Life in Panama is still amazing. I cannot believe that we past our halfway mark of our time here! I’m sitting here on the computer, frustrated that I haven’t written in so long because now I have no idea what to write. So much has happened, so many lessons learned, so many things we have seen and experienced. How can I choose which ones to write? I turned to my journal to see if there was something in there that can help make this easier for me but I haven’t written in there either! The same emotions came over me at night when it was time to write- it’s just too much. So here I am, overwhelmed, amazed, anxious to get it all out, and… well I guess ready to try to write. (But first I want to point out that I finally published a blog that I started a month ago and forgot about. It’s called “A Story” and it’s below this post).

The Darien marked a new mindset in my life. That experience was one that I will forever cherish in my heart. The entire time we were on the boat riding to La Palma I kept thinking “I can’t believe that this is my life”. I sat there, trying to practice my Spanish with the armed police officer sitting next to me, and Larry kept turning around telling us that this is something that most people never get to see. My heart was already so anxious, starting from about the time when Jami and I were on the bus traveling down together and we got to the first police stop point and they made us give them our passports to take our information (why?). I thought my heart was beating fast then, but NOW I am about to see something that, in his words were “straight out of National Geographic”. Walking through La Palma and visiting that small Embera village next to it was one of the most surreal moments of my life. I remember standing there and being overwhelmed with the emotion of “I have to radically change my life” and the thought of "I have to do something... really do something".

The rest of the weekend and all the people and places we visited just kept feeding into that desire. And I found myself walking around for two days as a zombie, not knowing what to think or how to feel. All I knew was that life is different from what I thought it was. Priorities, interests, dreams, goals, everything was changing in my head. Jami and I sat at dinner one night and talked for an hour about our new feelings of Christianity, our responsibility as Christians, our lives and what we think we need to do in the future. The longer I am here, the more lost I feel. The more I feel not like myself. The more I am unsure about anything in the future. The more I am here the stronger my desire is to serve God and to really fight for his kingdom. And I mean fight. Not just pray, not just serve through money donations or short mission trips or through being a good person who is a good example for other people to notice (all which are good things in life and that I do want to incorporate in my daily living) but really to fight. To DO something. To BE someone. To die to myself and to let Christ be my guide. I am really starting to see and to feel the responsibility we have as Christians to really show people Christ. To show people, not how to have a “better” life (especially to the measures of earthly wealth- money, technology, etc.) but how to have a life full of the grace and peace in Christ and to spend eternity in heaven. I start reading scriptures like Luke 13:22-30, Matt 7:21-23, and Matt 10:32-33, and I see the harsh reality of the world around us. Narrow is the gate to heaven and Christ will say to some people "I never knew you." We are all called to be ministers. And people need Christ all around us.

I have been reading Acts for the last month and from start to finish I felt God speaking to me, with every page I turned. (You can see just one example in that old blog that I just posted below). I love this book and all the stories in it. I have learned so many life lessons from its words:
4:31- Boldness
4:32- Giving and sharing your possessions
5:29- Obey God first
5:21- Rejoice in suffering
6:4- Taking pride in your ministries
7:60- Love your enemies
8:30- Whole hearted obedience
10- One person makes a big difference
11:23- Encouragement
14:15- Level-headedness and giving glory to God
14:20- Fearlessness to danger
16:7- God’s plan can be different from ours
18:11- Spreading the word takes a time commitment
18:21- Follow Gods will
19:9- Can only push so hard for so long
19:20- God’s great plan and his glory in all circumstances
19:23-24- The enemy at work (the power of one person and crowds)
20:24-35- Five great lessons
21:13- Willingness to die for Christ
24:16- Strive to keep your conscience clear before God and man
And so much more!

The other experience that I have had which I want to write about is the works that were done with the Harding spring break campaign group. We traveled up to the mountains and visited a congregation in Santa Marta. There we severed the people there by painting the church and a clinic and also serving some of the children there by bringing school supplies and singing with them. One of my favorite memories was as we all sat around under the songs and lifted our voices to God in song for over an hour. It was amazing and just the thing that Jami, Erica, and my spirits really needed.

We then traveled over to Colesito and it was there that I learned a great lesson. After working all day on helping build a foundation for the church there, we went to the gospel meeting that night. It was at that meeting that I saw something straight out of Acts, and it was one of the most powerful and impactful services I have ever sat through. Chris did an amazing lesson of encouragement and giving thanks to the people in the town, telling them that by giving us the food they showed us the love of God. They demonstrated to us the fruits of the Holy Spirit living in them. And by letting us serve them in the building, even though we slowed them down, they also showed the fruits of God in them. After that Raul got up and got “completely honest” with the church, touching on specific issues that needed to be resolved. Men and women responded. Men wept for Christ to dwell in their hearts and lives. Men from our group went up to love and encourage them (despite language barriers). Two were baptized and many hearts were renewed. Elio then went up to address a few problems that he heard were happening between the people and guided them back to the scriptures. He then got on his knees to pray for them. Powerful. The people circled around each other, mixing with one another and stood by those they needed to love and get closer to, as an act of humility and love and a pledge to try. They also said words of encouragement for leaders to step forward and not to wait for people to come to their church. In Acts 15 it talks about a specific church that was built up. Just like the one in Coclesito. I am witnessing amazing things here. Churches being served and serving one another like the churches in Paul, Barnabus, John, and Peters time. Amazing.

At one point Natalie said that it was like we gave them ALL our strength in serving them, since we got sick later that night. Betty said we got sick because we worked SO hard. How true. How blessed of an experience. In Luke there is the story about the Sheppard who would leave the 99 sheep to go after the one lost one. And put it over his shoulder and rejoice over its homecoming. That’s how we are to think about the experience. So many of us got so sick… really like over two thirds of the group. I found myself in a little clinic hooked up to an IV and feeling weaker than I ever have in my entire life. It was hard to remain positive and to feel like the weeks work was worth the degree of illness we were facing. But I saw Christ’s love in the service of those who stayed with us and people’s souls were saved and some hearts were restored. And for those reasons, I would do it all again.

Thank you for your patience as you have so much to read. Go look at my two recent photo albums to see pictures from these experiences. God is amazing and I am thankful for His love and this opportunity I have. I feel like I am in a training camp- being strengthened and renewed so much everyday. Facing trials and learning lessons. And slowly becoming the woman I am meant to be. I am also thankful for your support and prayers. We have started our new reading sessions and it has had a little rocky start so far with getting the schedule arranged. But I have two readers that I have met with and I am confident in their hearts and that God’s hand is in them coming. Just keep LST in your prayers as next week we will really start diving into it’s work again!

A story

This is a story mostly for those who know the struggle and pains that this particular incident caused in my life. Over two years ago I had a healer approach me in a dollar general store told me that he was sent from God to heal me of my struggles with my hip and proceeded to “heal” me in the parking lot. (To make a long story short-- I woke up with the same weak and shorter leg) This was an experience that took maybe an hour of my life but haunted me for weeks after. I desperately searched for answers that would explain this incident to me. And I would eventually put it in the back of my mind but it would occasionally creep back up and perplex me and pain me all over again.


About two weeks ago I found myself wanting to read the book of Acts . This was something that I have never done before (from start to finish anyways) and I was immediately drawn into the stories about the brave men who fought to spread the gospel to the unbelieving people. When I started reading chapter 3 I read about how Peter and John healed a man who was crippled from birth.... and all the emotions came back to me. Drowning me in confusion, heartach, a feeling of defeat and insignificance... harder than it ever has before. I found my heart calling out to God in total desparation for his guidance. That "healer" was bringing me so much pain. I pour myself out in my journal then I fell to my knees in prayer. I desparetly looked around the room for a sign of God around me. I thought the sunlight flowing in the windows were his comforting hand. I was eventually brought to tears and found myself laying on the floor before Him. All I heard was Raul Alverado, ask Raul to explain this situation to you. But too scared it was me, not relying on God, I went out with a sense of defeat and even sought encouragement from my roommates at dinner.

Little did I know that the next day, as I dived deeper into Acts, a passage would puzzle me. I was confused in it's meaning and as I waited for Jami to finish a reading session I found myself in Raul's office asking for clarification. And it was there, admist his answers that the truth set my heart free. I was perplexed over the significance of the Apostles needing to give someone the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15-16) after they were baptized since all the other scriptures say you are baptized to recieve the Holy Spirit. Well, I came to learn that the very next verse (vs 17) showed that they were talking about the HS being "upon" people and giving them the power to heal and perform miracles. An explination that went into depth about how this was only given from the Apostles. And it was only needed at this time to help spread the message and something that was according to his will (Hebrew 2:4).

So there I sat, dumbfounded at the events. Raul had the answer to the question in my heart and he did not even know he was delivering it to me! The power of God is astounding! And what brings me even more to my knees is the fact that I felt compelled to read Acts in the first place. Which lead me to Acts 3, the start of it all anways.
Thank you God. Show me how to listen.

That experience revealed to me the faithfullness of God and just how active he wants to be (and IS) in our lives. I don't know why God choose this time to bring me enlightenment. Maybe because I am being called to deeper places, maybe because I am need this truth for something in the future, maybe because I am a simple instrument right now and I am suppose to be sharing this story with you, or maybe this is something he has already tried to show me but I am just now listening.

Something else that I can see from this experience is the dark depths of Satan in this world. When I look back at my journal from that day I can see just how much I was wrestling with him. "Lord, I'm scared. I'm fearful to the depth of my heart. What if Satan encountered me so boldly that day? What is he knew/knows that would affect me so severyly and continue to on this day. What if Satan has such a grasp on that man and his ministry that he is blinding him from the truth?" And reading even further I can recall all the emotions that were stirring up inside of me. I felt weak, so wrong, and so unsteady in my faith because I was questioning the plans of God. "It hurts me to think I am so weak. It hurts me to think I was so wrong and so unsteady in my faith. It hurts to read about the healing of the crippled beggar and to see how many people came running to learn about Christ. The man told me that day that you wanted me to an instrument and to think about all the people that would be touched by my story. Am I not good enough? Do I not believe enough? So I not let you in enough to finally hear the answer to my cries?" Here the enemy was throwing all sorts of ideas and thoughts at me then blaming me for it! (But the heart is good, it is from God. This was a foul thing at work and therefor not from my heart. And not from God because his voice is never condemning- Romans 8:11).

But in the end I am confident that it was at this time that Christ was the conqurer. My repentance lead to enlightenment and to peace, instead of the past results of guilt and shame- death to my heart (2 Corinthians 7:10). Oh how alive our Enemy is, prowling like a roaring lion waiting for someone to devour! (1 Peter 5:14) I am so thankful for this opportunity to grow in wisdom and enlightenment. Something that I thought was so unreachable until I discovered that it comes from having a descerning heart that walks in a relationship with God, submerssed in his word and by putting on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18).


This was not meant to show off some great faith of my own, if anything it shows the amount of depth of insight that I still need to obtain in my life, but this was to show the great faithfulness of God. And it shows how active he wants to be in our lives if we open ourselves up to listening to him. Right now I am praying for boldness, depth of insight, and for the opportunities to gain wisdom and fall more in love with God. Thank you for listening and I hope that this can help you to see the Great love of God, the activeness of the Enemy, the great love of Christ... and whatever other lesson that God is telling to your heart right now... you just have to listen!!!!

NEW PHOTOS!

Ok, I don't have much time to write right now. I hope to get on soon to write more before we take off next week to go traveling with the Harding spring break campaign to do work for a couple days. I just wanted to be sure to put the links for my new photo's that are up online.

Here is the link that are my pictures from the Vacation Bible School that was held at the Curundu church last week. It was a huge success and a lot of children were able to attend. It was really hectic and at times we thought we were going to lose our minds but we made it through alive!
http://harding.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064229&l=ad388&id=71001583

And here are the pictures from our trip to Torti and the Darien. This was an experience of a lifetime and I feel like God opened my heart and mind to so much while I was here. I walked away from these three days with a new perspective on so much, and I am honestly still trying to sort it all out inside of me. God is great and he is faithful to his people.
http://harding.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064235&l=27fc5&id=71001583

Finally I want to say once again to be sure to check out Jami's blog. She has been better with postings than me lately and she also put up pictures. If you want to get a nice well-rounded view of the trip then you def need to be looking at her words and pictures as well!
http://www.jamiinpanama.blogspot.com/

I love you all! Please email me updates on your lives and keep me in the loop of things at home!

Uplifted

Praise God for this amazingly blessed time in my life! I am so thankful that God closed so many doors and left this trip wide open for me to step into. He is so faithful in his promises. He knew that I needed to be here, away from home and away from so many comforts and guards in my life. I needed to be completely separated from so many things, people, events, and habits that were really taking my focus off of the life that I should have been living… and being the woman that I was made to be. So often I found myself only being able to explain this experience and all of the emotions that came with it as “humbling.” I was being humbled before myself, man, and my God. I felt completely naked, unveiled, and vulnerable to the world around me and all the while being in a continuous battle over the many challenges that were hitting me in ever direction at any point of the day. But it is those very challenges that have really brought me to the point of really forcing me into great growths and maturity. In James chapter 1 it says "The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position". I have never understood that verse until now. I mean I am really seeing life from a WHOLE new perspective. And I feel so privileged to for this chance to do so.

Now I am so rejuvenated and so receptive to this place. I am so glad that I am able to call Panama home for the next four months. Everyday I fall more and more in love with the people and the culture here. What a great place this is! Really. Jami and I are constantly listing the many things about our lives here that we will miss when we go home: Taking taxis (because they are just a great source of so many good stories), the completely laid back Panamanian way of living, the traditians that will catch us off guard (for those of you who are not aware- sugar water is a nice way to cure mosquito bites and you eat a milk and rice pudding when your infant gets his or her first tooth), how insanely blunt people are here- your weight… your facial hair... you name it and they will say it! And so many other little treasures that makes life here so simply delightful.

*Please go and read Jami’s blog and be enlightened on a lot more of our hilarious adventures here*

I just can’t believe that this is our last week with Summer School and our readers in Curundu! Just as everything is starting to really get into a nice routine- everything is changing! We have really developed some great relationships with our readers over these last weeks. Two of our readers went with some of us girls to a little island just off the coast on Saturday. We spent a nice long day out on the beach and walking around the quaint little town. I daydreamed about running into the school’s principal and them telling me they had a need for an English teacher there- but it did not happen. Our readers are constantly bringing us fresh fruit and absolutely delicious Panamanian food, they invite us to their houses and out to movies, and we really are becoming friends with these individuals and I will be so sad when they are not in our daily lives anymore! But please keep them all in your prayers, as we are here to serve them and hopefully plant as many seeds as we can and really show them the love and power of Christ and His family. Next week is the start of VBS and that will definantly keep us busy. We are really hoping that this will be drawing in the youth around the communities and their parents as well.

Well it is late and I am exhausted from this long day. Tomorrow will be even longer… summer school, readings, and then a small group meeting that the people from the church and our readers are invited to. It’s a great opportunity for them to practice their English as we read a story in Matthew, play games and sing songs in English. And it’s also a great opportunity for them to build relationships with one another. And tomorrow night is a POTLUCK! So the people from the states are bringing food from there and the people from here and bringing some yummy Panamanian food. Yummmmmmm can’t wait!

I’m going to end with some words that I read the other night in “Waking the Dead” by John Eldredge. It’s a great book that I recommend to anyone.
And that is why living from your glory is the only loving thing to do. You cannot love another person from a false self. You cannot love another while you are still hiding. How can you help them to freedom while you remain captive? You cannot love another unless you offer your heart. It takes courage to live from your heart... ‘I desperately want to be who I am. I don’t want the glory that I marvel at in others anymore. I want to be that glory which God set in me.’

A verse on my heart

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:7-14

A lot to catch up

*This was a fast type with no time to correct the mistakes! So be patient please...

BRISAS DEL GOLF
Jami and I worked in Brisas Del Golf from the 14th-25th. This was an absolutley amazing opportunity. Steve and Janet Kliest are a couple from California who came here to do LST readings with the people in this community. And since there was such a huge response, Jami and I went over to help them. Everyday we would get a ride from a brother from the church and we would travel 30 to 40 minutes to Walter's house and begin our readings at 2:00pm. Because of the great need for so many people to have beginners classes, Jami and I would spend 3 hours of the day conducting small group classes and ending our night with one large group class that almost all of the small group readers would come back to attend. (We also each had a couple individual readers that we would work with on the LST Luke workbook.) This set up was a great ground for a lot of wonderful relationships to form with everyone there. It was only a matter of time that everyone quickly became good friends. We would find ourselves spending some of the time just laughing, telling stories, talking about music and movies, and just enjoying our time together. Jami did an amazing job in teaching them their English skills and I was so happy to be able to assist her where I could. I found myself being able to really use a lot of my education training in this classes so I am thankful for those skills I learned from Harding and student teaching. The large group night class was the time that we would have the readers look at the Luke workbooks. We followed the format of teaching them some basic vocabulary and sentences to say which they would follow by introducing themselves. For example, My name is "Rachel and I am wearing a black shirt and blue shorts." It was a fun time for the group because of the many attempts that people would make. We had individuals ranging from 16 years old to retired housewives who are trying to learn English... which made it a riot to watch, and it was also very encouraging for meto see them all trying so hard to learn. Then after the English lesson part we would then read the lesson in English and have them try to explain in spanish. It was a great class and I feel like they all we learning a lot from it. On the two fridays the Kliest's would have a party at night for the readers, families and friends, and the members of the church would come too. These were always fun times and good laughs. We would play games and have snacks and mostly we would develop deeper relationships with eachother. Since we finished the Briasa's weekly work on the 25th we started going to Walter's house on Sundays to continue the beginners lessons from 3-4:30. Then we invite them to stay to worship with the Brisas congregation at Walter's house at 5. This is a new congregation that just started this year and I believe that is why God is really working on these people in this community. Last week there were nine readers that came to church and this past Sunday there were a lot that came as well. God is amazing! Please pray for the people and the church in Brisas.

CURUNDU
Starting last week Jami and I have been working in the Curundu school/church. This has been a completely different experience but a great one as well. Our schedule is full with things in that building. We teach summer school during the day (I teach five 10-12 year olds in a class that is, obviously, in all English. It has been a huge learning experience since I have a wide range of English knowledge in that room. Jami is teaching a 6 and a 7 year old and Erica is working with the youngest children) and we each have about 6 readers that we work with as well. This is a completely difference experience because now we are working only with individual readers with more English skills. We both feel like we are able to share the Word more with people. I feel like I have gained a lot from my readers and their insights on the scriptures and what the Word is trying to teach them. On Wednesday nights we are having a "small group" class at the church. This is a time that we have a short bible study, songs and games all in Enlish. We are inviting our readers from Briasas Del Golf and from Curundu to come to the meeting. Last week was the first week and we were happy to see how many people came all the way from Brisas to the class! And the woman that we live with came to the class as well! This is another wonderful opportunity to expose people to the word of God and for them to see Christs light and love in the people of the church. I'm excited to continue to work in Curundu for the next few weeks.

LIFE IN PANAMA
We have done so many things since we have been here. I cannot express how wonderful the people here have been to me and Jami. They have really taken us under their wings and made us feel at home here. There are so many people from Harding here too! A few weeks ago we went on a hike with the youth group from church and when we were fellowshiping at the top, Raul made a comment about the "Harding Mafia" here. I feel like I have a lot of good friend here in Panama! This past Saturday we finally went to the Panama Canal. That was a really great experience. It's just not everday that you get to see something that has such a huge impact on so many countries. This past Sunday we stayed in Brisas Del Golf and went to dinner with some of the teenage and young adult readers that we have met. It was one of the best times we have had yet! Believe it or not I ACTUALLY spoke a lot of spanish. Well, it was more Spanglish but it was a good attempt just the same. This weekend is a huge youth convention and we are really looking forward to going to that. And a lot of our readers might be going to it too so please pray for that as well!

AS FOR ME
Three weeks is a long time to try to step in and explain the many things I have seen, observed, felt, and learned. Looking back on my journal on my journal it's amazing how I have been brought to face the reality of so many things. I have never been so content and at peace with things as I am right now. It was a long and hard road to this point but, as with any struggle, it becomes so clearly evident the importance of the lessons God is trying to teach you. Lessons that makes you wonder how you ever functioned before them. Instead of trying to write everything out to summerize it all, I am just going to share something I have already written:
1-22-08
...But while sitting here I find myself even more complexed over circumstances around me. Everyday I grow more and more tired and more and more weak while laying under this blanket of shortcoming. Panama has been so hard on me at times. Living here has sent me to a state of absolut perplexity and confusioin. How do I function here? How do I live in a place where I am stripped of one of the biggest comforts that I have: Verbal communication. I find myself sometimes feeling in isolation from the world around me. Not able to tap into the pool of materials that I use when I need to impress people around me. How do I function without being able to tell people about my accomplishments? How will I be able to live around people without them knowing all of my talents and abilities and seeing my charm? And even worse, how do I live when they are able to see Jamis? PRIDE IS A POWERFUL THING. Oh the lies that Satan so desperatly tries to convince us as truth.
Being here in Panama has humbled me down to being someone who is forced to rely on others for everything. It has forced me to reduce my talents down to a very unexercised science of desperatly trying to show Christs love with very basic forms of verbal communication. To develope relationships with a warm smile and a gentle touch. I have sat beside people in church and desperately prayed that my hand on their leg would somehow express to them the depth of the love and concern I have for them and their spirits. The results are amazing. It is said that when you loose one sense, then the others are heightened. Well there is a great power in the universal language of love.
.....Oh God how dare I complain that no one can see my talents when it's to YOUR GLORY that ALL works are done. What an amazing plan you had for the people here. What beautiful children they are. I do not care what role I play here. I am just so thankful for the chance to see your glory and power. I am thankful that you picked me.
Even in the week since I wrote this entry I have grown so much more. I find myself falling more in love with Christ and the more I study the word with my readers the more it comes alive in me. Truths I have known for so long are finally sinking in. The closer you are to God and the more you dedicate your time to serving him- the more fullfilled you are and the more purpose you feel. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I love you all so much!

Going strong

Everyday that I am here I really fall in love with it more and more. I am more comfortable with the people and my surroundings and I am beginning to really love the culture. This might come as a shock for some of you because my heart was never drawn to Panama but I knew that God wanted me there and that it was something I could learn and grow from. But now I am really thankful for this opportunity and I praise God for putting me in this country.

Some things are still hard to deal with.... Mostly it´s just that I don´t speak the language here. It is so hard to go to church and to not be able to bond with the other members (which is sooo hard for me not to talk!-- that comment is for you Mom!) I am so thankful that Jami knows spanish and she is willing to help me learn and fill be in on what is going on! But sometimes it is hard to be the ONLY ONE who does not understand. It can be very lonely and humbling most of the time. But I have never had to rely on God´s strength as much as I am here... so this is a great blessing to me. At church I found myself tearing up when they sang one of my favorite songs. Even though I did not know the words I still felt like I was actually being able to worship God with the people. It´s amazing how we take for granted even the little things in life. I did not realize how much singing praises to God meant to my heart and spirit.

It has become a joke here that I am going to wake up one morning and speak spanish. Some of the people here tease me saying that I have been here two weeks and I should know it by now. If only it was true! :) Betty it arranging for me to have lessons here soon and I cannot wait to start.

This past Sunday we went to the first service at a church in Brisas Del Golf . This was a very exciting day. A couple from California got in this weekend and will be doing LST work here for the next two weeks. Because of the great response they recieved from the people in the community, they needed me and Jami to come and start working there before our work in Curundu. At the information meeting we quickly saw that about half of the people who came did not know very much English. How the LST program works is that you read one-on-one with a reader. Each session you read through a passage in a Luke workbook. This is suppose to help people work on their conversational english skills but it also is a way to expose them to the word of God. Through your sessions with the readers you are able to ask them questions about the text and get them to really think about what they are reading... and also build relationships with them that will hopefuly show them the love of Christ in our own hearts and lives. So since so many people could not even read the text, Jami and I volunteered our time to work with small group beginners level classes. It has been an AMAZING week.

At first it was hard because I felt like I was not contributing much to the classes and most of the time I did not know what was going on. But slowly the people started really helping me feel welcome, but forcing me to practice my spanish and teaching me new words. One woman even promised to buy me a book to help me learn. I may not be able to communicate with them through words but I really feel like I have made some friends through this. (Also our taxi driver teaches me a phrase a night!) It is also incredible to watch as our night large group class has grown up to about 15 people! It is then that we work through Luke workbook with them to practice english comprehension. And with the help of some of the members of teh church who sit in on the lessons, they are able to communicate the messages of the lessons to them! I also have been working with two readers in the LST classes and one of them is hopefully going to start coming to church with us. I feel so connected to everyone and it has been a blessing to watch as we all bonded with eachother (the people in our classes act like they have been friends for years!) Words cannot explain all the amazing things God is doing in Brisas Del Golf!

I have no more time to write but I do want to say thank you to everyone for praying for me and my health! The tests all come out saying I am extremely healthy. My blood pressure was still low but not as low as before (it was 80/50 the first time- I wrote it wrong in my last blog. Now it was 88/60) is still just a little low but I have medicine to continue to help bring it up. So everything is just working out perfectly here!

We are getting internet at our house soon so more updates and PICTURES to come. Thank you for all of your encouraging comments, emails, and messages. I LOVE YOU ALL!