upset at the wrong thing. Instead, of getting upset at God over the suffering that is happening, they should feel sorrowful for the sin that was committed. The woman may not have done anything blatantly “wrong,” but her abusive husband has. He has chosen to please the desires of his sinful nature by over-indulging himself in alcohol instead of pleasing of God.
Yet, some may bring up the issue of natural disasters. When natural disasters happen, is it because all of the people in the town are horribly sinful? I think not. Rather, natural disasters serve to remind people of the first sin that Adam and Eve committed. It causes people to reflect on the frail state of humanity and realize their own need for God. This can be said not only of suffering caused by natural disasters, but also of any other type of suffering.
An important point must now be addressed: Some people think that God punishes people for their sin. It is quite understandable why they believe this, for Hebrews 12:5-6 says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” However, I do not believe that this verse intends to teach us that God is a punishing God. He is not sitting in heaven on His throne waiting for us to sin so that He can wag His finger at us and say, “Now, now, you know you aren’t supposed to do that. That will be five years of cancer for you.” Instead, the verse talks about holiness, rather than specific sins, for it is holiness that God is concerned with. It talks more about the process of being transformed into God’s image, rather than being disciplined for any specific sin. In a person’s heart, there may be selfishness present, which causes someone to steal what belongs to others and to speak harsh words to his mother. God is not worried about punishing the person for stealing, and He is not worried about punishing him for speaking harsh words to his mother. These are just manifestations of what is in his heart, which is what God actually cares about. Thus, bit by bit, God soon works in the man’s life to weed out of his heart the selfishness that he has. In other words, God does not punish; rather, He sanctifies.
Even with all of this head knowledge about suffering, it is still quite difficult to understand it from the heart, especially while one is facing it. However, one can be assured that God has a perfect plan and that He does everything for His glory, including the allowance of suffering. Just consider the cross: Jesus endured great suffering and death, and, as a result, God has been glorified by it. Many people now confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. Isaiah 48:11 says, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” It may be difficult to understand, but God is somehow glorified through suffering.
Have a blessed week!
P.S. Please pray that I will find a job for this summer.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Week in Review April 9-15
Well, everyone, it looks like I will be coming home for the summer! I am excited and cannot wait to see everyone. I have two more weeks of classes, then four days of exams. I certainly have a lot to accomplish before this semester ends, so please pray that God would grant me (and every other college student) strength to finish strong.
Lately, I feel that God has been strongly speaking to me about using every bit of energy (which is usually a lot!) and time (which I am still learning to manage) that I have to pursue Him. He is showing me that I am His daughter and that He loves and cares for me so much. This pursuit of God, of course, is life-changing. (Though it is life-changing in the long run, what I want to focus on is the changes in life in the short term.) It means that I change what music I listen to. Certainly listening to songs such as "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King or "The Eye of the Tiger" are not sinful; however, they do nothing to direct my thoughts to God-- they do not help me in my pursuit of God. Now, this may sound sort of legalistic, but it really is not. I am not making a list of do this or do not do that. In fact, I have a lot of freedom in Christ. I am simply choosing to use the freedom that God gave me to proactively pursue Him. Another change that is made is how I view the time that is spent working on homework or writing papers or studying for tests and quizzes. Instead of viewing it as drudgery, I view it as an opportunity for God to teach me more about Himself or His creation or to just develop in me skills and qualities that I may need in the future. Now, I have absolutely no clue beforehand how God can do this most of the time, but He does. I am also trusting God that He will use every task that He gives me to do for His glory-- I may not see the importance of studying the minute details of mosses, liverworts, hornworts, Hannahworts, and Leahworts right now, but I trust that God will use my knowledge of it one day in the future.
Words I learned this week: homily, pince-nez, acolytes, quay, vaudevilles, promontory, cortege, assize.
Some quotes from A.W. Tozer's book The Pursuit of God:
"He is immutable, which means that He has never changed and can never change in any smallest measure. To change He would need to go from better to worse or from worse to better. He cannot do either, for being perfect He cannot become more perfect, and if He were to become less perfect He would be less than God."
"All our lives long we might talk of Jesus, and yet we should never come to an end of the sweet things that might be said of Him. Eternity will not be long enough to learn all He is, or to praise Him for all He has done, but then, that matters not; for we shall be always with Him, and we desire nothing more."
Have a great week, y'all!
Lately, I feel that God has been strongly speaking to me about using every bit of energy (which is usually a lot!) and time (which I am still learning to manage) that I have to pursue Him. He is showing me that I am His daughter and that He loves and cares for me so much. This pursuit of God, of course, is life-changing. (Though it is life-changing in the long run, what I want to focus on is the changes in life in the short term.) It means that I change what music I listen to. Certainly listening to songs such as "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King or "The Eye of the Tiger" are not sinful; however, they do nothing to direct my thoughts to God-- they do not help me in my pursuit of God. Now, this may sound sort of legalistic, but it really is not. I am not making a list of do this or do not do that. In fact, I have a lot of freedom in Christ. I am simply choosing to use the freedom that God gave me to proactively pursue Him. Another change that is made is how I view the time that is spent working on homework or writing papers or studying for tests and quizzes. Instead of viewing it as drudgery, I view it as an opportunity for God to teach me more about Himself or His creation or to just develop in me skills and qualities that I may need in the future. Now, I have absolutely no clue beforehand how God can do this most of the time, but He does. I am also trusting God that He will use every task that He gives me to do for His glory-- I may not see the importance of studying the minute details of mosses, liverworts, hornworts, Hannahworts, and Leahworts right now, but I trust that God will use my knowledge of it one day in the future.
Words I learned this week: homily, pince-nez, acolytes, quay, vaudevilles, promontory, cortege, assize.
Some quotes from A.W. Tozer's book The Pursuit of God:
"He is immutable, which means that He has never changed and can never change in any smallest measure. To change He would need to go from better to worse or from worse to better. He cannot do either, for being perfect He cannot become more perfect, and if He were to become less perfect He would be less than God."
"All our lives long we might talk of Jesus, and yet we should never come to an end of the sweet things that might be said of Him. Eternity will not be long enough to learn all He is, or to praise Him for all He has done, but then, that matters not; for we shall be always with Him, and we desire nothing more."
Have a great week, y'all!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Guatemala!
Hello all! I am glad to say that God brought me and everyone else back safe and sound from Guatemala. I just wanted to share with you all everything that happened on the trip. Most of the group left really early (3 a.m.!) the morning of Friday, March 16. I, however, was in the group that left on Saturday—at a much more decent hour, at 12:30 in the afternoon. We had smooth travel, and we arrived in Guatemala late that night (about 9), so we were shown our sleeping accommodations—mats made out of bamboo spread out around a campfire. Just kidding. It was actually quite comfortable beds at a place called SETECA, which is a seminary type of school.
At breakfast the next day (Sunday), I was introduced to the chocolaty spread and rich goodness of Nutella. This sustained me physically throughout the rest of the week. After breakfast, everyone hopped into the vans and 38 some people set out for church. First, we went up to the top floor of the church to help feed some hungry kids breakfast. At first, it was a bit difficult for me to jump in and interact with the kids because of the different language, but soon I was able to relax with the thought of, “Okay, these are just kids. I can do this.”
After that, there was Sunday school and church. One of the songs that was sung was “Yo Tengo un Amigo que Me Ama (I Have a Friend who Loves Me),” which I sort of knew from a VBS that I had gone to when I was a little kid. There were people who translated the message into English, but since I am a predominantly visual/kinesthetic learner, it was very difficult for me to pay attention to what was actually being said.
After church, our big group went to a restaurant called Piccadilly’s. As was the case with dinner each subsequent night, it took what seemed to be a long time for all of the drinks and food to finally arrive. I had to be patient and remember that there were a lot of people in our group, so things were going to be much slower than if I had just gone out to eat with my family. At first, it felt weird having Chinese, seafood, and Mexican food for dinner each night (since it did not feel right on a mission trip), but I learned to enjoy each meal as a time of fellowship and getting to know the people with whom I was serving. (In case anyone thinks we may have been extravagant in our eating habits, our most expensive meal came out to a little bit over $10 a head.)
Each day, we rolled out at about 8:15. We had a variety of different ministries: construction, evangelization, VBS programs for kids, English classes, and a medical clinic. For three days, I was part of the medical clinic. I was in the pharmacy part, so it was sort of like running a concession stand, except I was passing out drugs and not food, and the people did not have to pay for them. There were four “doctors” who would highlight the different medicines needed on a sheet of paper. My job was to find the drugs on the shelf. Then, another person would explain in Spanish the dosage of the drug.
Monday evening, there was a church service for the “Los Peregrinos,” or homeless people. It was mostly men, but some women and children came as well. First of all, there was singing and a devotional that one of our group members, Chuck, gave. After that, our group worked together to pass out food to the people. There was bouncing music being played, so the atmosphere was one of love, joy, and peace.
Wednesday was the team’s free day. Unfortunately, it was also the day that my stomach was acting up. I also had a headache, sore throat, and cough. However, I still felt well enough to go along. We went to Soila and Sylvia’s home (these ladies cooked lunch for all of us each day) in San Antonio. They had many goodies set out for the team to look at and to purchase. After everyone had had a chance to buy souvenirs, we were given a presentation about the culture in Guatemala. Weddings, in particular, were talked about, and part of the group was able to participate in one. The grinding of coffee and weaving was also demonstrated. After the team was done at San Antonio, we went to Antigua, a popular tourist attraction with markets.
On Thursday, people from a beauty school came in to give the locals free haircuts at the church. On Thursday evening, the team went to Mama Carmen’s house, which is sort of like an orphanage. Mama Carmen takes in the kids that are not wanted by anyone else. Many of them have some sort of physical ailment. One thing that was probably a big take-away for me from the trip was when all of us were eating pizza together. I just got this overwhelming feeling that what we were doing—having people from two different countries and languages eat together—was genuine love and fellowship and that we were all God’s people. In response to this realization, I began to hum softly the song “How Great Thou Art.” That was truly an amazing experience for me. The picture below with me and the kid is my favorite one from the trip.
On Friday, I was part of the kids/evangelization team. Since there was so much construction work to do that day, we had been planning on doing the kids ministry near where they were working. However, since many of the kids in that area were in school, the kids/evangelization team ended up working on a project called the Accion de Amor with the construction team. Whenever there’s a mission trip that involves construction, there will always be buckets and assembly lines. We had to move buckets with concrete up to the roof of a building in order to make a floor. In the morning and afternoon, home visits also took place, so I went on both of those. We would give each family a bag of food and ask them if they would like to share a personal testimony or if they had anything for which they would like us to pray. Many of the stories were sad but also encouraging. Abuse of women by their husbands seemed to be a prevalent theme, unfortunately. Friday night, there was a food distribution at the dump. Obviously, not all us could actually pass out the food, so most of us helped with keeping kids occupied while they were waiting in line.
Saturday was known as the “Lord, what were we thinking day?” On that day, there was a big event mainly for children. Over 800 people attended! There were bounce houses, a swimming pool, wordless book bracelets, coloring pages, balloon animals, face painting, and more! In order to feed all the people lunch, our group formed yet another assembly line and passed along plates of food. It took what seemed a long time (maybe 40 minutes), but praise God that there was enough food for everyone! The final event was breaking piñatas—50 of them, and they were the biggest piñatas that I have ever seen! The kids (and even the adults) definitely had a blast!
On Sunday morning, we had an early morning flight. As we left, the question that Dr. Walenciak had posed to us lingered in my mind: “What now?” I had already been to Costa Rica and Jamaica on mission trips, so I had seen poverty before. However, I still left feeling more thankful for hot showers and cafeteria food, since a lot of people do not have those things. If anything, though, I feel that God really told me, “Just trust me with your future,” because so many different questions have been running through my mind lately. Where will I serve this summer? What should I major in? Who should I marry? Or should I marry at all.
Overall, the trip was excellent, and I really do believe that God did some great things through us. I am sure that many seeds were planted, and some seeds were probably watered. Some probably even grew. None of this could have been accomplished without you—my prayer and financial support team. Thank you, so much. All glory to God!
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