Basically a list of memorable week events

I’mmmm finallllyyy postingggg anotherrrrr blooooooog.

It’s been since Wednesday I think since I’ve posted a blog, but the rest of the week filled up fast. Here is a compilation/list of some things that happened since Wednesday.

– I laid in the sun with Jada on Thursday (it was very nice outside, so we climbed up a hill and laid on the dead grass in the sun for half an hour and it was very nice. Reminded me of this verse: ”The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.“
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬-‭3‬)

– Thursday was culture day, so each squad had to dress appropriately for their culture that day (we wore skirts and our “nice” clothes in order to be appropriate for formal Colombian/Ecuadorian/South American attire.), and every meal was a food that was popular in the cultures we were dressed for (other teams here at training are going to countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East!). We had chicken curry and rice for dinner on Thursday, and we could only eat with our hands (I loved this). Oh and for lunch that day we had cheese and jam sandwiches (which I was excited about because that’s in the Bluey episode “mini bluey”) which are apparently popular in Ecuador. (It didn’t taste great, but definitely loved trying it). 

– Friday was full. Very full. We had a session about communication within our squad, and how to give critiques and encouragement to each other in an uplifting way, as well as how to efficiently resolve conflicts. We also had a session that dove deep into forgiveness. Forgiving others, and knowing that that only comes from the forgiveness we have been shown through God’s great and treasured love. 

– I got to leave training and to do laundry at the laundromat, so that was fun to get out, and while we were there, the owner gave us a bunch of quarters to use to dry our clothes because she “appreciated the mission work we were doing”. Ya that was really really sweet. 

– On Friday night, we had a “revival night”, where we basically spent an extended night of worship. It was sweet, and I’m learning to enjoy worship more- although worship is not usually a way that I’ve ever feel super close to God. 

– YESTERDAY!!! Yesterday we had a whole session on evangelism, in depth of why we evangelize, things to keep in mind, and how to meaningfully go about sharing the gospel. We went to a Hispanic grocery store and had the opportunity to evangelize for a good portion of the day!! It was so exciting. I went into this trip with one of my main goals/desires being that I wanted to gain more experience in sharing the gospel. I wanna be better at it and I want to learn how to more completely trust the Holy Spirit to speak through me. While at the supermercado, me and my team had the opportunity to help lead two souls to Christ, and to talk to and love on many others. The two people who were saved yesterday, are named Eliseo, and Maria! Eliseo was an older man, who when asked “Why do you think you were born?” Answered, “I don’t know. I think there’s an important reason, but I’ve never figured it out.”. Imagine the excitement in my heart when I realized that this moment of us talking to him was going to have an effect on his life for all eternity. Wow. He was so interested in the saving and transforming work of Christ that he asked us to sit down with him at a nearby table, and we proceeded to talk for 30 minutes. He understood that his past failures of sin would never again appear in God’s eyes once he decided to put his faith in Jesus, and step into those new clothes of relationship with God. We prayed with him, and sent him on his way with hugs and exclamations of joy, saying: “the angels in heaven are rejoicing, for you have turned to the Father who loves you and created you to be with him for eternity”. We were so excited to see our faith in God in action through this encounter and through Eliseo! 
The second person we were able to share the good news with, is Maria! Maria and her husband were at the thrift store with their kids, and when we first approached them, they looked exhausted, disheveled, and pretty uninterested. We really didn’t talk with them for a huge amount of time, but the conversation quickly became productive and it eventually lead to a whole 360, in that although her husband walked away,  she became more and more interested in what we were sharing about Jesus. She suddenly stated that she wanted to give her life to Christ, and we were shocked at what a miracle that was. We prayed over her, and then prayed with her to surrender her life up to Christ, and gave her Ana’s spanish New Testament Bible. After we prayed, we saw tears falling from her eyes, and I thought it was really sweet that from her appearance at the very beginning, to the smile she had in her face after, you could tell that it almost was as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. 
All of this was very encouraging, I learned a ton about evangelism, and we got to welcome two new siblings into the family of Christ. (YAY)

– Today, we had time to rest. I read lots of my Bible, caught up with some people back home, took lots of walks, took a nap, and hung out with my team. I was able to focus on God’s holy day, and set apart the sabbath in order to be with Him more. 

– I decided that I want to read the full new testament during the duration of this next semester. I’m partway thorough Mark! 

– sydney just pierced her ear with a sewing needle.

– we had pizza for dinner🥲🍕 seriously I’m so thankful. hehe we also door-dashed Starbucks earlier today because we all were craving lattes and gave into that. I got matcha and it was so good. 🍵 oh also, I bought a cucumber yesterday and ate some today so that was awesome. 🥒 This is pretty mundane, but these things brought me joy. I’m thankful for today

– I love my team as much as ever, and we are all very excited that after tonight we only have two more nights before we will be in Colombia!! 

Thank you for praying! We are trying to stay healthy, but there are lots of us here who are praying against getting sick. We’re praying for all of the many people we evangelized to yesterday. We are praying for continued spiritual endurance and for unity that is rooted in God’s word. 

I feel so loved, so encouraged, and so full. God is working. 

thank you for reading!! I’ll post more soon, I promise:))