This has already been an interesting week. I've started taking taxis more often, because it means I don't leave the house as early, so I have ended up having more conversations with the taxi drivers--choferes, in Spanish. Yesterday I got a ride to the mall with this one driver that I've had before. The first time I rode with him, I made a comment about how it looked like it might rain. He asked if I liked the rain, then made a comment that seemed slightly innuendo-ish, so I just took it literally and talked about carrying an umbrella. Ignored it out of existence. He seemed like a bit of a creeper.
Anyway. What happened yesterday was that I called the taxi company and requested a taxi, and he was the one that came to the neighborhood. We were talking about Spanish and its weird double-meaning stuff, and he ended up talking about marijuana, and ways to talk about smoking marijuana. Well, having lived in Vancouver, it's not particularly shocking to me, so we talked about that a bit. He eventually asked if I had smoked it, and I told him, no, I don't really believe in smoking anything, because I'm a Christian and I'm responsible to take care of my body. He told me that all the rest of his family had become Christians, and that their lives had changed. Drunks had stopped drinking, for three years now, and marijuana smokers had stopped smoking. He's the only holdout, because he's a borracho (drunk), and he doesn't want to change.
As it happens, I have a grandfather who is a drunk, and he's either dying right now, or dead. I don't know how to feel about it, because I haven't seen him in 22 years, but he's living out the consequences of his choices--alienating and rejecting his family. So I told the taxi driver about it, and he said, "Well, he's just reaping what he sowed." True. I told the driver that his life was a series of small choices, every day, that led up to something he couldn't escape, and that something would control our lives, no matter what. Anyway, I left him with that. I think he may try to attend English at Krispy Kreme with us on Thursday. Please pray for R, the driver.
Yesterday I also met an old gentleman at the bus station, and we ended up on the same bus. He's a huge fan of music, and also has quite a lot of family who have become Christians. God's working, especially while we're not aware.
Another fun thing that happened last Friday was that I got on the bus, and there was a guy with a guitar. This isn't unusual; there are lots of transportation troubadours, singing, reciting poetry, and asking for money. What was unusual was that this guy was preaching. He's part of a Nazarene church, and he devotes himself to riding buses and preaching. It was very interesting.
Yesterday I had Bible study with the youth, and four girls came. It was a lot of fun being with them. Today my English class has been cancelled, so I'm taking the morning a bit slowly, looking forward to having a relaxed quiet time. My friend gets back this evening, and then I'm giving a Bible study tonight, so it should be a good day.
Prayer requests
- Wisdom in follow up. I've been meeting one language helper in a restaurant in the mall, and I'm beginning to develop a rapport with some of the servers. I think one of them is going to come to English class on Thursday. I'd love to see something come out of that.
- Grace for me and my friend over the next two weeks. It's going to be a very busy time.
- Please pray for the VBS July 28 - August 1. Also pray for a gospel distribution project that will be happening at the same time.
- It's been really fun to have these "random" encounters with people, and meet people who have Christians in their families. I hope that positive encounters with Christians will build up and also begin to work in people's hearts.
- I had quite a bit of help yesterday in the Bible study with the youth, even though my language helper wasn't there. One of the girls in particular really stepped up in helping to direct the study, and the other girls (who are normally very quiet) talked a lot. Another fun thing was that one of the girls is very new, is a Catholic, and she was able to review Bible stories really well--better, in fact, than the girls that have been in church. I hope that was a bit of a sting, and that they feel challenged to learn.
Thank you for praying for me!
-Jennifer
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