6.14.2014

Caminando por las calles

That moment when you are suddenly wide awake at 5 AM through no plan of your own....

Good morning, world!

Yesterday was cool. I mean, not cool--definitely it was very hot--but a neat kind of day. Thursday I was very sad; all I could feel was how much I missed people, and I felt the bite of suddenly being cut off from the phone and people's physical presences. Thursday evening I was able to talk about this with my friend, which was why I was later able to sit and write in this blog. I wanted to have something positive to say.

Yesterday I decided to go in search of a teapot, which was a good excuse to find my way around the area while my friend was at the gym. I walked out to where Google Maps said it would be, and I found a really nice bookstore (bought a copy of The Return of the King in Spanish as a personal motivation to try to read and learn), but where the tea place was supposed to be, as far as I could tell, there was only an empty storefront. No sign, even. Alas. So I kept walking. I took the wrong street, and I ended up walking through a neighborhood I didn't know. I turned left at a hospital, and, where that little street ended, guess what I saw?

A church. In English its name would be The Network. Since one of the things my friend wants me to do is to attend different churches and find out about them, I walked into the open door. A lady inside took me to the pastor's wife, who she said spoke more English, and the pastor's wife, the secretary, and I talked for a while (in Spanish, booyah. I used only a little English). I found out that the church is from a denomination out of England, but that they believe in being self-governing, self-propagating, and self-supporting (in those words!). They invited me to come back and visit any time. The pastor's wife also took me out with her when she left and introduced me to the former pastor's wife of CPD, the church my friend works with. This lady sells jewelry in the mercadito, which is the market that sets up every Friday on that particular cross street. I had a sweet conversation with the second pastor's wife, and I had a great time wandering through the mercadito. I felt independent and slightly more competent in being here.

I also stopped by the place where I ate lunch a few times while doing homework, and the lady who runs it was happy to see me and is perfectly happy to have me come over and practice my Spanish with her on Saturdays. All in all, very cool.

Last night I went with my friend to her Friday Bible study and reconnected with the family whose baby had had surgery when I was last here. He's grown hugely and is adorable, and it was really sweet to see his family. I also got to go to prayer meeting at CPD, and I loved seeing those people again. I definitely need to work on my Spanish, though; I was feeling the lack, sitting in a group, unable to understand most of what they said.

This morning we're meeting some people who want to plant a church in their neighborhood, and we're scoping out the area where they want to hold a VBS in the end of July. After that we're heading out to San Bernardo to attend the ladies' Bible study. That should be good too.

Prayer Requests
  • Today we need to figure out my budget stuff and how much to pay my prospective language helpers. Definite need for wisdom there. Money stuff is really crazy and can be a huge source of drama.
  • Please pray for wisdom in how to structure my time. I'll be talking to my prospective language helpers tomorrow to sort out what that should look like. 
  • Please also pray for wisdom in where to focus my efforts. Some people at CPD sort of assumed I'd be taking over the youth ministry. At the moment, my plan isn't really to work exclusively with CPD, especially since they really do have competent people who can minister with the youth. I do want to check out what other ministries are doing and to learn from them.
  • I still need to find a teapot. :)
Praises
  • My exploration time yesterday was encouraging and fun, and I really enjoyed meeting those Christian ladies. I'm pretty sure that was a divine appointment--a continuation of "Surely God was in this place, and I did not know it."
  • It was wonderful to reconnect with friends I had met in January and February.
  • I'm just really grateful for how God has provided for my time here through my home church.
Thank you for praying for me!
-Jen

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