Wow... I am blown away by the glorious grace of our Father in Heaven. Quick recap of the day...
SMAC was fun this morning- phrasal verbs and then asking crazy questions like, if you could go on a date with a celebrity, who would you go with? If you could be really good at any hobby or sport, which would you choose? The scariest response I got was one young lady said "Paul McCartney", who is like 80... it was a lot of fun, though, and the kids all even said "awwww..." when I told them it was time to go. Praise God for a fun morning there!
I then took the bus to the right stop and made it to Wong's house only to find that he wasn't feeling up to meeting today. So I met with Diana and helped her learn English for about an hour and it was a blast! I REALLY love the family that Wong lives with (although I still don't know their apellido- last name)... please keep them all in prayer (all 6 of them) and Wong as well...
I left thinking that I was going to go with JM to teach the professors at UNACH, but Edison called and canceled again... so I had the privilege of spending the afternoon with the Coupes! I met their friend, Cristian, as well. He's a really cool guy who just graduated from high school and is already giving sermons at their church. I had the blessing of helping the family get rid of their leftovers (and they think I'm doing them a favor) and then also helping Mr. Bill and Cristian move some furniture to their storage place (in case I didn't mention it, they return to the states July 31). It was a ton of fun rolling the barrels (which is how their stuff is stored) around and joking with Cristian and Mr. Bill. We returned to have brownies and ice cream and I discovered I'd been duped by the lady at the ice cream store... she gave me cherry ice cream when I asked for Vanilla (she was very sneaky about it now that I think about it and never showed me the ice cream case up close... I was also pretty inattentive throughout the purchasing process). As Cristian put it, she probably said "Stupid Gringo, he has no idea".
I left for TKD after that and Wong was only there for the very beginning. We learned some of the basic forms and sections for the exam to "level up" a belt color (though I'm not here long enough for that. It was fun, though)... afterwards, I stuck around with Henry again and was helping him with his restaurant words and some basic English (months, days, etc) when he mentioned that he had just received a Spanish-English New Testament (in a terrible translation) the other day. I asked him a bit about his faith (Catholic) and if he reads the Bible, which he answered "yes, but I don't really understand it". CHA-CHING! I was so excited already and we were just getting started...
We started to talk about the virgin Mary and he said that "The Bible states that she has 6 kids more after Jesus, so how could she be a virgin?" (in Spanish- the whole important part of the conversation was in Spanish which is just another testament to God using a broken instrument, me and my Spanish, to accomplish glorious things for His Name). He also stated that I'm the first person he's ever met that agrees with him on this subject, which tells you something about the majority of Ecuadorians and their faith. He told me how he seeks to live a good life for God and loves talking to Jesus all the time during each day. When I asked him if he was going to heaven someday, he gave me one of the most interesting answers I've ever received: that when he died he would go to sleep until Jesus returned and then he would ascend into heaven. Apparently this is a Jehovah's witness belief (Mr. Johnny informed me)... the kicker came when I asked him if he would get to heaven because of his deeds or because of his beliefs, and he answered "deeds, because many people say 'I believe in God' but live a bad life. I am living a good life and because of that I am going to heaven..."
One of the other wonderful things was whenever I opened the Bible and had him start reading, he would read on and on and on until either the passage stopped or I stopped him! We looked at John 3:16, Matthew 7:15-23 (tree and it's fruit- I used this to help him see that just because people say they believe in God doesn't mean He will accept them into heaven), 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit), 1 Peter 3:9 (don't repay insult for insult, but with blessing), Luke 10:27 (the first and second greatest commandments) and John 14:15 ("If you love Me, you will obey what I command"). It was a glorious time pouring through the Scripture, and he kept telling me that I was "absolutely right". He also told me he always tried to live the best life he could for God and was a very peaceful, non-violent man. But after that, one of the most encouraging things I've ever been told during this type of conversation, he said (and really meant it): "I am going to start living a better life tomorrow... no! From this moment, I am going to live a better life". WOW! Praise GOD! And later in our conversation, after much explanation, I asked him again "how are you going to get to heaven? By your deeds or your beliefs (faith)?" And he answered "by my beliefs". After an hour and a half of conversation, he prayed the "prayer of salvation" and ladies and gentlemen, we have a new brother in Christ. He prayed the prayer with such strength in his voice, and this guy does everything to his fullest ability, so I know he meant it. We had another guy join us right before the prayer and pray right along, but I don't know if he really meant what he repeated... please keep him in prayer. Also, as the trials come for our new brother, Henry, please be steadfastly keeping him in prayer, that God grows him into a wonderful man of His to be a blessing to the nations! It was so wonderful to see the joy in his face and countenance and say, as we were leaving, "Dios te bendiga, hermano" (God bless you, brother).
This is what God has called us to do. This is what God has called me to do. I miss my family like crazy and can't wait to get back to my JMU friends, but I can't even begin to comprehend leaving this place. God has taught me so much and blessed me in ridiculous ways. After my conversation with Henry tonight and the prayer, I was so humbled (still am) and wanted to cry... yet also so full of the joy of the Lord. All the glory be to God... forever and ever... Amen.
Matthew 9:37-38
"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.'"
Here I am, working in the field, just doing my duty as an unworthy servant of the Lord.
Thanks, God.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tuesdays with... Wong?
Praise God for another day of breath... I pray that I use each and every one of those breaths for His greatest glory in every facet of my life...
This morning I had a nice quiet time in 1 Peter (5:6-9)... it is a very encouraging Scripture talking about casting all your cares on Him "because He cares for you". Wow! God cares for us! Although we falter and sin and hurt His perfect glory, He still cares for us and desire for us to cast our anxieties on Him... also, verse 8 talks about being "self-controlled and alert". This is found multiple times throughout the Scriptures, but it is always good to hear again, because I know that I tend to slack off and be a bit too relaxed at times... praise the Lord for His wonderful Word.
SMAC was aight this morning. John Mark led the first hour dealing with idioms and I actually learned a new one or two (I can't remember which ones, but I think "row your own canoe" was one of them. Ask JM what it means). The second hour dealt with irregular verbs and the Lord allowed me the wonderful opportunity to put into practice a lesson He's taught me... "clothe yourselves with humility towards one another". Right before the time was up, I decided to launch "Lie vs. Lay" on the poor Ecuadorians... the worst part about it all was that I wasn't 100% sure of the correct tenses! My phenomenal Grandmother, Dona Sjogren Petty, has taught me plenty about grammar, especially this one, but it slipped my mind today... I'm sorry I failed you Gra'ma (and you too, second-grammar-teacher: Mom). I recalled that one of them had the same past tense and past participle tense, but seemed to think that "lay" sounded good for the past and past participle of "lie". For those who don't know, to lay something down is "Today I lay the book down, yesterday I laid the book down, and in the past I have laid the book down." To lie down means you're lying yourself down: "Today I lie down, yesterday I lay down, and I have lain down in the past" (this doesn't apply to lie when it means "telling a lie"). I thought it might be "lay, laid, lain" and "lie, lay, lay", for although it didn't sound 100% correct, it sounded more correct to me (at the time) than the other. John Mark disagreed, so I went to the internet to check it and sure enough, John Mark was right.
So I had the opportunity to be proud and not really say anything, or to go admit that he was right and I wrong. In the Lord's strength, I was able to tell him that he was correct and say "good job". Praise God for being strong in our weakness... for that is definitely one of my weaknesses. All glory to Him.
After SMAC, we grabbed some mid-morning ice-cream (similar to second breakfast for hobbits) and then I caught the bus on my way to Wong's house. He told me to disembark at the first light, so that's what I did... although with him being a native Corean learning Spanish and me being a Gringo learning Spanish, I believe something got "lost in translation", for I did not recognize my landing spot as I started to walk around the street corner. I called him, discovered it was the first light AFTER the Polytecnica (one of the colleges in Riobamba), and then walked with him back to his place. We talked about politics (not my strong point) and religion a bit more, then hung out in the kitchen eating peanuts and cantaloupe while lunch was prepared. Please pray for His heart as he considers himself a "half-Christian", not wanting to associate with believers due to the hypocrisy in many of their lives, yet lives with a Christian Ecuadorian family (they LOVE Hillsong United- an automatic plus with me) and his family back home is apparently Christian, as well.
I talked with the family a lot today, and it was just a very blessed feeling being able to converse 100% in Spanish and understand the vast majority of what they were saying! Praise God! Luis called me and wanted to meet, so we played basketball a bit and then sat in their tiny library. The University Libraries here are small. Tiny. Microscopic.
I took a taxi home from the University, changed clothes, and then headed off to TKD early to meet with Henry to help him with English. He works at a restaurant and was asking me questions like "How do you say, 'Welcome', 'what would you like to eat', 'juice'" and other things. It is a pleasure to help him because he's so receptive! He's also a beast at TKD. Tonight's class involved learning some sweet new kicks (bad guys, watch out) and continuing to see that my inflexibility really hurts my TKD ability. We had about 20 minutes of stretching to finish the day, and it was crazy. I don't think I've ever pushed my legs that far apart. Wow...
Chill time with Wong as we walked, bus back to my place (ice-cream pick-up on the way), walking with Laura Coupe to get some eggs for the brownies, meeting the lady I was supposed to stay with this whole time (and her husband) and talking with them (a blessing!), then showering and a quick dinner. After that, off to the Coupes for some brownies and skype with the family!
This afternoon was supposed to be my free afternoon where I could read, relax, and clean up my dirty apartment a bit (it's not messy, just dirty in some places). But God had other plans... I'm thankful that He is using me in these people's lives. Please pray that I continue in His strength alone...
Luke
PS If you have yet to, please check out my Sunday blog and read what the Lord's been teaching me. It's some really sweet stuff, and I'm so thankful.
This morning I had a nice quiet time in 1 Peter (5:6-9)... it is a very encouraging Scripture talking about casting all your cares on Him "because He cares for you". Wow! God cares for us! Although we falter and sin and hurt His perfect glory, He still cares for us and desire for us to cast our anxieties on Him... also, verse 8 talks about being "self-controlled and alert". This is found multiple times throughout the Scriptures, but it is always good to hear again, because I know that I tend to slack off and be a bit too relaxed at times... praise the Lord for His wonderful Word.
SMAC was aight this morning. John Mark led the first hour dealing with idioms and I actually learned a new one or two (I can't remember which ones, but I think "row your own canoe" was one of them. Ask JM what it means). The second hour dealt with irregular verbs and the Lord allowed me the wonderful opportunity to put into practice a lesson He's taught me... "clothe yourselves with humility towards one another". Right before the time was up, I decided to launch "Lie vs. Lay" on the poor Ecuadorians... the worst part about it all was that I wasn't 100% sure of the correct tenses! My phenomenal Grandmother, Dona Sjogren Petty, has taught me plenty about grammar, especially this one, but it slipped my mind today... I'm sorry I failed you Gra'ma (and you too, second-grammar-teacher: Mom). I recalled that one of them had the same past tense and past participle tense, but seemed to think that "lay" sounded good for the past and past participle of "lie". For those who don't know, to lay something down is "Today I lay the book down, yesterday I laid the book down, and in the past I have laid the book down." To lie down means you're lying yourself down: "Today I lie down, yesterday I lay down, and I have lain down in the past" (this doesn't apply to lie when it means "telling a lie"). I thought it might be "lay, laid, lain" and "lie, lay, lay", for although it didn't sound 100% correct, it sounded more correct to me (at the time) than the other. John Mark disagreed, so I went to the internet to check it and sure enough, John Mark was right.
So I had the opportunity to be proud and not really say anything, or to go admit that he was right and I wrong. In the Lord's strength, I was able to tell him that he was correct and say "good job". Praise God for being strong in our weakness... for that is definitely one of my weaknesses. All glory to Him.
After SMAC, we grabbed some mid-morning ice-cream (similar to second breakfast for hobbits) and then I caught the bus on my way to Wong's house. He told me to disembark at the first light, so that's what I did... although with him being a native Corean learning Spanish and me being a Gringo learning Spanish, I believe something got "lost in translation", for I did not recognize my landing spot as I started to walk around the street corner. I called him, discovered it was the first light AFTER the Polytecnica (one of the colleges in Riobamba), and then walked with him back to his place. We talked about politics (not my strong point) and religion a bit more, then hung out in the kitchen eating peanuts and cantaloupe while lunch was prepared. Please pray for His heart as he considers himself a "half-Christian", not wanting to associate with believers due to the hypocrisy in many of their lives, yet lives with a Christian Ecuadorian family (they LOVE Hillsong United- an automatic plus with me) and his family back home is apparently Christian, as well.
I talked with the family a lot today, and it was just a very blessed feeling being able to converse 100% in Spanish and understand the vast majority of what they were saying! Praise God! Luis called me and wanted to meet, so we played basketball a bit and then sat in their tiny library. The University Libraries here are small. Tiny. Microscopic.
I took a taxi home from the University, changed clothes, and then headed off to TKD early to meet with Henry to help him with English. He works at a restaurant and was asking me questions like "How do you say, 'Welcome', 'what would you like to eat', 'juice'" and other things. It is a pleasure to help him because he's so receptive! He's also a beast at TKD. Tonight's class involved learning some sweet new kicks (bad guys, watch out) and continuing to see that my inflexibility really hurts my TKD ability. We had about 20 minutes of stretching to finish the day, and it was crazy. I don't think I've ever pushed my legs that far apart. Wow...
Chill time with Wong as we walked, bus back to my place (ice-cream pick-up on the way), walking with Laura Coupe to get some eggs for the brownies, meeting the lady I was supposed to stay with this whole time (and her husband) and talking with them (a blessing!), then showering and a quick dinner. After that, off to the Coupes for some brownies and skype with the family!
This afternoon was supposed to be my free afternoon where I could read, relax, and clean up my dirty apartment a bit (it's not messy, just dirty in some places). But God had other plans... I'm thankful that He is using me in these people's lives. Please pray that I continue in His strength alone...
Luke
PS If you have yet to, please check out my Sunday blog and read what the Lord's been teaching me. It's some really sweet stuff, and I'm so thankful.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday Monday...
God is SOOOO great! Praise His glorious name!
This morning John Mark and I went to SMAC and taught the song "Everlasting" by Sonicflood for the first hour. The second hour consisted of them making up a story, sentence by sentence, and repeating it. I know that the best way to learn the language is to get people to talk, so that's what they did today... the first story was about a guy named Matthew who was afraid of wolves, lived in a small town, liked to play the flute and guitar, wanted to be a singer, and died at the hands of thieves at the very end. The second story was about a "strange" fox that had five legs, three eyes, strange kids (also with three eyes), and green fur. These are my students. And I love them!
Afterwards, JM and I parted ways and I met up with Wong, the TKD instructor. We went to his casa (house) to talk in English and have lunch. The family he's living with is very nice! They have four kids, from 23 to 15ish, and some can speak decent English. Wong gave me a pirated copy of Lion King, LK 2 and LK 3 all on one DVD because it wouldn't work on his computer. Sweet. I accepted it so that I can watch the Spanish version and learn something (maybe... though I hardly ever watch movies). Disney apparently has great translation.
After talking with him, I met the oldest daughter, Diana. She spent a year in the States so knows a great deal of English but still wants to learn more. So I'm planning on helping her and any of her other siblings learn English, as well! It was fun talking to the parents during lunch and encouraging, for they said that my Spanish was very good! Praise God! All glory to Him...
I met up with Mr. Johnny and John Mark for a sort-of debrief time and it was good. Afterwards, John Mark and I walked Riobamba, buying brownie mix and dry-erase markers (for SMAC). We headed over to the TKD building and then parted ways again. Training was fun tonight! It was a lot of hard work, but the initial warm-up was really sweet... it involved leap frog, hopscotch and sprinting out of strange positions (lying on your back, sitting down, kneeling, etc). I then was pulled aside for my lack of a good kick (my inflexibility rearing it's ugly head) along with three other guys and we practiced a roundhouse kick... very difficult (the way Wong taught us). After more lessons (defense forms), we finished, and Wong and I walked across town to catch a bus back to Riobamba Norte (for me... he went to the gym). The Maust family was very kind and invited me over for dinner and waited for me to finish TKD as well! God bless them for that... it was a wonderful pot-roast meal and reminded me of my Mother's back home... my Mom makes the BEST Pot Roast in the world... it's been confirmed ;-).
After Pot Roast, I had a lovely conversation with my sister Elise, wrote a few e-mails, downloaded some hilarious "This Is Sportscenter" promo ads, and finished the night talking with Brett and KJ. Thank the Lord for such a wonderful sister and friends... may the Lord bless, lead, and guide them all for His greatest glory...
Please pray for Abby, that she finishes her last few weeks in Tennessee strong and that she continues to learn and apply... also for me, that I would be open to the Lord, listening to what He says. It's going to go by very fast, and while I truly miss my family and friends back home, I can't say I'm ready to leave or really want to...
1 Peter 5:5-6 was on my agenda this morning. "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another..." is how verse 6 starts. This really struck me, for we can fool ourselves into thinking that we're humble enough because we humble ourselves before the Lord when in reality He is calling us to humble ourselves "towards one another". In doing this, we will be humbling ourselves before Him... is there anyone in your life you need to humble yourself towards?
Christ's unworthy servant, seeking to do the duty set before him...
Luke
This morning John Mark and I went to SMAC and taught the song "Everlasting" by Sonicflood for the first hour. The second hour consisted of them making up a story, sentence by sentence, and repeating it. I know that the best way to learn the language is to get people to talk, so that's what they did today... the first story was about a guy named Matthew who was afraid of wolves, lived in a small town, liked to play the flute and guitar, wanted to be a singer, and died at the hands of thieves at the very end. The second story was about a "strange" fox that had five legs, three eyes, strange kids (also with three eyes), and green fur. These are my students. And I love them!
Afterwards, JM and I parted ways and I met up with Wong, the TKD instructor. We went to his casa (house) to talk in English and have lunch. The family he's living with is very nice! They have four kids, from 23 to 15ish, and some can speak decent English. Wong gave me a pirated copy of Lion King, LK 2 and LK 3 all on one DVD because it wouldn't work on his computer. Sweet. I accepted it so that I can watch the Spanish version and learn something (maybe... though I hardly ever watch movies). Disney apparently has great translation.
After talking with him, I met the oldest daughter, Diana. She spent a year in the States so knows a great deal of English but still wants to learn more. So I'm planning on helping her and any of her other siblings learn English, as well! It was fun talking to the parents during lunch and encouraging, for they said that my Spanish was very good! Praise God! All glory to Him...
I met up with Mr. Johnny and John Mark for a sort-of debrief time and it was good. Afterwards, John Mark and I walked Riobamba, buying brownie mix and dry-erase markers (for SMAC). We headed over to the TKD building and then parted ways again. Training was fun tonight! It was a lot of hard work, but the initial warm-up was really sweet... it involved leap frog, hopscotch and sprinting out of strange positions (lying on your back, sitting down, kneeling, etc). I then was pulled aside for my lack of a good kick (my inflexibility rearing it's ugly head) along with three other guys and we practiced a roundhouse kick... very difficult (the way Wong taught us). After more lessons (defense forms), we finished, and Wong and I walked across town to catch a bus back to Riobamba Norte (for me... he went to the gym). The Maust family was very kind and invited me over for dinner and waited for me to finish TKD as well! God bless them for that... it was a wonderful pot-roast meal and reminded me of my Mother's back home... my Mom makes the BEST Pot Roast in the world... it's been confirmed ;-).
After Pot Roast, I had a lovely conversation with my sister Elise, wrote a few e-mails, downloaded some hilarious "This Is Sportscenter" promo ads, and finished the night talking with Brett and KJ. Thank the Lord for such a wonderful sister and friends... may the Lord bless, lead, and guide them all for His greatest glory...
Please pray for Abby, that she finishes her last few weeks in Tennessee strong and that she continues to learn and apply... also for me, that I would be open to the Lord, listening to what He says. It's going to go by very fast, and while I truly miss my family and friends back home, I can't say I'm ready to leave or really want to...
1 Peter 5:5-6 was on my agenda this morning. "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another..." is how verse 6 starts. This really struck me, for we can fool ourselves into thinking that we're humble enough because we humble ourselves before the Lord when in reality He is calling us to humble ourselves "towards one another". In doing this, we will be humbling ourselves before Him... is there anyone in your life you need to humble yourself towards?
Christ's unworthy servant, seeking to do the duty set before him...
Luke
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Caution
Much to write... not much time to write it! I apologize to my loyal readers... I have been bad at updating lately.
Wednesday consisted of SMAC in the morning, English with Wong during lunch, then spending a good amount of time just hanging out at my place and reading... John Mark just returned home from his fantastic retreat and we were supposed to teach at UNACH, but I got a call saying that we wouldn't be needed that day. So I ended up going over to the Maust house (occupied only by JM) for a bit before heading off to TKD. At Tae-Kwon-Do I continued to discover how inflexible I am but also had a blast learning some defense positions! I'm sorry I have to miss it Thursday and Friday! After the lesson, which ran REALLY late (I was supposed to meet JM at Orale around 6ish... class didn't end until 6:45), I jogged 10 blocks or so to the restaurant... if people in Riobamba didn't think I was crazy already for almost always dribbling a basketball, now they got to see me sprinting through town. After some brownie and ice cream at the Coupes (who I also ran into at KFC with Wong earlier), JM and I headed back to his place to chill for a bit. I talked with Abby on the phone, a blessing like always, then a bit of chatting with friends, watched 2 episodes of "The Office", and hit the hay.
Thursday began with another great QT in 1 Peter (scroll down for details), packing lunch, and meeting JM at his place. We took a while getting ready for the trip, checking e-mail, etc, and finally left for downtown so I could get some money and fruit for the trip. God really stretched my faith by challenging me on a few things that morning... good stuff. 1 Peter 4:7-11... check it out!
We got on a bus to Palmira, spent a bit of time there eating and then investigating, and headed off to Tíxan. In Tíxan, we hit a dead time (siesta: 1-3 PM) and so no one was really around. Seeing a sweet playground right in front of me, I made sure the free time was put to good use (see the second video below). We had a pretty lazy day overall, but in Alausi met a pretty cool guy, an author and historian, and JM had a blast talking to him about many different subjects (I followed most of the time... but was uninterested at other parts so didn't really understand it). We grabbed a bite at a "Chifa" (Chinese) restaurant and took a truck-taxi to Sibambe. Once there we set up camp, journaled and read, and called it a night.
On the morn of Friday I had more fun on a plaground and then we went through town to find some breakfast and also catch the bus. The theme of this day was patience/waiting. While waiting for the first bus, the Holy Spirit stirred in my heart and I talked to a woman who was also waiting for a ride about Evangelic Christianity vs. Catholicism. We talked about Mary's virginity, personal relationships with Jesus and other things. Please keep her in prayer... I didn't get her name. We rode the bus to Huigra and had some fun with the children of the city. We talked to a few people about the details and then set out in pursuit of the pastor of one of the Evangelical churches. After being led around town for a bit, we found him and had a great conversation with him about his ministry and the church's history. The Holy Spirit again stirred in my heart and we prayed in Spanish for his ministry... this is something God is constantly teaching me, to follow through with His commands (stirrings on my heart). We took a taxi up and down and side-to-side until we arrived at Chunchi. There we had an overpriced lunch and some dessert and caught the overpriced bus to the next town, Capsol. In Capsol was a prejudiced dog (he only barked at Gringos) and about 200 people. Not a whole lot, but they had some very realistic needs and it was good that we went there. Then began the mega waiting... we thought that because it was the main highway there would be many buses passing, but it took us an hour and a half to finally catch a bus to our destination. On the way traffic stopped dead due to road work. Great... people literally got out of the bus and walked around. When we finally arrived at Gonzol (we were more or less tossed out of the bus as it passed), we were in a cloud! It was soooooo cool. Just white pretty much all around you... visibility not too great. You couldn't see more than 100 feet in front of you... We talked to some kiddos about the town and then walked back to the road in the darkness. John Mark was not hugely in favor of the idea, but I really wanted to get home Friday night because we didn't have a whole lot more to do (one more city) and I was hoping to play some sports on Saturday morning (the best time to do it). John Mark was kind enough to go along with the plan. We waited at the road... and waited... and waited. Except this time it was cold, foggy, and not many cars passed (at the early hour of 8 PM). We had a good number of people slow down and then decide that they didn't want to take us. Again... God was teaching us patience. After four buses crossed going the opposite way, we caught a bus going back to Riobamba (it was a little late to go to Guasuntos, so we hope to hit it some other time). One cheesy Wesley Snipes movie and a lot of sleep later, we got back.
Saturday morning was another sweet Quiet Time and some video editing (see below. Please). I went to the high school to play basketball later than I would have liked to, but still put in a decent game. I was able to share my faith through explaining that I don't drink because "mi cuerpo es un templo para Jesus" (my body is a temple for Jesus). They seemed receptive to what I was saying and I hope to interact with them more in the future! Please pray for Venicio, Christopher, Ivan, Andy and Marcus. After basketball I walked through town on my way to buy fruit and was stopped by some Ecuadorians wanting to film me for a school project. I agreed and had a hilarious time answering their English questions (and making up some answers, such as "what is your cell phone number"- totally made up some number). I continued, picked some stuff up at Akí, and met my friend Andrea! It was good to see her, as I hadn't for a while, and we walked and bought "bastante" (much, a lot) fruit at the market San Alfonzo. I don't know how I'll eat it all... but we'll see. We went back to her house and I had a great time reconnecting with her family! It was very encouraging as both she and her Mom said my Spanish has improved a lot... all glory to God! After that, I dropped stuff off at my house and took the Maust family out to dinner (with the money you supporters gave! Thanks!). We went to "Fogón Sport", I got another BBQ burger (although not as good as the one in Quito), got ice cream downstairs afterwards, and headed back to Riobamba Norte. I walked to the Coupe's next and had a good, encouraging conversation with my parents and brother. It was much needed... I finished the night playing "Bloons" with Hunter until a late hour in the night. Somewhere during Saturday or Wednesday, I forget, I finished watching "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring". Such a good movie...
Today I rose, had another blessed 1 Peter QT, and suited up to play basketball. Yes, on a Sunday morning. I made the decision to witness to the guys on the court instead of going to church, and the Lord blessed my time. I sought to be a witness... but it was very difficult. To put it simply, Ecuadorian basketball is much different than American. They call fouls differently (ie all the time) and whine a lot more. Playing basketball my college gym is totally different, and it was very frustrating at times. I pray that the Lord still shone through my play, though I know I could have done better. I ended up having a great conversation with Milton and Alexeis at the end of the games. We talked about Catholicism vs. Evangelic Christianity, about the virgin Mary, about faith and many other great things. Please keep them both in prayer as I hope to be talking with them more soon! After the wonderful conversation, I headed off to the stadium to watch "Olmedo", the 10th place team in Liga's division, play. They are the Riobamba team, and they're not that great. I found that out in person today. But it was fun nonetheless... I sat with the Coupe's and rode home with them. After lunch, I talked with Hunter and Dad for a while and played more Bloons. Oi. A good "pep talk" from the Coupes (a needed encouragement), a wonderful conversation with Elise (and her reaction to the second video) and her friend, and some dinner at my house later, we had Bible Study at the church. Ten people came! It was great... please continue to pray for Maria Isabella, her daughter, Celiano, Julie (new), Jackie, Evelyn, her friend (I forgot her name), Efrain, Myriam, and Jhon (new to the study) in prayer. We learned about how Jesus came and freed us from the legalism of this world but we're still called to look to things above for direction (ie follow Jesus' commands). The students learned a lot, praise God!! What a blessing... I finished the night talking with my friend Cat from Australia for a good while. It was a phenomenally blessed conversation as we were able to share what God has been teaching us and just get so EXCITED about Jesus together as brother and sister in Christ! Thank You, Jesus, for blessing me with such a great friend... everyone reading this, please continue to pray that the light of Christ shines through her to everyone around her...
Now some of the stuff I'm learning... wow. God is SO amazing.
1 Peter 4:8-9
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another with out grumbling." One of the things that sticks out to me about both of these verses is the use of "each other" and "one another". The Bible gives no conditions as to who you should and shouldn't love or be hospitable to. I was having a bit of a tough time with both these past few days, but the Lord really has taught me that we can't be selective about who we want to be hospitable to. It doesn't say "Offer hospitality to the less fortunate with out grumbling" or "to the poor" but to "one another". This means EVERYONE. If Bill Gates were to walk through your door, although you know he has plenty of money and funds to support himself (ie get a hotel, buy dinner for the state of Virginia that night, etc), you're still called to be hospitable to him. There are no conditions...
1 Peter 4:11
"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
I just love this verse... we're called to speak as people "speaking the very words of God" to each other. How many of us are really doing that? When we serve, we must do it in His strength... honestly I don't know how I could do it any other way. All of this so that GOD may receive all the glory in our lives. So that we cannot take any credit for anything we speak or do. All the glory to God!
1 Peter 4:16
"However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." Jesus suffered here on earth and had insults yelled at Him, so if they treat us as they did Jesus, we should rejoice! For they MUST see some faint resemblance in our "clouded mirror" of the glorious Son of God! We are mirrors, seeking to reflect Jesus to the world, but our sin clouds the mirror, like the bathroom mirror right after a hot shower. But if the people around us are treating us like they treated Him, they must see some semblance of Him in our lives. This should cause an outpouring of thanks to God, not grumbling and complaining! For it is a sign that we are on the right track with 1 John 2:6! Praise God!
1 Peter 5:2...-3
"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers... not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." This Peter writes to the elders, but I see application for everyone. When we want to encourage/convict a brother or sister, we are not called to "lord it over" them, which would entail trying to show how right you are and wrong they are, but to be an example to them. Unless we have earned the right, through much encouragement and love, to let the Lord convict them through us, we are called to be an example (and even if they are convicted through us, we still need to be an example to them).
And while I was flipping through the Scriptures I came across this verse that blew me away:
Luke 17:10
"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty.' " WOW! This is Jesus talking, and He tells us that even when we've done EVERYTHING we were told to do (which we'll never do- successfully following through with every command Jesus gave), we're still called to say we're unworthy servants, only doing our duty. The whole idea of going "above and beyond" is totally man-made... Jesus called us to "be perfect, therefore, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." So we can never go above and beyond his goals for us. Yes, we can praise and worship God through obeying His commands, but we should never feel like we're doing God a favor or we're really doing something "extra special" for Him and expect something in return. Jesus says that even when we've accomplished EVERYTHING he told us to do, we're still to take on the attitude of an unworthy servant, only doing his duty. The example He gives just previous to this verse is of a servant that prepared dinner for his master when the master asked him. Jesus says (verse 9): "Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?" NO! The Master provides the food and the servant's housing, food, etc, and the servant is just doing his job well. So why should we expect a pat on the back from God or a reward for doing our duty?! Jesus says no...
This was really eye opening and humbling for me... even when we do something really great for God, we are still just doing our duty. We should never take a proud outlook and think WE did something really sweet, for God provided the strength, wisdom, discernment, etc. All we did was do our duty, which we fail at so often. Our "above and beyond" is still miles away from the effort Jesus desires from us day in and day out. So next time you think God owes you something or that you went "above and beyond" in serving Him, remember that that's impossible. There is no above and beyond, just servants of the Most Amazing King in the world doing their duty.
Jesus... I am so humbled by Your teaching and just everything written in Your Word. Thank You for Your grace in revealing these truths to me... may I apply them to my life, and the same for anyone who reads this... may we glorify You in every facet of our life, giving 120% of our effort to "Be perfect... just as (our) heavenly Father is perfect." I am left speechless at how Wondrous You are... I love you.
In His strength alone...
Luke
Wednesday consisted of SMAC in the morning, English with Wong during lunch, then spending a good amount of time just hanging out at my place and reading... John Mark just returned home from his fantastic retreat and we were supposed to teach at UNACH, but I got a call saying that we wouldn't be needed that day. So I ended up going over to the Maust house (occupied only by JM) for a bit before heading off to TKD. At Tae-Kwon-Do I continued to discover how inflexible I am but also had a blast learning some defense positions! I'm sorry I have to miss it Thursday and Friday! After the lesson, which ran REALLY late (I was supposed to meet JM at Orale around 6ish... class didn't end until 6:45), I jogged 10 blocks or so to the restaurant... if people in Riobamba didn't think I was crazy already for almost always dribbling a basketball, now they got to see me sprinting through town. After some brownie and ice cream at the Coupes (who I also ran into at KFC with Wong earlier), JM and I headed back to his place to chill for a bit. I talked with Abby on the phone, a blessing like always, then a bit of chatting with friends, watched 2 episodes of "The Office", and hit the hay.
Thursday began with another great QT in 1 Peter (scroll down for details), packing lunch, and meeting JM at his place. We took a while getting ready for the trip, checking e-mail, etc, and finally left for downtown so I could get some money and fruit for the trip. God really stretched my faith by challenging me on a few things that morning... good stuff. 1 Peter 4:7-11... check it out!
We got on a bus to Palmira, spent a bit of time there eating and then investigating, and headed off to Tíxan. In Tíxan, we hit a dead time (siesta: 1-3 PM) and so no one was really around. Seeing a sweet playground right in front of me, I made sure the free time was put to good use (see the second video below). We had a pretty lazy day overall, but in Alausi met a pretty cool guy, an author and historian, and JM had a blast talking to him about many different subjects (I followed most of the time... but was uninterested at other parts so didn't really understand it). We grabbed a bite at a "Chifa" (Chinese) restaurant and took a truck-taxi to Sibambe. Once there we set up camp, journaled and read, and called it a night.
On the morn of Friday I had more fun on a plaground and then we went through town to find some breakfast and also catch the bus. The theme of this day was patience/waiting. While waiting for the first bus, the Holy Spirit stirred in my heart and I talked to a woman who was also waiting for a ride about Evangelic Christianity vs. Catholicism. We talked about Mary's virginity, personal relationships with Jesus and other things. Please keep her in prayer... I didn't get her name. We rode the bus to Huigra and had some fun with the children of the city. We talked to a few people about the details and then set out in pursuit of the pastor of one of the Evangelical churches. After being led around town for a bit, we found him and had a great conversation with him about his ministry and the church's history. The Holy Spirit again stirred in my heart and we prayed in Spanish for his ministry... this is something God is constantly teaching me, to follow through with His commands (stirrings on my heart). We took a taxi up and down and side-to-side until we arrived at Chunchi. There we had an overpriced lunch and some dessert and caught the overpriced bus to the next town, Capsol. In Capsol was a prejudiced dog (he only barked at Gringos) and about 200 people. Not a whole lot, but they had some very realistic needs and it was good that we went there. Then began the mega waiting... we thought that because it was the main highway there would be many buses passing, but it took us an hour and a half to finally catch a bus to our destination. On the way traffic stopped dead due to road work. Great... people literally got out of the bus and walked around. When we finally arrived at Gonzol (we were more or less tossed out of the bus as it passed), we were in a cloud! It was soooooo cool. Just white pretty much all around you... visibility not too great. You couldn't see more than 100 feet in front of you... We talked to some kiddos about the town and then walked back to the road in the darkness. John Mark was not hugely in favor of the idea, but I really wanted to get home Friday night because we didn't have a whole lot more to do (one more city) and I was hoping to play some sports on Saturday morning (the best time to do it). John Mark was kind enough to go along with the plan. We waited at the road... and waited... and waited. Except this time it was cold, foggy, and not many cars passed (at the early hour of 8 PM). We had a good number of people slow down and then decide that they didn't want to take us. Again... God was teaching us patience. After four buses crossed going the opposite way, we caught a bus going back to Riobamba (it was a little late to go to Guasuntos, so we hope to hit it some other time). One cheesy Wesley Snipes movie and a lot of sleep later, we got back.
Saturday morning was another sweet Quiet Time and some video editing (see below. Please). I went to the high school to play basketball later than I would have liked to, but still put in a decent game. I was able to share my faith through explaining that I don't drink because "mi cuerpo es un templo para Jesus" (my body is a temple for Jesus). They seemed receptive to what I was saying and I hope to interact with them more in the future! Please pray for Venicio, Christopher, Ivan, Andy and Marcus. After basketball I walked through town on my way to buy fruit and was stopped by some Ecuadorians wanting to film me for a school project. I agreed and had a hilarious time answering their English questions (and making up some answers, such as "what is your cell phone number"- totally made up some number). I continued, picked some stuff up at Akí, and met my friend Andrea! It was good to see her, as I hadn't for a while, and we walked and bought "bastante" (much, a lot) fruit at the market San Alfonzo. I don't know how I'll eat it all... but we'll see. We went back to her house and I had a great time reconnecting with her family! It was very encouraging as both she and her Mom said my Spanish has improved a lot... all glory to God! After that, I dropped stuff off at my house and took the Maust family out to dinner (with the money you supporters gave! Thanks!). We went to "Fogón Sport", I got another BBQ burger (although not as good as the one in Quito), got ice cream downstairs afterwards, and headed back to Riobamba Norte. I walked to the Coupe's next and had a good, encouraging conversation with my parents and brother. It was much needed... I finished the night playing "Bloons" with Hunter until a late hour in the night. Somewhere during Saturday or Wednesday, I forget, I finished watching "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring". Such a good movie...
Today I rose, had another blessed 1 Peter QT, and suited up to play basketball. Yes, on a Sunday morning. I made the decision to witness to the guys on the court instead of going to church, and the Lord blessed my time. I sought to be a witness... but it was very difficult. To put it simply, Ecuadorian basketball is much different than American. They call fouls differently (ie all the time) and whine a lot more. Playing basketball my college gym is totally different, and it was very frustrating at times. I pray that the Lord still shone through my play, though I know I could have done better. I ended up having a great conversation with Milton and Alexeis at the end of the games. We talked about Catholicism vs. Evangelic Christianity, about the virgin Mary, about faith and many other great things. Please keep them both in prayer as I hope to be talking with them more soon! After the wonderful conversation, I headed off to the stadium to watch "Olmedo", the 10th place team in Liga's division, play. They are the Riobamba team, and they're not that great. I found that out in person today. But it was fun nonetheless... I sat with the Coupe's and rode home with them. After lunch, I talked with Hunter and Dad for a while and played more Bloons. Oi. A good "pep talk" from the Coupes (a needed encouragement), a wonderful conversation with Elise (and her reaction to the second video) and her friend, and some dinner at my house later, we had Bible Study at the church. Ten people came! It was great... please continue to pray for Maria Isabella, her daughter, Celiano, Julie (new), Jackie, Evelyn, her friend (I forgot her name), Efrain, Myriam, and Jhon (new to the study) in prayer. We learned about how Jesus came and freed us from the legalism of this world but we're still called to look to things above for direction (ie follow Jesus' commands). The students learned a lot, praise God!! What a blessing... I finished the night talking with my friend Cat from Australia for a good while. It was a phenomenally blessed conversation as we were able to share what God has been teaching us and just get so EXCITED about Jesus together as brother and sister in Christ! Thank You, Jesus, for blessing me with such a great friend... everyone reading this, please continue to pray that the light of Christ shines through her to everyone around her...
Now some of the stuff I'm learning... wow. God is SO amazing.
1 Peter 4:8-9
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another with out grumbling." One of the things that sticks out to me about both of these verses is the use of "each other" and "one another". The Bible gives no conditions as to who you should and shouldn't love or be hospitable to. I was having a bit of a tough time with both these past few days, but the Lord really has taught me that we can't be selective about who we want to be hospitable to. It doesn't say "Offer hospitality to the less fortunate with out grumbling" or "to the poor" but to "one another". This means EVERYONE. If Bill Gates were to walk through your door, although you know he has plenty of money and funds to support himself (ie get a hotel, buy dinner for the state of Virginia that night, etc), you're still called to be hospitable to him. There are no conditions...
1 Peter 4:11
"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
I just love this verse... we're called to speak as people "speaking the very words of God" to each other. How many of us are really doing that? When we serve, we must do it in His strength... honestly I don't know how I could do it any other way. All of this so that GOD may receive all the glory in our lives. So that we cannot take any credit for anything we speak or do. All the glory to God!
1 Peter 4:16
"However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." Jesus suffered here on earth and had insults yelled at Him, so if they treat us as they did Jesus, we should rejoice! For they MUST see some faint resemblance in our "clouded mirror" of the glorious Son of God! We are mirrors, seeking to reflect Jesus to the world, but our sin clouds the mirror, like the bathroom mirror right after a hot shower. But if the people around us are treating us like they treated Him, they must see some semblance of Him in our lives. This should cause an outpouring of thanks to God, not grumbling and complaining! For it is a sign that we are on the right track with 1 John 2:6! Praise God!
1 Peter 5:2...-3
"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers... not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." This Peter writes to the elders, but I see application for everyone. When we want to encourage/convict a brother or sister, we are not called to "lord it over" them, which would entail trying to show how right you are and wrong they are, but to be an example to them. Unless we have earned the right, through much encouragement and love, to let the Lord convict them through us, we are called to be an example (and even if they are convicted through us, we still need to be an example to them).
And while I was flipping through the Scriptures I came across this verse that blew me away:
Luke 17:10
"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty.' " WOW! This is Jesus talking, and He tells us that even when we've done EVERYTHING we were told to do (which we'll never do- successfully following through with every command Jesus gave), we're still called to say we're unworthy servants, only doing our duty. The whole idea of going "above and beyond" is totally man-made... Jesus called us to "be perfect, therefore, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." So we can never go above and beyond his goals for us. Yes, we can praise and worship God through obeying His commands, but we should never feel like we're doing God a favor or we're really doing something "extra special" for Him and expect something in return. Jesus says that even when we've accomplished EVERYTHING he told us to do, we're still to take on the attitude of an unworthy servant, only doing his duty. The example He gives just previous to this verse is of a servant that prepared dinner for his master when the master asked him. Jesus says (verse 9): "Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?" NO! The Master provides the food and the servant's housing, food, etc, and the servant is just doing his job well. So why should we expect a pat on the back from God or a reward for doing our duty?! Jesus says no...
This was really eye opening and humbling for me... even when we do something really great for God, we are still just doing our duty. We should never take a proud outlook and think WE did something really sweet, for God provided the strength, wisdom, discernment, etc. All we did was do our duty, which we fail at so often. Our "above and beyond" is still miles away from the effort Jesus desires from us day in and day out. So next time you think God owes you something or that you went "above and beyond" in serving Him, remember that that's impossible. There is no above and beyond, just servants of the Most Amazing King in the world doing their duty.
Jesus... I am so humbled by Your teaching and just everything written in Your Word. Thank You for Your grace in revealing these truths to me... may I apply them to my life, and the same for anyone who reads this... may we glorify You in every facet of our life, giving 120% of our effort to "Be perfect... just as (our) heavenly Father is perfect." I am left speechless at how Wondrous You are... I love you.
In His strength alone...
Luke
The beautiful landscape on the ride to Huigra from Sipambe.
Two young caballeros (gentlemen) from Huigra.
I wish we had these in the United States. Too many people would sue, though, for stupid injuries. And this is why Ecuador's playgrounds > United State's playgrounds.
A few niñas in Alausi.
This boy, named "Michael", was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. "Hola..."Captain's Log, part 3. Enjoy.
If you are pregnant, have a heart condition, or are prone to faint at the sight of disgusting things, you probably shouldn't watch this video. On a side note, I promise that my parents raised me up correctly and fed me well...
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Tae-Kwon-Do
These past two days have been great! Much learning, good time of rest and reading, and a bit of martial arts!
SMAC Monday was good... we listened to "Hear Is Our King" and though I didn't go into too much detail about how great our God is (it didn't become a whole witnessing deal), it's still good just getting them thinking about the words, etc. The second hour was helping them with conversation, asking them about their favorite athlete, actor, etc. The funny thing is a common answer, and possibly the most famous athlete in Ecuador right now, is Jefferson Perez, an Olympic athlete! What's his sport, you ask? Speed walking... oh dear. When your country's most famous athlete is a speed walker, that's not the best sign (from a sports perspective)... but whatever works, I guess!
After SMAC, I went to pick up some groceries at "Iberica", which has a lot of American items (like Peanut Butter, Pringles, and even Welch's grape juice, although all of them are pretty expensive). I then headed over to KFC to meet with Won, a Korean Tae-Kwon-Do instructor. He is here volunteering as a TKD Instructor and at present learning three different languages: Chinese, Spanish, and English. He wants me to help him with his English, although he's doing quite well... we talked for a while and I learned that his father, also a TKD instructor, told him at a young age that he would need to learn many different languages in order to be successful. It's really sweet, too, because I learned my first Chinese phrase! "I love you" is the phrase he picked to emphasize a point, so now I'm able to say that and "Thank you" and "Hello" in Chinese. I'm well on my way... haha...
I also learned that Korea should be spelled "Corea", but when the Japanese occupied the country from 1910-1945ish, they wanted their country to be first alphabetically, so they started spelling it with a K and internationalizing that spelling. Won did not express very much love for the "Japs" as he called them...
Please pray for him, as I asked him about his relationship with Jesus and he said "so-so". I'm looking forward to the next month of meeting with him! He also offered to teach me TKD in exchange for my teaching him English... more on that later.
The afternoon was spent checking e-mail a bit and then hanging out with the Coupes. We ended up going and shooting some hoops together, and that was fun! After a short work out alone and then a quick shower, I headed over to their place for a great grilled chicken dinner. They have been SUCH a blessing to me, so please continue to pray for them (as they're heading back to the States for a 10 month furlough in three weeks) that God would bless them ten-fold for the blessing they are to me. I had some fun listening to my iPod (the Luke-Abby Mix) and dancing with the baby, JoAnna, and in the middle of our break-down, she spit up on me. Oh yes... that was a lot of fun. Haha... it was actually quite funny. I am not offended that you are laughing right now.
Skype occupied my evening, having a blast talking with Hunter and Dad and then enjoying a very encouraging talk with Cat from Australia. Please do continue to keep her in prayer as she serves the Lord in every area of life and seeks to grow closer and closer to Him...
This morning SMAC was good as we went over phrasal verbs and then generated conversation with them once more. I asked them questions like "if you were on a desert island for a few years and could take three things, what would they be?" (to which one person replied, 'people, beer, and food' so he could party all the time) and "if you could meet any living person, who would you meet?" (to which one young lady replied, 'Osama Bin Laden'. Mmhmm... 'twas interesting). They seemed to enjoy the questions and really thought about their answers, which was cool.
Afterwards, I headed to KFC to meet with Won, but when I called him back (I'd missed a call from him during class), I found that he would be unable to make it. He also reminded me about his TKD class (I decided not to go last night) and seemed to really want me to come. I told him "It is possible" and left it at that. Although I was sad we couldn't meet, I was thankful for the opportunity to spend some time in the Word. So in KFC, after downing a four dollar "Super Combo 2" meal which was made up of two nice sized wings, a huge plate of rice and lentils, a pathetic salad, and a cookie. It was really good! The time in the Word and the meal (more of the former).
I took a bus back to my apartment and took a nice, long, much-needed nap. When I awoke, I put down some snacks and read some more of Mere Christianity. I'll share something that's really blessing me from that book:
"...wickedness... turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way... badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled... evil is a parasite, not an original thing."
This is such a cool idea to me. Just the idea that evil in the world is merely good things pursued in the wrong manner. Take coveting, for example. The desire to have something for yourself is not in itself bad but could actually be quite good (to have something in order to further glorify God). But when the thing you want is owned by someone else and you start to desire it in an evil way, that's when it becomes bad.
Also, more recently I have been reading about what Lewis has to say about morality. He says there are "three parts of morality". First, it's the interaction between individuals (I'm paraphrasing), second, what's inside of individuals, and third, "with the general purpose of human life as a whole: what man was made for." He gives great examples and likens the first two parts as ships setting sail together in an ordered fashion. On the outside, they need to sail in harmony, and in order to do that, they need to be ship-shape on the inside. If one of the two factors is not up to par, the other cannot function. If the ships are constantly crashing into each other, the inside will obviously not stay ship-shape, and if the insides of the ship are breaking down, they will go out of order and crash into each other. So it is with humans... we can't be nice and kind to each other and live in harmony on the outside forever if we're harboring bitter, envious, and jealous thoughts on the inside. We need to be clean and glorifying to God "From the Inside Out" (Hillsong).
After Mere Christianity I headed over to TKD. I decided that it would really bless him if I went, and I was interested in it anyway. When I arrived I found that he was not going to be there that day, so I called him and talked with him for a bit and he told me he thought that I said I wouldn't be going. I waited for him to arrive and then we went in together. I did a bit of running and then started to stretch with him... he gave me the funniest faces and made hilarious sounds as he gawked at how inflexible I am. I am REALLY inflexible. The hour consisted of learning different striking motions, all while standing in a terribly painful stance. My legs will feel it tomorrow... no doubt.
On the flip side, I already feel more dangerous.
TKD finished, I met two of the other students (Henry and Santiago- keep them in prayer) and then two of us (Won and I) walked through downtown to the train station where I was whisked away by the Coupes on the way to dinner. They blessed me tonight by taking me out to a steak dinner at "Tablitas" (I believe that's the name). The restaurant gave out their menu and when we ordered "steak", we discovered that they only had four left. And no pizza. They basically didn't have the most important items on the menu... oh well. We all got our share of steak (I had a HUGE one) and drove back to the house to make brownies for dessert. I skyped with Mom, Dad, Hunter, and Jake Wagner (the MAN- really one of the coolest guys I know), and then with KJ for a bit. And now this blog.
1 Peter thoughts...
Verse 15 of chapter three (which I addressed a bit last blog) begins with "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord..." I find this so inspiring and encouraging because it is plain and simple that Jesus doesn't just want to be in your life amongst everything else. He wants to be the ruler of your life, head and shoulders above everything else. "In your hearts", the key part of you, "set apart Christ as Lord". Don't set Him with the worries of life, failing to find time because of school, other 'priorities', etc, but set APART Christ as Lord.
Also, in the last few verses of the chapter, it talks about the people destroyed by the flood, and how the eight that were saved were saved by water, which is symbolic of baptism. But here Peter is clear that the "baptism that now saves you also" does not work because dirt is removed from the body (ie sins are washed away) "but the pledge of a good conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand- with angels, powers and authorities in submission to Him."
What I gather from this is that we shouldn't focus so much on the sin we need to not be doing but on the glory that is before us. My Dad speaks on this, saying there are people that get to heaven by walking away from hell ("I don't want to go to hell") and people that get to heaven walking towards Jesus. Here Peter emphasizes that, saying that it's not the dirt-removal that saves us but the "good conscience towards God." We're called to seek Jesus and seek to be like Him in every way... as we get better and better at this in the Lord's strength, the sin in our life becomes easier to overcome for we are not focusing on it, but on the One who has forgiven us.
Also, I find it quite common to hear "Thank You for saving us from our sins by Your death on the cross, Jesus..." and while the sin of the world WAS placed on Jesus when He died and He did save us, if He hadn't resurrected and thereby conquered death, we wouldn't be here today as believers. We were not saved until Jesus was resurrected- Peter says it right there. "It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ"... so just food for your thought... the next time you are praying that prayer, tack on "by Your death on the cross AND resurrection"...
I'm out like my legs not being sore tomorrow.
Go walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6). And pray that the Lord would strengthen me to do the same...
In His strength alone...
Luke
SMAC Monday was good... we listened to "Hear Is Our King" and though I didn't go into too much detail about how great our God is (it didn't become a whole witnessing deal), it's still good just getting them thinking about the words, etc. The second hour was helping them with conversation, asking them about their favorite athlete, actor, etc. The funny thing is a common answer, and possibly the most famous athlete in Ecuador right now, is Jefferson Perez, an Olympic athlete! What's his sport, you ask? Speed walking... oh dear. When your country's most famous athlete is a speed walker, that's not the best sign (from a sports perspective)... but whatever works, I guess!
After SMAC, I went to pick up some groceries at "Iberica", which has a lot of American items (like Peanut Butter, Pringles, and even Welch's grape juice, although all of them are pretty expensive). I then headed over to KFC to meet with Won, a Korean Tae-Kwon-Do instructor. He is here volunteering as a TKD Instructor and at present learning three different languages: Chinese, Spanish, and English. He wants me to help him with his English, although he's doing quite well... we talked for a while and I learned that his father, also a TKD instructor, told him at a young age that he would need to learn many different languages in order to be successful. It's really sweet, too, because I learned my first Chinese phrase! "I love you" is the phrase he picked to emphasize a point, so now I'm able to say that and "Thank you" and "Hello" in Chinese. I'm well on my way... haha...
I also learned that Korea should be spelled "Corea", but when the Japanese occupied the country from 1910-1945ish, they wanted their country to be first alphabetically, so they started spelling it with a K and internationalizing that spelling. Won did not express very much love for the "Japs" as he called them...
Please pray for him, as I asked him about his relationship with Jesus and he said "so-so". I'm looking forward to the next month of meeting with him! He also offered to teach me TKD in exchange for my teaching him English... more on that later.
The afternoon was spent checking e-mail a bit and then hanging out with the Coupes. We ended up going and shooting some hoops together, and that was fun! After a short work out alone and then a quick shower, I headed over to their place for a great grilled chicken dinner. They have been SUCH a blessing to me, so please continue to pray for them (as they're heading back to the States for a 10 month furlough in three weeks) that God would bless them ten-fold for the blessing they are to me. I had some fun listening to my iPod (the Luke-Abby Mix) and dancing with the baby, JoAnna, and in the middle of our break-down, she spit up on me. Oh yes... that was a lot of fun. Haha... it was actually quite funny. I am not offended that you are laughing right now.
Skype occupied my evening, having a blast talking with Hunter and Dad and then enjoying a very encouraging talk with Cat from Australia. Please do continue to keep her in prayer as she serves the Lord in every area of life and seeks to grow closer and closer to Him...
This morning SMAC was good as we went over phrasal verbs and then generated conversation with them once more. I asked them questions like "if you were on a desert island for a few years and could take three things, what would they be?" (to which one person replied, 'people, beer, and food' so he could party all the time) and "if you could meet any living person, who would you meet?" (to which one young lady replied, 'Osama Bin Laden'. Mmhmm... 'twas interesting). They seemed to enjoy the questions and really thought about their answers, which was cool.
Afterwards, I headed to KFC to meet with Won, but when I called him back (I'd missed a call from him during class), I found that he would be unable to make it. He also reminded me about his TKD class (I decided not to go last night) and seemed to really want me to come. I told him "It is possible" and left it at that. Although I was sad we couldn't meet, I was thankful for the opportunity to spend some time in the Word. So in KFC, after downing a four dollar "Super Combo 2" meal which was made up of two nice sized wings, a huge plate of rice and lentils, a pathetic salad, and a cookie. It was really good! The time in the Word and the meal (more of the former).
I took a bus back to my apartment and took a nice, long, much-needed nap. When I awoke, I put down some snacks and read some more of Mere Christianity. I'll share something that's really blessing me from that book:
"...wickedness... turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way... badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled... evil is a parasite, not an original thing."
This is such a cool idea to me. Just the idea that evil in the world is merely good things pursued in the wrong manner. Take coveting, for example. The desire to have something for yourself is not in itself bad but could actually be quite good (to have something in order to further glorify God). But when the thing you want is owned by someone else and you start to desire it in an evil way, that's when it becomes bad.
Also, more recently I have been reading about what Lewis has to say about morality. He says there are "three parts of morality". First, it's the interaction between individuals (I'm paraphrasing), second, what's inside of individuals, and third, "with the general purpose of human life as a whole: what man was made for." He gives great examples and likens the first two parts as ships setting sail together in an ordered fashion. On the outside, they need to sail in harmony, and in order to do that, they need to be ship-shape on the inside. If one of the two factors is not up to par, the other cannot function. If the ships are constantly crashing into each other, the inside will obviously not stay ship-shape, and if the insides of the ship are breaking down, they will go out of order and crash into each other. So it is with humans... we can't be nice and kind to each other and live in harmony on the outside forever if we're harboring bitter, envious, and jealous thoughts on the inside. We need to be clean and glorifying to God "From the Inside Out" (Hillsong).
After Mere Christianity I headed over to TKD. I decided that it would really bless him if I went, and I was interested in it anyway. When I arrived I found that he was not going to be there that day, so I called him and talked with him for a bit and he told me he thought that I said I wouldn't be going. I waited for him to arrive and then we went in together. I did a bit of running and then started to stretch with him... he gave me the funniest faces and made hilarious sounds as he gawked at how inflexible I am. I am REALLY inflexible. The hour consisted of learning different striking motions, all while standing in a terribly painful stance. My legs will feel it tomorrow... no doubt.
On the flip side, I already feel more dangerous.
TKD finished, I met two of the other students (Henry and Santiago- keep them in prayer) and then two of us (Won and I) walked through downtown to the train station where I was whisked away by the Coupes on the way to dinner. They blessed me tonight by taking me out to a steak dinner at "Tablitas" (I believe that's the name). The restaurant gave out their menu and when we ordered "steak", we discovered that they only had four left. And no pizza. They basically didn't have the most important items on the menu... oh well. We all got our share of steak (I had a HUGE one) and drove back to the house to make brownies for dessert. I skyped with Mom, Dad, Hunter, and Jake Wagner (the MAN- really one of the coolest guys I know), and then with KJ for a bit. And now this blog.
1 Peter thoughts...
Verse 15 of chapter three (which I addressed a bit last blog) begins with "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord..." I find this so inspiring and encouraging because it is plain and simple that Jesus doesn't just want to be in your life amongst everything else. He wants to be the ruler of your life, head and shoulders above everything else. "In your hearts", the key part of you, "set apart Christ as Lord". Don't set Him with the worries of life, failing to find time because of school, other 'priorities', etc, but set APART Christ as Lord.
Also, in the last few verses of the chapter, it talks about the people destroyed by the flood, and how the eight that were saved were saved by water, which is symbolic of baptism. But here Peter is clear that the "baptism that now saves you also" does not work because dirt is removed from the body (ie sins are washed away) "but the pledge of a good conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand- with angels, powers and authorities in submission to Him."
What I gather from this is that we shouldn't focus so much on the sin we need to not be doing but on the glory that is before us. My Dad speaks on this, saying there are people that get to heaven by walking away from hell ("I don't want to go to hell") and people that get to heaven walking towards Jesus. Here Peter emphasizes that, saying that it's not the dirt-removal that saves us but the "good conscience towards God." We're called to seek Jesus and seek to be like Him in every way... as we get better and better at this in the Lord's strength, the sin in our life becomes easier to overcome for we are not focusing on it, but on the One who has forgiven us.
Also, I find it quite common to hear "Thank You for saving us from our sins by Your death on the cross, Jesus..." and while the sin of the world WAS placed on Jesus when He died and He did save us, if He hadn't resurrected and thereby conquered death, we wouldn't be here today as believers. We were not saved until Jesus was resurrected- Peter says it right there. "It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ"... so just food for your thought... the next time you are praying that prayer, tack on "by Your death on the cross AND resurrection"...
I'm out like my legs not being sore tomorrow.
Go walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6). And pray that the Lord would strengthen me to do the same...
In His strength alone...
Luke
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Domingo... and Nadal
Today was fantabulous! Praise the Lord...
It started off well, going to the park with Sarah, although also not so great, because I discovered Spenser to be quite ill. Sarah has been reading "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell and we had some good discussion about the book (scroll down for a mini-sermon). We headed to church after the park and it was great! Edison, my friend Christian's dad, preached and he did a fabulous job. One of the things that influenced my opinion was my ability to understand most of it :-). Praise God for that! He spoke about the obligations and responsibilities that come along with the rights we have as believers...
After church we were reunited with Spenser and went to the Coupe's house. After treating the patient a bit, we ordered Chinese via phone and then headed out the door to pick it up. The four of us (Mr. Bill, Sarah, Spenser, and I) drove to the restaurant, picked it up, and then dropped the ladies off at the bus station. Please pray for Spenser as she's probably still not feeling well and has classes tomorrow! It was a lot of fun having them here and I'm thankful to God for the blessing of this weekend...
After a pleasant lunch with just Mr. and Mrs. Coupe and myself, we turned on ESPN to see if the Wimbledon Final was still happening (Federer vs. Nadal). All I saw on the screen was 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 8-7. My jaw dropped. We turned on the TV and two serves later, Nadal won one of the best matches in the history of tennis. I had the privilege of watching most of the match later in the evening and both players lived up to the hype. The level of competition was ridiculous... praise God for the sport of tennis and for players as good as these two!
After hanging out for a bit and reading more of "Mere Christianity" (man... I'm learning quite a bit and plan on sharing when I don't already have a "sermon" in mind for the blog), I headed to church via my house for a quick bite. Because John Mark and I were four minutes late last week and everyone was there, I made sure I was there early today and, you guessed it, no one showed up for the first 10 minutes. Only one person was there until 12 after, when another showed up. About 20 minutes past the hour we had four women and one little guy (tagging along with his mom) including two new people! Dina and Jackie are there names... we had a fun time studying the Word of God, although there was great potential for awkwardness as I had the privilege of explaining the words "circumcision" and "stripping" to the women. Mmhmm........ thankfully it wasn't too bad. I didn't make that big a deal of it so they didn't either. Some good lessons were learned, like how we were dead in our sin but Christ has stripped the sinful nature from us and given us new life by His death on the cross.
I returned to the Coupe house and watched tennis magnificence. Now, for my "sermon":
One of the things that really stuck out to me from the little I read in Velvet Elvis was a very simple truth that we seem to take very lightly... "Christian" means follower of Jesus Christ. This does not mean "one that attends some church once a week". This does not mean "one who attempts to pray a few times a week, maybe goes to church, and cracks open the Bible once or twice a week". This means one who is passionate after Christ and seeks to emulate His every move.
There are quite a few people who think that the word "Christian" had bad connotations to it (ie hypocrite) and I would agree that it has a few in some places. But the reason it has these connotations is because people don't take the real meaning of the word seriously. Philippians 2:5-11-
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped
But made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-
Even death on a cross.
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Can you see how seriously God takes the name of Jesus Christ? If we have the name "Christ" in what we call ourselves, "Christians", we need to take it more seriously. If you don't remember how Jesus lived, take a gander at any of the four Gospels. 1 John 2:6 tells us our responsibility as "Christians":
"Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."
Wow... if you consider yourself a Christian, you are claiming to live in Him, and so you MUST WALK AS JESUS DID.
I am a Christian, but I also know that I am as far if not further away from perfection than most. The Lord is continually revealing to me areas that I need to work on, and I am thankful. This is not a condemnation or a judgment I'm trying to pass, but more of an encouragement and call to action from all the "Christians". We need to begin to take this more seriously! We cannot just go through life thinking that the Christian life is "safe, soft, comfortable, and easy". Was Jesus' life like that? So please... stop what you're doing right now and pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to you areas of your life in which you are not living like Jesus, pray that the Lord would give you the wisdom and discernment to go about changing that (right NOW), and pray for the strength to follow through with His will for your life.
Go.
Praise the Lord for His gift even though we fall short of His glory (Romans 6:23/3:23). Like Paul, I would agree that I am one of the "worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15), but the grace of God has allowed me the opportunity to turn from the sinful nature and to "do good" (1 Peter 3:11). Jesus, I'm not perfect, but am thankful for Your power shining perfectly in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)... may we all continue to seek You and to live as You did for the greatest glory of Your name and get people serious about being a "Christian" again.
It started off well, going to the park with Sarah, although also not so great, because I discovered Spenser to be quite ill. Sarah has been reading "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell and we had some good discussion about the book (scroll down for a mini-sermon). We headed to church after the park and it was great! Edison, my friend Christian's dad, preached and he did a fabulous job. One of the things that influenced my opinion was my ability to understand most of it :-). Praise God for that! He spoke about the obligations and responsibilities that come along with the rights we have as believers...
After church we were reunited with Spenser and went to the Coupe's house. After treating the patient a bit, we ordered Chinese via phone and then headed out the door to pick it up. The four of us (Mr. Bill, Sarah, Spenser, and I) drove to the restaurant, picked it up, and then dropped the ladies off at the bus station. Please pray for Spenser as she's probably still not feeling well and has classes tomorrow! It was a lot of fun having them here and I'm thankful to God for the blessing of this weekend...
After a pleasant lunch with just Mr. and Mrs. Coupe and myself, we turned on ESPN to see if the Wimbledon Final was still happening (Federer vs. Nadal). All I saw on the screen was 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 8-7. My jaw dropped. We turned on the TV and two serves later, Nadal won one of the best matches in the history of tennis. I had the privilege of watching most of the match later in the evening and both players lived up to the hype. The level of competition was ridiculous... praise God for the sport of tennis and for players as good as these two!
After hanging out for a bit and reading more of "Mere Christianity" (man... I'm learning quite a bit and plan on sharing when I don't already have a "sermon" in mind for the blog), I headed to church via my house for a quick bite. Because John Mark and I were four minutes late last week and everyone was there, I made sure I was there early today and, you guessed it, no one showed up for the first 10 minutes. Only one person was there until 12 after, when another showed up. About 20 minutes past the hour we had four women and one little guy (tagging along with his mom) including two new people! Dina and Jackie are there names... we had a fun time studying the Word of God, although there was great potential for awkwardness as I had the privilege of explaining the words "circumcision" and "stripping" to the women. Mmhmm........ thankfully it wasn't too bad. I didn't make that big a deal of it so they didn't either. Some good lessons were learned, like how we were dead in our sin but Christ has stripped the sinful nature from us and given us new life by His death on the cross.
I returned to the Coupe house and watched tennis magnificence. Now, for my "sermon":
One of the things that really stuck out to me from the little I read in Velvet Elvis was a very simple truth that we seem to take very lightly... "Christian" means follower of Jesus Christ. This does not mean "one that attends some church once a week". This does not mean "one who attempts to pray a few times a week, maybe goes to church, and cracks open the Bible once or twice a week". This means one who is passionate after Christ and seeks to emulate His every move.
There are quite a few people who think that the word "Christian" had bad connotations to it (ie hypocrite) and I would agree that it has a few in some places. But the reason it has these connotations is because people don't take the real meaning of the word seriously. Philippians 2:5-11-
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped
But made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-
Even death on a cross.
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Can you see how seriously God takes the name of Jesus Christ? If we have the name "Christ" in what we call ourselves, "Christians", we need to take it more seriously. If you don't remember how Jesus lived, take a gander at any of the four Gospels. 1 John 2:6 tells us our responsibility as "Christians":
"Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."
Wow... if you consider yourself a Christian, you are claiming to live in Him, and so you MUST WALK AS JESUS DID.
I am a Christian, but I also know that I am as far if not further away from perfection than most. The Lord is continually revealing to me areas that I need to work on, and I am thankful. This is not a condemnation or a judgment I'm trying to pass, but more of an encouragement and call to action from all the "Christians". We need to begin to take this more seriously! We cannot just go through life thinking that the Christian life is "safe, soft, comfortable, and easy". Was Jesus' life like that? So please... stop what you're doing right now and pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to you areas of your life in which you are not living like Jesus, pray that the Lord would give you the wisdom and discernment to go about changing that (right NOW), and pray for the strength to follow through with His will for your life.
Go.
Praise the Lord for His gift even though we fall short of His glory (Romans 6:23/3:23). Like Paul, I would agree that I am one of the "worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15), but the grace of God has allowed me the opportunity to turn from the sinful nature and to "do good" (1 Peter 3:11). Jesus, I'm not perfect, but am thankful for Your power shining perfectly in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)... may we all continue to seek You and to live as You did for the greatest glory of Your name and get people serious about being a "Christian" again.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Quito
I encourage you to take this blog in parts... if you read all of it at one time, it could be potentially hazardous to your health (staring at the computer screen for too long).
I guess we need to start on Wednesday night, after I left the Maust house... I headed on over to the Coupe's house (ran, actually) because the South American Soccer Championship was happening. I had postponed watching it for a while and made it at the very end of the game. The aggregate score (the combined for the two championship games) was 5-5 at the end of regulation, so they began OT right as I arrived. Liga (Quito, Ecuador) vs. Fluminenses (Rio de Jainero, Brazil)- this is the equivalent of the Champions League for all of South America. Ecuador vs. Brazil. A BIG Deal...
OTs were somewhat boring because everyone was cramping and tired. So we went to Penalty Kicks... during the penalty kicks, the Liga goalie, Cevallos, blocked THREE of the PKs! THREE! And I had just made a comment before the penalty kicks: "I wonder if any goalie has ever blocked three or more PKs... that would probably be a first in history." It's very difficult to block those shots, but Fluminenses kicked some youth league worthy penalty kicks and Cevallos easily blocked most of them. It was SO exciting... LI-LI-LI GA-GA-GA Universitaria!
Thursday morning was an early departure from the Maust House (after a few false starts- forgetting things, etc). We began driving to Quito with me in the back seat, alone. I very much appreciated my time with Jesus in the back of the car... it consisted of praying especially for each of my immediate family members, reading the Word, and reading Mere Christianity (for some reason, I can't seem to find how to underline words on blogspot. Hence the non-underlined title of CS Lewis' book).
A believer put in jail once commented that he was overjoyed, for he now had nothing to distract him from praying and studying the Bible 24/7 (if anyone can help me remember who said this, please let me know). I looked at riding in the back of the truck as this kind of opportunity! Many things to read, pray about, and study... all for God's greatest glory. And no distractions! Praise Him...
Once in Quito, John Mark was kind enough to help me find my way around. We made it to the bus station (after a short lunch that included watching news coverage of the French-Columbian's rescue! Praise God!) and waited for Sarah and Spenser. You may recall Sarah from my first blog (she and I flew on the same flights to Quito and she's been studying here. Spenser just joined her a few weeks ago), and she and her friend were making the journey to my 'hood, Riobamba. I was hoping to help them by giving them a map, etc, so JM and I had a blast using the artistic skills God decided not to bless us with to draw a map of the surrounding areas of my house. If I could scan it into the computer, I would show you this masterpiece, but I cannot...
After a successful, two minute meeting with them, JM and I took a taxi across Quito to the missionary guest house. We went to the wrong building first, and when we met the host, he didn't seem to remember that I was coming. Oh boy... we got him up from a nap, so he was a bit groggy.... upon settling into my room (ie dropping stuff off), we departed for "Plaza de Las Americas" a few blocks up the road. Once inside, JM departed and I bought tickets to the "14:55" showing of Kung Fu Panda and the "17:00" showing of Get Smart (Super Agente Eighty-Six). I settled in to the theater to watch the first movie and only about 8 other people came to watch it. At the end of the movie, I discovered why only eight other people were there.
I was not a big fan of Kung Fu Panda. It had it's funny parts, but overall I was disappointed. Also, I do not recommend going to two movies in a row alone (although I had my basketball to keep me company). After being somewhat disappointed at the first one, I had to wait 20 minutes for the second movie when all I really wanted to do was leave. I'm glad I didn't.
I really enjoyed Get Smart! My family loves the old show (with Don Adams) and I feel that this movie was able to incorporate a lot of humor that appeals to today's generation while also keeping enough of the old show for the faithful to appreciate. It was very, very good. You should go see it in the theater... it is worth it.
After Get Smart, I had dinner at the "Sports Bar Restaurant" and devoured a DELICIOUS BBQ Burger. This burger came with bacon, cheese, and chicken strips on the burger! It was sooooo good! And then I noticed three different choices of McDonald's: McDonald's dessert bar, coffee shop (McCafe) and a regular McDonald's. I bought a McFlurry from the first but was truly disappointed when she didn't mix my oreo bits in with the ice cream. Oh well...
Leaving the "Plaza", I noticed a crowd forming on the overpass of the freeway. I asked a security guard what was happening, and he told me that Liga was passing with the trophy on a victory tour! It was stoked, knowing that this kind of opportunity doesn't present itself everyday, so I waited. I talked with the family beside me for a bit while we waited and received updates on how far away the group was... after 45+ minutes in the cold, they finally passed, and it was phenomenal. There were hundreds of people running in front of the bus (on the freeway- stopping traffic), not to mention nearly every car passed with the same honking cheer. Also, the waiting crowd had many cheers that were shouted well before the team arrived. It was just a fantastic atmosphere... pics/video to come (Lord willing)...
I walked back to the guest house, had a nice conversation with a missionary family playing "Mad Gab", and went outside to play basketball under the impression that I had the keys to unlock the door once I was finished. I was wrong. So yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was once again locked outside of a building. I began politely knocking, refusing to ring the doorbell (it was too late for that), but ended up straight pounding on the door. After 15 minutes or so, a young gentlemen getting a drink of water opened the door for me (thanks, God).
The next morning I woke up 30 minutes late for breakfast, showered, packed up, and then had the privilege of talking with my sister Elise in England for a few minutes! It was great to see her because I really miss her and Abby (whom I talked with on Wednesday night for 10 minutes!)... when I was finished with that conversation, I looked around for someone to pay for my night. I only had a $20, the night cost $15, and I needed the change to get a taxi. But there was NO ONE in the house. In the beginning I just ran around looking for somebody, and when I couldn't find anyone I started just shouting "Hello" and "Hola". After no less than 30 minutes the maid showed up, we scrounged together some change, and I left.
You would think my Quito adventures were done, but that was not true. After catching a taxi to "Quicentro" and buying a half-dozen Dunkin Donuts (hey- we can't get them in Riobamba, and I only ate 4), I was broke and needed an ATM. If you have been following this blog closely, you know that I have problems with my Travel Debit Card, especially at Banco de Pichincha. So I walked the length of the mall to find an ATM and, of course, it was a Pichincha ATM. I walked back the length of the mall to another ATM to find that that machine did not accept VISA. Eventually I was able to use my other debit card, but I just laugh at how much trouble I had finding things in Quito. It's one of the Lord's ways of teaching me patience...
The taxi drive to the bus terminal from the mall was an interesting one. After haggling the driver to the correct price, I felt the Holy Spirit tugging on my heart to share my faith in Spanish. I began asking him about his family, the church he attends, and a few other questions, but could see that he wasn't feeling the conversation. I refrained from pressing anything on him, and this is a great example of something I've been learning in 1 Peter (scroll down or just be patient until the end).
The bus drive home was long and not too fruitful. I just sat, read some, watched "Black Dog" with Patrick Swayze in Spanish, and bought a water. Upon my arrival in Riobamba, I found Sarah and Spenser in the park in front of my house! Praise God, they had connected with the Coupes, been able to access my apartment, and had a good day riding the train! We rushed off to my friend Paul's play. His junior high put on a very low-budget and condensed production of "West Side Story" in English. Put it this way: there were only six scenes, half the time you couldn't understand the English being spoken, there was a limited number of microphones (this made for interesting volume levels), and the acting was worse than Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman in "Star Wars Episodes II and III". Yes, it was that bad. But Paul did a great job! His shooting scene at the end (he was Chino) was epic...
We took the bus back to the Coupes, had a delightful spaghetti dinner, sat around and talked for a bit, and I finished the night by playing "Bloons Player Pack 4" with Hunter while talking via Skype. This is one of the many reasons why I love my brother... we can compete and help each other in computer games, talk sparingly via skype and enjoy every moment.
This morning included another lovely conversation with my friend Cat from Australia (another chance to encourage and be encouraged) and a great breakfast with the Coupe crew and Sarah and Spenser. I have had the privilege of staying the weekend at the Coupe's house while Sarah and Spenser stay in my place... so thank You, Lord, for blessing me with such great friends a block and a half away! May You bless them ten-fold...
Mr. Bill and I left to help get ready for the party this afternoon under the impression that we'd be making a quick trip. Not quite... our "short" trip took nearly 3 hours and included a lot of waiting around. We returned, grabbed a bite to eat, and then chilled at the house until 5 when we all departed for the Independence Day and Canada Day combined extravaganza! We scarfed down some freshly cooked burgers and hot dogs (although some of the hot dogs we later discovered had plastic wrap on them that you were supposed to take off before cooking. Ooops) and then prepared for volleyball. Sarah, Spenser, and I were on the same team and fell in the first match 21-16 or so. The second match was up and down, back and forth, and the light became dimmer and dimmer so that it was difficult to see the ball. We had leads of 8-0 and 17-11 only to find ourselves down 20-17 due to the darkness. The competitive side of me was revving, as I hardly touched the ball when the other team made their comeback. When they served for the game-point, Tony, Sarah, and I put our efforts together to get the ball back over the net and win serve. You would have thought we had just won the club national championship for volleyball we were so excited. I served out the rest of the game and we captured victory... it was sweet.
The fireworks show was great, as well! They did a fantastic job of collecting and firing the fireworks... they were so loud that half of them triggered car alarms. It was quite humorous...
After a cramped ride in the back of the truck with the grill, chairs, the gas tank, and Sarah (and some good conversation), we hung out here at the house for a bit, I had a wonderful conversation with my Mom, and now I'm finishing this forever long blog.
Now to 1 Peter!!!!!
3:8 gives some simple, yet very difficult to follow instructions on how to live. Verse 9 reads: "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." This says to me that we're to honor the Lord in our actions (not repaying evil with evil) and our words (insult with insult). I really appreciate how the Bible addresses these two areas especially. It doesn't just say one or the other, but BOTH, so that the reader who desires to learn and seek the Lord may see precisely how we're to honor the Lord. Also, verse 11: "He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it." We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that by refraining from doing evil, we succeed in the Christian life. We're not called to just refrain from doing evil, but to "do good"! We CAN NOT take pride in what we don't do, but must DO great things for God in humility... "to this you were called"...
And then in verse 15 it says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." In the example of the taxi driver, he wasn't feeling the conversation, so I am called to (in that situation) honor the Lord by being gentle and respectful. If he does not wish to hear it, I cannot force-feed it to him. Before I'd always read this verse and thought "I need to be memorizing more Scripture so I'll be ready!" But now I see there's more to it- we need to be prepared to answer everyone who ASKS you to give the reason... not just anyone that we want to. There are times when sharing my faith, if gone about the wrong way, can be a hindrance more than a help. We need to be listening to the Holy Spirit's leading, and if He tells us to refrain, we MUST follow Him... I believe that in gentleness and respect means not just treating everyone the same but being sensitive to their needs and respecting them if they ask you not to share any more. Also, not just jumping into conversation but easing into the Jesus-talk and sharing about faith...
This is a ridiculous amount of writing. Now I'm here... I love you SO much, God. You ARE THE BEST!!!!
In His strength alone...
Luke
I guess we need to start on Wednesday night, after I left the Maust house... I headed on over to the Coupe's house (ran, actually) because the South American Soccer Championship was happening. I had postponed watching it for a while and made it at the very end of the game. The aggregate score (the combined for the two championship games) was 5-5 at the end of regulation, so they began OT right as I arrived. Liga (Quito, Ecuador) vs. Fluminenses (Rio de Jainero, Brazil)- this is the equivalent of the Champions League for all of South America. Ecuador vs. Brazil. A BIG Deal...
OTs were somewhat boring because everyone was cramping and tired. So we went to Penalty Kicks... during the penalty kicks, the Liga goalie, Cevallos, blocked THREE of the PKs! THREE! And I had just made a comment before the penalty kicks: "I wonder if any goalie has ever blocked three or more PKs... that would probably be a first in history." It's very difficult to block those shots, but Fluminenses kicked some youth league worthy penalty kicks and Cevallos easily blocked most of them. It was SO exciting... LI-LI-LI GA-GA-GA Universitaria!
Thursday morning was an early departure from the Maust House (after a few false starts- forgetting things, etc). We began driving to Quito with me in the back seat, alone. I very much appreciated my time with Jesus in the back of the car... it consisted of praying especially for each of my immediate family members, reading the Word, and reading Mere Christianity (for some reason, I can't seem to find how to underline words on blogspot. Hence the non-underlined title of CS Lewis' book).
A believer put in jail once commented that he was overjoyed, for he now had nothing to distract him from praying and studying the Bible 24/7 (if anyone can help me remember who said this, please let me know). I looked at riding in the back of the truck as this kind of opportunity! Many things to read, pray about, and study... all for God's greatest glory. And no distractions! Praise Him...
Once in Quito, John Mark was kind enough to help me find my way around. We made it to the bus station (after a short lunch that included watching news coverage of the French-Columbian's rescue! Praise God!) and waited for Sarah and Spenser. You may recall Sarah from my first blog (she and I flew on the same flights to Quito and she's been studying here. Spenser just joined her a few weeks ago), and she and her friend were making the journey to my 'hood, Riobamba. I was hoping to help them by giving them a map, etc, so JM and I had a blast using the artistic skills God decided not to bless us with to draw a map of the surrounding areas of my house. If I could scan it into the computer, I would show you this masterpiece, but I cannot...
After a successful, two minute meeting with them, JM and I took a taxi across Quito to the missionary guest house. We went to the wrong building first, and when we met the host, he didn't seem to remember that I was coming. Oh boy... we got him up from a nap, so he was a bit groggy.... upon settling into my room (ie dropping stuff off), we departed for "Plaza de Las Americas" a few blocks up the road. Once inside, JM departed and I bought tickets to the "14:55" showing of Kung Fu Panda and the "17:00" showing of Get Smart (Super Agente Eighty-Six). I settled in to the theater to watch the first movie and only about 8 other people came to watch it. At the end of the movie, I discovered why only eight other people were there.
I was not a big fan of Kung Fu Panda. It had it's funny parts, but overall I was disappointed. Also, I do not recommend going to two movies in a row alone (although I had my basketball to keep me company). After being somewhat disappointed at the first one, I had to wait 20 minutes for the second movie when all I really wanted to do was leave. I'm glad I didn't.
I really enjoyed Get Smart! My family loves the old show (with Don Adams) and I feel that this movie was able to incorporate a lot of humor that appeals to today's generation while also keeping enough of the old show for the faithful to appreciate. It was very, very good. You should go see it in the theater... it is worth it.
After Get Smart, I had dinner at the "Sports Bar Restaurant" and devoured a DELICIOUS BBQ Burger. This burger came with bacon, cheese, and chicken strips on the burger! It was sooooo good! And then I noticed three different choices of McDonald's: McDonald's dessert bar, coffee shop (McCafe) and a regular McDonald's. I bought a McFlurry from the first but was truly disappointed when she didn't mix my oreo bits in with the ice cream. Oh well...
Leaving the "Plaza", I noticed a crowd forming on the overpass of the freeway. I asked a security guard what was happening, and he told me that Liga was passing with the trophy on a victory tour! It was stoked, knowing that this kind of opportunity doesn't present itself everyday, so I waited. I talked with the family beside me for a bit while we waited and received updates on how far away the group was... after 45+ minutes in the cold, they finally passed, and it was phenomenal. There were hundreds of people running in front of the bus (on the freeway- stopping traffic), not to mention nearly every car passed with the same honking cheer. Also, the waiting crowd had many cheers that were shouted well before the team arrived. It was just a fantastic atmosphere... pics/video to come (Lord willing)...
I walked back to the guest house, had a nice conversation with a missionary family playing "Mad Gab", and went outside to play basketball under the impression that I had the keys to unlock the door once I was finished. I was wrong. So yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was once again locked outside of a building. I began politely knocking, refusing to ring the doorbell (it was too late for that), but ended up straight pounding on the door. After 15 minutes or so, a young gentlemen getting a drink of water opened the door for me (thanks, God).
The next morning I woke up 30 minutes late for breakfast, showered, packed up, and then had the privilege of talking with my sister Elise in England for a few minutes! It was great to see her because I really miss her and Abby (whom I talked with on Wednesday night for 10 minutes!)... when I was finished with that conversation, I looked around for someone to pay for my night. I only had a $20, the night cost $15, and I needed the change to get a taxi. But there was NO ONE in the house. In the beginning I just ran around looking for somebody, and when I couldn't find anyone I started just shouting "Hello" and "Hola". After no less than 30 minutes the maid showed up, we scrounged together some change, and I left.
You would think my Quito adventures were done, but that was not true. After catching a taxi to "Quicentro" and buying a half-dozen Dunkin Donuts (hey- we can't get them in Riobamba, and I only ate 4), I was broke and needed an ATM. If you have been following this blog closely, you know that I have problems with my Travel Debit Card, especially at Banco de Pichincha. So I walked the length of the mall to find an ATM and, of course, it was a Pichincha ATM. I walked back the length of the mall to another ATM to find that that machine did not accept VISA. Eventually I was able to use my other debit card, but I just laugh at how much trouble I had finding things in Quito. It's one of the Lord's ways of teaching me patience...
The taxi drive to the bus terminal from the mall was an interesting one. After haggling the driver to the correct price, I felt the Holy Spirit tugging on my heart to share my faith in Spanish. I began asking him about his family, the church he attends, and a few other questions, but could see that he wasn't feeling the conversation. I refrained from pressing anything on him, and this is a great example of something I've been learning in 1 Peter (scroll down or just be patient until the end).
The bus drive home was long and not too fruitful. I just sat, read some, watched "Black Dog" with Patrick Swayze in Spanish, and bought a water. Upon my arrival in Riobamba, I found Sarah and Spenser in the park in front of my house! Praise God, they had connected with the Coupes, been able to access my apartment, and had a good day riding the train! We rushed off to my friend Paul's play. His junior high put on a very low-budget and condensed production of "West Side Story" in English. Put it this way: there were only six scenes, half the time you couldn't understand the English being spoken, there was a limited number of microphones (this made for interesting volume levels), and the acting was worse than Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman in "Star Wars Episodes II and III". Yes, it was that bad. But Paul did a great job! His shooting scene at the end (he was Chino) was epic...
We took the bus back to the Coupes, had a delightful spaghetti dinner, sat around and talked for a bit, and I finished the night by playing "Bloons Player Pack 4" with Hunter while talking via Skype. This is one of the many reasons why I love my brother... we can compete and help each other in computer games, talk sparingly via skype and enjoy every moment.
This morning included another lovely conversation with my friend Cat from Australia (another chance to encourage and be encouraged) and a great breakfast with the Coupe crew and Sarah and Spenser. I have had the privilege of staying the weekend at the Coupe's house while Sarah and Spenser stay in my place... so thank You, Lord, for blessing me with such great friends a block and a half away! May You bless them ten-fold...
Mr. Bill and I left to help get ready for the party this afternoon under the impression that we'd be making a quick trip. Not quite... our "short" trip took nearly 3 hours and included a lot of waiting around. We returned, grabbed a bite to eat, and then chilled at the house until 5 when we all departed for the Independence Day and Canada Day combined extravaganza! We scarfed down some freshly cooked burgers and hot dogs (although some of the hot dogs we later discovered had plastic wrap on them that you were supposed to take off before cooking. Ooops) and then prepared for volleyball. Sarah, Spenser, and I were on the same team and fell in the first match 21-16 or so. The second match was up and down, back and forth, and the light became dimmer and dimmer so that it was difficult to see the ball. We had leads of 8-0 and 17-11 only to find ourselves down 20-17 due to the darkness. The competitive side of me was revving, as I hardly touched the ball when the other team made their comeback. When they served for the game-point, Tony, Sarah, and I put our efforts together to get the ball back over the net and win serve. You would have thought we had just won the club national championship for volleyball we were so excited. I served out the rest of the game and we captured victory... it was sweet.
The fireworks show was great, as well! They did a fantastic job of collecting and firing the fireworks... they were so loud that half of them triggered car alarms. It was quite humorous...
After a cramped ride in the back of the truck with the grill, chairs, the gas tank, and Sarah (and some good conversation), we hung out here at the house for a bit, I had a wonderful conversation with my Mom, and now I'm finishing this forever long blog.
Now to 1 Peter!!!!!
3:8 gives some simple, yet very difficult to follow instructions on how to live. Verse 9 reads: "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." This says to me that we're to honor the Lord in our actions (not repaying evil with evil) and our words (insult with insult). I really appreciate how the Bible addresses these two areas especially. It doesn't just say one or the other, but BOTH, so that the reader who desires to learn and seek the Lord may see precisely how we're to honor the Lord. Also, verse 11: "He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it." We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that by refraining from doing evil, we succeed in the Christian life. We're not called to just refrain from doing evil, but to "do good"! We CAN NOT take pride in what we don't do, but must DO great things for God in humility... "to this you were called"...
And then in verse 15 it says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." In the example of the taxi driver, he wasn't feeling the conversation, so I am called to (in that situation) honor the Lord by being gentle and respectful. If he does not wish to hear it, I cannot force-feed it to him. Before I'd always read this verse and thought "I need to be memorizing more Scripture so I'll be ready!" But now I see there's more to it- we need to be prepared to answer everyone who ASKS you to give the reason... not just anyone that we want to. There are times when sharing my faith, if gone about the wrong way, can be a hindrance more than a help. We need to be listening to the Holy Spirit's leading, and if He tells us to refrain, we MUST follow Him... I believe that in gentleness and respect means not just treating everyone the same but being sensitive to their needs and respecting them if they ask you not to share any more. Also, not just jumping into conversation but easing into the Jesus-talk and sharing about faith...
This is a ridiculous amount of writing. Now I'm here... I love you SO much, God. You ARE THE BEST!!!!
In His strength alone...
Luke
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