Sunday- Mallory and I ventured out in the world of Antigua to find a church. We located a beautiful catholic mass in the back of the most beautiful hotel/ruins I have every seen. We realized we weren't in the contemporary church we were looking for when they started lighting candles. We left and ventured out to find the contemporary church we had heard so much about in the last week.
We walked back across town from the catholic church to found the modern church just a block away from our school. The service and songs are in English and Spanish. Missionaries and students in language school are the typical demographic for this church.
School- I am now learning words and verbs beyond the ones I came to school knowing. This week has been a little frustrating for me at times because of the lack in ability to be able to communicate with my teacher. I obviously don't speak Spanish well but, I'm referring to my teacher having difficulty understanding what I was trying to say. In conversation, the native speaker often guesses what the learner is trying to say and then helps them with the words. Our conversations were a mess because she would think I was saying one thing but I was trying to say another thing. CONFUSING! I was also very frustrated with myself during a good portion of the lessons because I continue to make the same mistakes. I have to recall the words, verbs, conjugate the verb (present, past, or future) and make the words plural or singular correctly. I know everyone makes these mistakes and a lot of them when they are first learning Spanish. That realization hasn't made me any less frustrated.
After class most days this week I have wanted to cry. I don't do that a bunch so I wrote in my journal. Yesterday I sat in the beautiful and busy park to do a little writing. I was really concerned that I was having difficulty comprehending stories my teacher read to me in Spanish during class yet I could understand and respond to people in the street. I have been about to understand most of the conversation with my Guatemalan family and with locals in the streets (random people for directions and conversing with friends).
When I was writing, a guy probably in the 10th grade sat down at the bench with me. He started talking to me in Spanish and we had a conversation in Spanish for the next 2 hours. He lives in one of the villages near Antigua and told me all about the educational system and the transportation system for students. We also chatted about the kite flying festival that takes place in his home town each November. It's a big deal! His family will work on one kite for a year to 3 years before they fly it in the festival. CRAZY!
When I left the park to return home for dinner, I reflected on the experience in the park. I believe the Lord gave me that opportunity to prove to me that I can comprehend and talk. I may be having difficulties in school but I can survive in conversational Spanish after only 2 weeks of lessons. Thank God for that kid being bold enough to sit down beside me. I needed some encouragement.
Funny Thing I said in Spanish:
I meant to say: I am hungry
I said: I have men
There is a proverb in Guatemala that goes something like men are like avocados. Some are good, uncut & firm, and some become guacamole. I then said, "the guacamole is tasty" not realizing that I was referring/saying that some men are tasty. My face turned red after I said it. I figured out the meaning of what I was saying as I was saying it. Learning Spanish can be really silly!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Whitney
I have to tell you another story of how God has shown me that he is in control and that I am doing what he wants me to do. Read the last blog about Mallory before You read further. Yesterday at Eternal, the church that meets at the YMCA in Baxter, it was Mission Sunday. From what I hear, the service was about the mission work the Lord is using the members of Eternal to do around the world. We ,Eternal, have a family serving in the mountains of Guatemala, a family serving in Peru, several missions trips to the mountain area of Guatemala, and I will be working with children in the city of Guatemala. The two missionary families and myself made short videos to update the congregation about our mission.
Yesterday a girl named Whitney visited Eternal. She was in Fort Mill visiting her boyfriend for the weekend. They missed the service at his church so they stopped in at his neighborhood church. During the service, the video of me updating the church came up on the large projected screen. In the video I mention that the Lord has sent me a friend, Mallory, for this portion of the journey.
Let me remind you, Whitney is sitting in a random church in a town she is visiting. Here is the good part of the story. Whitney is Mallory's best friend. The really cool part is that Whitney had been praying for God to send Mallory a friend for language school. Mallory and I have been talking for the last week about God answering that prayer. It seems us chatting about it and praising him for doing this for us wasn't good enough. Our God wanted to prove that he answers prayer to Whitney and to you. Many of you have e-mailed me about Whitney's experience so it is apparent the Lord wants you to see his power.
Yesterday a girl named Whitney visited Eternal. She was in Fort Mill visiting her boyfriend for the weekend. They missed the service at his church so they stopped in at his neighborhood church. During the service, the video of me updating the church came up on the large projected screen. In the video I mention that the Lord has sent me a friend, Mallory, for this portion of the journey.
Let me remind you, Whitney is sitting in a random church in a town she is visiting. Here is the good part of the story. Whitney is Mallory's best friend. The really cool part is that Whitney had been praying for God to send Mallory a friend for language school. Mallory and I have been talking for the last week about God answering that prayer. It seems us chatting about it and praising him for doing this for us wasn't good enough. Our God wanted to prove that he answers prayer to Whitney and to you. Many of you have e-mailed me about Whitney's experience so it is apparent the Lord wants you to see his power.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The language school adventure beginnings
Hola mis amigos! I don't want you to miss any of the adventure I am about to tell you so I'll write in English...The trip to Guatemala was wonderful. I made many friends and met a lot of interesting people on the plane including a fellow Spanish learner traveling to the Lake region and sitting with the priesthood. I'm not kidding the priesthood surrounded me on my flight from Houston to Guatemala. An elderly Guatemalan lady asked in Spanish to have my seat. Therefore, I took her seat which was located in the center of a group of 11 young men in school studying Catholicism. Interesting experience to say the least.
When I arrived in Guatemala, I took a hour long ride in a very nice van to Antigue. I was probably riding in the nicest vehicle on the road which ruined my opportunity to practice "fitting in". Even though, my blue eyes and white skin ruin my possibility to trick the locals into believing I'm Guatemalan.
When I arrived at my Guatemalan families home, I promptly answered inappropriately to a question I was asked in Spanish. I was shown to my very nice living quarters and I was introduced to my new roommate for the next 5 weeks. Her name is Mallory. Here is where the story gets really exciting. This is an example of why us Christians don't have to stress about where the Lord will lead us.
Mallory lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and she knows no Spanish just like me. After language school, she will be working for an organization in the Dominican Republic to serve orphans. Yep, I am living with a girl with my same story! DID I WRITE THAT CLEARLY!!! DID YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR ME!
I put my luggage in the house and we headed to the streets to explore. We sat at a cafe and swopt stories about the lives the Lord has given us and discussed caring for orphans in our prospective areas. Amazing!!!!
Language school is intense but Mallory is a wonderful friend to practice with when we aren't in school. Thanks for your prayers. The Lord is listening.
When I arrived in Guatemala, I took a hour long ride in a very nice van to Antigue. I was probably riding in the nicest vehicle on the road which ruined my opportunity to practice "fitting in". Even though, my blue eyes and white skin ruin my possibility to trick the locals into believing I'm Guatemalan.
When I arrived at my Guatemalan families home, I promptly answered inappropriately to a question I was asked in Spanish. I was shown to my very nice living quarters and I was introduced to my new roommate for the next 5 weeks. Her name is Mallory. Here is where the story gets really exciting. This is an example of why us Christians don't have to stress about where the Lord will lead us.
Mallory lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and she knows no Spanish just like me. After language school, she will be working for an organization in the Dominican Republic to serve orphans. Yep, I am living with a girl with my same story! DID I WRITE THAT CLEARLY!!! DID YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR ME!
I put my luggage in the house and we headed to the streets to explore. We sat at a cafe and swopt stories about the lives the Lord has given us and discussed caring for orphans in our prospective areas. Amazing!!!!
Language school is intense but Mallory is a wonderful friend to practice with when we aren't in school. Thanks for your prayers. The Lord is listening.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Leaving on a Jet Plane
The adventure begins today! It has been a year of planning, prayer, fasting, and you talking me into this. Ha! I will meet the family I will be living with for the next 5 weeks around 3:00pm today. Language school is bound to be challenging and the transition to speaking Spanish all the time should be crazy fun. My prayer is that I learn a lot of Spanish in this short time period.
Monday, June 6, 2011
2nd Rainbows of Hope Training
Children at Risk
Today we learned about children at risk. An clear way to think about children at risk is to first think of the attributes of a healthy child. They have vibrant social lives by building relationships, emotional ability, spiritual walk with Christ or at least the opportunity to learn about Christ, physical health, cognitive ability, education, safety, and security.
The Lord has been teaching me about what risk factors orphans have as they live in the world. Orphans are lacking in at least one of the areas of health listed above which leaves them vulnerable to the evil in the world. They are vulnerable to such things as sex trafficking, sexual exploitation (pornography,prostitution, and so forth), and gangs.
Job 24:9-11
9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;
they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[a];
they tread the wine presses, yet suffer thirst.
This is a real danger to children that aren't protected and valued by adults. The Lord speaks against these acts.
Leviticus 19:29 Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.
The next question is how do Christians stops these things from happening? How do we protect the fatherless? Today Wendy from Rainbows of Hope shared an easy way to come up with a plan. When she did mission work in Africa, the church made a map of all the risk factors that could damage a child's health (gangs,drugs, pimps, satanic worship buildings) and resources they had in the community (health clinic, church building, soup kitchen). The church could look at the map and compare it to a list of needs of children in the community. When they saw a whole in their communities resources, they took them before God and asked for his guidance. It was another wonderful day of learning!
Today we learned about children at risk. An clear way to think about children at risk is to first think of the attributes of a healthy child. They have vibrant social lives by building relationships, emotional ability, spiritual walk with Christ or at least the opportunity to learn about Christ, physical health, cognitive ability, education, safety, and security.
The Lord has been teaching me about what risk factors orphans have as they live in the world. Orphans are lacking in at least one of the areas of health listed above which leaves them vulnerable to the evil in the world. They are vulnerable to such things as sex trafficking, sexual exploitation (pornography,prostitution, and so forth), and gangs.
Job 24:9-11
9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;
they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[a];
they tread the wine presses, yet suffer thirst.
This is a real danger to children that aren't protected and valued by adults. The Lord speaks against these acts.
Leviticus 19:29 Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.
The next question is how do Christians stops these things from happening? How do we protect the fatherless? Today Wendy from Rainbows of Hope shared an easy way to come up with a plan. When she did mission work in Africa, the church made a map of all the risk factors that could damage a child's health (gangs,drugs, pimps, satanic worship buildings) and resources they had in the community (health clinic, church building, soup kitchen). The church could look at the map and compare it to a list of needs of children in the community. When they saw a whole in their communities resources, they took them before God and asked for his guidance. It was another wonderful day of learning!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
1st Rianbows of Hope Training
Tom Harvey with Rainbow's of Hope invited me to sit in on the training they provide for their team working at Casa Bernabe. Today I met these folks going to Casa Bernabe for 6 weeks at a Spanish speaking church service. We enjoyed worship then we spent a few hours practicing Spanish. It was a great experience and just the push I needed to jump start a crash course into learning Spanish. Practicing Spanish today was painful and embarrassing but hey I might have learned a few words. :) I have about 6 weeks before I will be sitting in Antique, Guatemala officially enrolled in a Spanish class. I bought the first 3 levels of Rosetta Stone a few years ago so my plan is to finish all 3 levels before I leave the country. That means I have a level and a half to go in 6 weeks. Woowee. I have a bit of work ahead of me.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
My Life was Already Awesome
It's true! Nothing is wrong with my life. Actually my life seems, looks, is great. I have a nice house, nice car, nice family pet, nice roommates, and a nice income. I can honestly say that I enjoy my job. My principals are wonderful caring individuals that want the best for the kids I teach and they care about ME. I have the luxury of openly speaking about Christ with them and they can relate. Unheard of!
Strangely enough I have peace about leaving it all behind. I'm not freaking out because I resigned which means I won't have an income!
Here is the story about the day I resigned: The Lord told me that Thursday, May 26th was the day to leave my job. Well not exactly like that...I woke up with a real peace about the situation. I just knew it was the day to turn in my resignation. I have to say I sat on this knowledge until 3:45 in the afternoon that day. I had to leave the school at 4:00 to get to the gym for coaching on time. At 3:30 I began pacing around the room and packing boxes (yet I hadn't resigned. I decided to check my e-mail before I left for the day. A friend of mine sent me a message on gmail chat which said praying 2 Corinthians 10:5 for you. Here's the verse:"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Oh, man the Lord caught me. Yes, I had been speculating about all the terrible things that could happen if I gave up my job and all the terrible things that could go wrong at the orphanage. God knew my avoidance of being obedient. He knew my worries. My thoughts and, he saved me from being disobedient.
I grabbed my resignation letter I printed off that morning and ran it to the office to give it to my principal. Needless to say, it is hard to be obedient even when God tells you which steps to take.
Strangely enough I have peace about leaving it all behind. I'm not freaking out because I resigned which means I won't have an income!
Here is the story about the day I resigned: The Lord told me that Thursday, May 26th was the day to leave my job. Well not exactly like that...I woke up with a real peace about the situation. I just knew it was the day to turn in my resignation. I have to say I sat on this knowledge until 3:45 in the afternoon that day. I had to leave the school at 4:00 to get to the gym for coaching on time. At 3:30 I began pacing around the room and packing boxes (yet I hadn't resigned. I decided to check my e-mail before I left for the day. A friend of mine sent me a message on gmail chat which said praying 2 Corinthians 10:5 for you. Here's the verse:"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Oh, man the Lord caught me. Yes, I had been speculating about all the terrible things that could happen if I gave up my job and all the terrible things that could go wrong at the orphanage. God knew my avoidance of being obedient. He knew my worries. My thoughts and, he saved me from being disobedient.
I grabbed my resignation letter I printed off that morning and ran it to the office to give it to my principal. Needless to say, it is hard to be obedient even when God tells you which steps to take.
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