Today I want to tell you about three girls that God has laid on my heart, as praises and prayer requests. Their names are Reanna, Merci, and Alba. Let’s start with Reanna.
I met Reanna the first Sunday I attended Calvary Chapel. She’s from California and came for a few weddings of friends (She use to live here as a missionary). Through a mutual friend we started to hang out, and for the last two weeks I think we have done something almost everyday. She left this past Wednesday to return to the States, but she was such an encouragement to me. We enjoy a lot of the same movies and books, which produced a lot of laughs. But more importantly she has a deep love for God. We were able to have some spiritual and meaningful conversations ,which was such a blessing. Not that I can’t do that in Spanish, but it’s more of a challenge (my Spanish still has a long way to go). Also through her friendship I was able to get to know more believers from the church. Little by little I am getting to know the people of the church better, and I hope that continues to grow. Reanna may have only been here for a short time, but God definitely used her in a great way in my life. God blesses with things I don’t even know how to pray for.
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One of the ministries the English service has is a mid-week Bible study. This study is usually held at a dear couple’s house, Karen and David. They have been another blessing to me. I love conversing with Karen; she definitely has the gift of encouragement and giving. Karen’s maid is named Merci, who is 21.
Side note: For those of you who are not as familiar with South American culture, having a maid is extremely common here. When I lived here as a child, we had a maid. In reality it provides more jobs for women who are usually in positions that really need jobs, and hopefully it is a means to witness to them as well.
A few weeks ago I was able to sit down with her and get to know her a little bit. She wants to work on her English. As I shared in my last post, God has laid on my heart the importance of discipleship. I don’t have a whole lot figured out yet, but I am praying about trying to give her some English lessons, lessons that will include not just grammar and vocabulary, but the Gospel. Please pray for wisdom and guidance there. So much of life is still new territory for me.
As I have mentioned, I have had the privilege to teach a class the last few weeks. And yesterday God blessed with another opportunity that concretely pointed to His hand. After class my student Alba asked if she could walk to the downtown with me. I gladly accepted! Alba is 26 years old, and she is extremely friendly. We talked about family and school, but then as we were walking, we ran into one of my friends from church. We just said hello in passing, but I mentioned to Alba that I knew the friend from church. That triggered a spark! Alba explained that she had wanted to go to church with me the other week but couldn’t remember the directions. I explained the location to her again, and I made sure she had my number. God uses all things, even just passing by a friend on the street. Please, please pray that God brings her Sunday. She seems to have an open heart. I admit my heart is anxious to know more people at school to be able to build friendships with them. I guess it’s possible I might have more of a ministry with my students than my fellow teachers; I honestly have no idea. However, as I was walking today the Spirit prompted me to pray for protection. It’s a good thing to want to share the Gospel with those around , but that can easily turn into a means of pride. If I am not careful, I could become too concerned with results, with how many people I can share with/bring to church etc. Not that I shouldn’t be excited when I see God produce the results, but my heart must seek Jesus first, not results. My motivation should always be to honor my Greater Father, not to get a sense of accomplishment from “my work.” It’s not my work. God is the one who performs the work; I just have the privilege of being used by God.
That’s where my heart is at right now, so please pray with me. I will let you know how God decides to answer.
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