May Highlights
May was a month of events. I helped plan events, speak at events, lead groups, and participated in events. Schools of Hope also hosted two teams. Needless to say, it was incredibly busy. I already told you about La Mosquitia, so I wanted to tell you about a few other highlights as well.
At the beginning of this month, I participated in/helped plan a singles retreat for missionaries. It ended up being all women. There were only 12 of us, but we had a great time. I helped lead a small group for the younger girls. We talked about hearing God's voice and emotional health. I also led worship in the evening and really enjoyed that. It's been fun to allow God to develop more of my worship leading skills. I'm not sure that I've gotten better at the guitar, but I have gotten better at listening to his Spirit and knowing which songs to play and how long to play them. It's a beautiful thing when he is the one teaching us!
After the La Mosquitia retreat, I got to join in on one of my favorite events in the world, IST's 5th grade retreat. Even though I don't have any fifth graders, they welcomed me along and allowed me to hang out with the kids and speak to them at the campfire. The theme was light and darkness and walking in the light. The Lord placed on my heart to speak to them about hiding. We often hide in the darkness because of three different things: fear, shame and guilt. I shared a testimony with the kids, as did another teacher and we saw many students respond and bring things into the open. It was so exciting to see them finding freedom in the truth and not having to hide any more. Please continue to pray for these students and especially some of these difficult situations that they have found themselves hiding in.
I also really enjoyed getting to know the girls that were in my group and getting to lead all of the kids in team building activities during our afternoon games. My activity was a rope tied up between two trees at about waist height. The kids had to work with their team and get everyone over the rope without touching it. The girls teams were especially successful and many of them were nearly in tears at the end because they felt so accomplished after all the trouble they went through trying to get over it. We talked about obstacles in our lives and how we really need each other in order to keep following what God has for us. It was interesting that the boy groups really struggled with this activity. Most of them didn't even get close to achieving the goal. They often would just try to jump over the rope independently and make it a competition. Even with advice and help, many of them thought they needed to be tough and do it on their own. It's interesting that you can see gender dynamics here, and also cultural dynamics. Here, even more than in the States, men are supposed to be in charge. They are very dominant and independent. We had some great follow up conversations about what it means for them to depend on each other as well.
The two teams that we had this month were also a lot of fun. We always visit all 4 of our schools when the teams are around which makes for a busy week, since usually we do that over the course of 2-3 weeks. Most of the schools have a morning session and then different kids in the evening session. So if we visit all the classes and kindergartens we probably get into close to 35 different classrooms. It's been really rewarding to have the kids recognize me and many of them also know my name. I even have been helping with a bit of translating. It's a bit of a stretch still, but I'm definitely more confident in it than I was at the beginning of the year. It's also a blessing to get to know the team members that participate. I love seeing them process what they are seeing, especially if it's their first mission trip. The debrief and worship times are awesome because these trips aren't just for the kids, but also for those who come to serve.
Those are a few of my highlights from May and what has been going on in my world. =) As I close, I thought I'd leave you with some lessons I've been learning. God is always faithful to be teaching me about something. Last month, we taught the story of Namaan to the kids in bible classes. We talked about what it means to humble ourselves and how God honors those who humble themselves. As I helped teach this story, I remembered back to some sermons I had listened to, one about Namaan and one about Jericho. (I can't remember who preached the 1st one, but the second one was by Steven Furtick) Both of these stories talk about not stopping on "6". What do I mean by that? Well, in both situations, God was demanding 7 times (and technically at Jericho, the 7th time was 7 more times) But really the point I'm trying to make is after the 6th time, or after the 6th day, when it was supposed to be almost finished, it didn't really look like their situations were changing. But God was working. We never know when we are on our 6th day, or our 6th time in the river, and getting ready for the 7th. Sometimes we have to keep believing and praying and asking God for things, even when it seems hopeless. God has been reminding me that faithfulness in prayer is so important because of this. Not because it's a formula and we are trying to manipulate things, but because our prayers matter and our faith matters.
I thank you all for your continued prayers as I approach these next two months of summer ministry! That's all for today!
At the beginning of this month, I participated in/helped plan a singles retreat for missionaries. It ended up being all women. There were only 12 of us, but we had a great time. I helped lead a small group for the younger girls. We talked about hearing God's voice and emotional health. I also led worship in the evening and really enjoyed that. It's been fun to allow God to develop more of my worship leading skills. I'm not sure that I've gotten better at the guitar, but I have gotten better at listening to his Spirit and knowing which songs to play and how long to play them. It's a beautiful thing when he is the one teaching us!
After the La Mosquitia retreat, I got to join in on one of my favorite events in the world, IST's 5th grade retreat. Even though I don't have any fifth graders, they welcomed me along and allowed me to hang out with the kids and speak to them at the campfire. The theme was light and darkness and walking in the light. The Lord placed on my heart to speak to them about hiding. We often hide in the darkness because of three different things: fear, shame and guilt. I shared a testimony with the kids, as did another teacher and we saw many students respond and bring things into the open. It was so exciting to see them finding freedom in the truth and not having to hide any more. Please continue to pray for these students and especially some of these difficult situations that they have found themselves hiding in.
I also really enjoyed getting to know the girls that were in my group and getting to lead all of the kids in team building activities during our afternoon games. My activity was a rope tied up between two trees at about waist height. The kids had to work with their team and get everyone over the rope without touching it. The girls teams were especially successful and many of them were nearly in tears at the end because they felt so accomplished after all the trouble they went through trying to get over it. We talked about obstacles in our lives and how we really need each other in order to keep following what God has for us. It was interesting that the boy groups really struggled with this activity. Most of them didn't even get close to achieving the goal. They often would just try to jump over the rope independently and make it a competition. Even with advice and help, many of them thought they needed to be tough and do it on their own. It's interesting that you can see gender dynamics here, and also cultural dynamics. Here, even more than in the States, men are supposed to be in charge. They are very dominant and independent. We had some great follow up conversations about what it means for them to depend on each other as well.
The two teams that we had this month were also a lot of fun. We always visit all 4 of our schools when the teams are around which makes for a busy week, since usually we do that over the course of 2-3 weeks. Most of the schools have a morning session and then different kids in the evening session. So if we visit all the classes and kindergartens we probably get into close to 35 different classrooms. It's been really rewarding to have the kids recognize me and many of them also know my name. I even have been helping with a bit of translating. It's a bit of a stretch still, but I'm definitely more confident in it than I was at the beginning of the year. It's also a blessing to get to know the team members that participate. I love seeing them process what they are seeing, especially if it's their first mission trip. The debrief and worship times are awesome because these trips aren't just for the kids, but also for those who come to serve.
Those are a few of my highlights from May and what has been going on in my world. =) As I close, I thought I'd leave you with some lessons I've been learning. God is always faithful to be teaching me about something. Last month, we taught the story of Namaan to the kids in bible classes. We talked about what it means to humble ourselves and how God honors those who humble themselves. As I helped teach this story, I remembered back to some sermons I had listened to, one about Namaan and one about Jericho. (I can't remember who preached the 1st one, but the second one was by Steven Furtick) Both of these stories talk about not stopping on "6". What do I mean by that? Well, in both situations, God was demanding 7 times (and technically at Jericho, the 7th time was 7 more times) But really the point I'm trying to make is after the 6th time, or after the 6th day, when it was supposed to be almost finished, it didn't really look like their situations were changing. But God was working. We never know when we are on our 6th day, or our 6th time in the river, and getting ready for the 7th. Sometimes we have to keep believing and praying and asking God for things, even when it seems hopeless. God has been reminding me that faithfulness in prayer is so important because of this. Not because it's a formula and we are trying to manipulate things, but because our prayers matter and our faith matters.
I thank you all for your continued prayers as I approach these next two months of summer ministry! That's all for today!
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