Quick recap of Sunday: Father's Day service was sweet. I played electric guitar with the band, and had the privilege of singing "Open the Eyes of my Heart" in English once through, and helping to translate for the team that is here from Alabama. I learned more about Ecuadorian time, also, because I got to church on time at 10:30 when we were supposed to have a pre-service practice, but besides Andrew Maust, the other American in the band, no one else showed up until 10:55. Haha... good times. It was a lot of fun getting to know the band, though, which consists of Natalie, Jhon, Luis, and Cristian. Please keep them in your prayers...
The Father's Day program had some games and a drama, and I was a "fill-in" son for one of the men on the missions team. He has three sons in the States, and two of them went to Alabama while one of them is still at Auburn. Sports fans out there can already feel the family tension doubling and tripling. After the food and the fun, I played some basketball ("all by myself") and then had another Ecuadorian timing experience: I was supposed to meet Efrain at 6 to help him out, and he didn't show up until 6:45. But I had a blast listening to worship music and attempting to play the drums!
Bible Study was great, too. Patrick, Mirian, Sylvia, Luis, Cristina, and Natalie were the ones who showed up, and they were not too shy about speaking English. Please keep them all in prayer, as well as a mysterious text-messager that needed help. We never got too many details, but this guy was distressed and wanted some help. We tried texting him back, but have yet to get another response... John Mark and I were able to help Mirian with a project she's doing for her tourism degree (quick thanks to Mrs. Shanks for translating into French!)... then back home after skyping with Dad and family and posting the looooooong blog.
I went to bed kinda late last night and was thinking that I would probably have a hard time waking up this morning, so I prayed a special prayer that God would ensure my waking up at the correct time. He kept his end of the bargain, as I woke up at the correct time, but I promptly fell back asleep. When I re-awoke at 8:50 AM (SMAC Club starts at 9), I was not happy with myself and kinda questioning why God would allow me to fall back asleep. Romans 8:28 is pretty clear about things like these (in my opinion), yet I was still not too happy as I rode the bus to SMAC. I arrived 10 minutes late (which is a miracle in itself), and promptly rushed upstairs to my club. Only 8 people were there (including Carlos, Carmen, Gabriel, and Andrea), and so I just asked them all to write down three questions about anything that we could discuss. I had noticed another guy do this last week, and I was trying to figure out a way to make it into a game, but couldn't think of any kind that would be fun for the students.
The first question I was given was "what do you think about love?". Instead of me answering all of the questions, I threw it right back at them, and the first answer I received was from Andrea: "God is love." WOW! This got me quite a bit excited, and while the other answers were more about worldly ideas of love, including "love is the driving force of the world", I was still beginning to grow in excitement for this club. The third question posed to the group, and I think more specifically to me (because I had stated that I am a Christian), was "why do you believe in God?". Please... just let that sit with you for a second... WHAT?! This was like two HUGE double doors swinging wide open to witness. We spent the rest of the hour just talking about God and Jesus and faith. Many of them (if not all) are Catholic, but I'm SO excited now about the next 2 months I have here to be able to grow in faith with them and help them see that Jesus truly is the only way to the Father. The second hour of club (with mostly the same people) was spent, BY REQUEST, listening to a Christian song: From the Inside Out by Hillsong United (The I Heart Revolution version). Yes, ladies and gents... they requested a Christian song! I can't wait to go (on time) to Club tomorrow! I'm planning on sharing "No One Like You" by David Crowder... it will be fun.
Please also keep Andrea Lopez in your prayers, the student who gave the "God is Love" answer. I had the privilege of getting to know her a bit more today, and she is planning on being an au pair to the States beginning in August. She has a very "wherever God wants me, I'll go" attitude, and her family loves God and is very religious as well, but I believe that she still doesn't quite understand that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. She and the other students were giving answers like "God is in my heart and in everything I do" and "God makes me happy all the time" and "God is my Father and my boyfriend and everything in my life", so that would lead me to believe that Jesus really does reside in them and is shining through them. But please pray for each of them and for me, that God would speak through me and give me the words to help them see the light of Christ. Pray that I would glorify God to the max in all my interactions with them... I'll be sure to keep you all posted :-). Hanging out with Paul and Luis and buying fruits and veggies from "la merced" (the mercy) encompassed most of the rest of my day.
Thanks for all your prayers... please enjoy these next few paragraphs that talk of another thing the Lord revealed to me this weekend. Be sure to watch the video!
One of the manifestations of God’s love for children in the Bible can be found in this small passage:
Matthew 19:13-15
13Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
But boy did that passage become real to me this weekend. We all sang the song “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world… Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world…” and this weekend I discovered why He loves them so much…I had the privilege of encountering many different kids this weekend of all shapes and sizes, and the Lord blessed me with such a joy when I had played with them or took pictures of them. The phenomenal innocence they are all blessed with is breathtaking… the pure joy and elation these kids get at just seeing their own portrait on the little screen of my camera made my day over and over again… Jesus, thank you for keeping the little ones innocent and commanding us to be like them. May we all strive after this child-like faith…
Here, too, are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend (not posted in the previous blog because I was saving them for this one).
Anderson and Linkson
Lonely Kid in Pillate
Four more kids in Pillate
Two kids from Salasaca, in the Evangelical Church where Compassion International is working.
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