Altotonga, Mexico -- Last Friday was my birthday and I turned 24. The day before-- Thursday--was an eventful day. I was getting ready to go to the Club for a commitment I had at 5, when my roommate came up stairs and said, Janine, come here! Something terrible has happened!
Of course, I knew this wasn't true. So I went downstairs and some people were there to throw me a surprise bday party. So I sent a message to the girl I was going to meet, and put it off for an hour.
When I got to the Club, I saw that there were some police a few store entries down, and I was later told that at 5pm, there was a guy right there murdered. So I was thankful that this last minute party thrown together was a form of protection for me and that girl. It's certainly not safe to be a witness to those types of things around here.That night a young lady walked in and she wanted to talk to me. She has some problems going on in her family and so I talked to her about Jesus, who is her real comfort, more than advice from me can help her (of course, we talked about these things) and she decided that she wanted to have a relationship with Christ. So we prayed!
For my bday, I slept in later than usual, and went about my business for the day. Some of the youth soaked me good that evening, and it was cold!Saturday we talked about purity-- the last in a series on 1 Tim. 4:12. The kids enjoyed the talk-- it was pretty straight and clear. Of course, we did some activities to make it more youth-oriented...This week the youth will starting leading and doing everything on Saturdays. It'll be cool to see how it goes!
Keep in touch!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
My Day Off
Altotonga, Mexico -- In this last week a lot of things have happened. I had various meetings... the girl who cleans the building wrote me that she wouldn't be able to clean that week due to her college classes... So, I ended up doing that... as well as cleaning the chairs of the church, which the pastor was wanting to be done...I also took apart the hockey table and cleaned it, and it's working a lot better, I'd like to say. Man, it was dirty!! Also, we're starting a course on how to disciple others, so the last 2 or 3 weeks I'd been reading a lot, talking about principles, putting together all the best of the best, translating materials, etc.
On Saturday, we had a lot of kids at the meeting-- we were around 30, which is growing, since there were some things over the summer-- and some other plans of other people, which had caused some problems. So, for a while it was a bit difficult, but with a lot of work and encouragement, we have been growing. The majority of the kids going are new too!
So, there's still a lot of work ahead of us, and I'm working with the core group, since starting in November, they're going to be the ones who will be running stuff. I'll be helping them transition into this "position" or, guiding them along. Coaching, if you will. They need a lot of encouragement and prayer, if you would be thinking of them.
Last week I bought tickets for Indonesia and Japan. It was very exciting and very like-- wow-- at the same time. I've believed along the way that God was going to provide, and He's provided thus far-- though as in this too, there's still more to go.
Since buying them, I've been working a lot more on Japanese and reading more about the culture and stuff.
I'm pretty excited about this.
Today, I've got a bit of a cold that I've been working at attaining for the last few days. It's not bad, just a stopped up nose and bit of a cough. But, this Friday is also the big b-day, and so from Thursday til Saturday I may very well be pretty wet, or covered in soda, sardines or whatever. I'm hoping the kids will have mercy on me... but I'm not expecting it. :)And two weeks from Friday there's a conference in another city for the missionaries in Mexico that I'm looking forward to attending... Fun times.Well, I'm gonna get. Today's my day off and I'm gonna get some rest. It's been a long week!Newsletter coming out in the beginning of the November!
On Saturday, we had a lot of kids at the meeting-- we were around 30, which is growing, since there were some things over the summer-- and some other plans of other people, which had caused some problems. So, for a while it was a bit difficult, but with a lot of work and encouragement, we have been growing. The majority of the kids going are new too!
So, there's still a lot of work ahead of us, and I'm working with the core group, since starting in November, they're going to be the ones who will be running stuff. I'll be helping them transition into this "position" or, guiding them along. Coaching, if you will. They need a lot of encouragement and prayer, if you would be thinking of them.
Last week I bought tickets for Indonesia and Japan. It was very exciting and very like-- wow-- at the same time. I've believed along the way that God was going to provide, and He's provided thus far-- though as in this too, there's still more to go.
Since buying them, I've been working a lot more on Japanese and reading more about the culture and stuff.
I'm pretty excited about this.
Today, I've got a bit of a cold that I've been working at attaining for the last few days. It's not bad, just a stopped up nose and bit of a cough. But, this Friday is also the big b-day, and so from Thursday til Saturday I may very well be pretty wet, or covered in soda, sardines or whatever. I'm hoping the kids will have mercy on me... but I'm not expecting it. :)And two weeks from Friday there's a conference in another city for the missionaries in Mexico that I'm looking forward to attending... Fun times.Well, I'm gonna get. Today's my day off and I'm gonna get some rest. It's been a long week!Newsletter coming out in the beginning of the November!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Watermelons
Altotonga, Mexico -- My "kids" called me a watermelon this afternoon. We had gone out to a basketball court instead of having our meeting inside and it was chilly. So, as we were running around my cheeks got nice and red. So, they talked about the green and then the white line and then the red-- and said my eyes were the green, my face the white, and the reddness, well- the red.
Of course, I've also been called other kind of food here. I suppose while Japanese and maybe Asians in general use nature as comparisons, the Mexican kids here use food for comparison.
This week has been interesting-- I've spent a lot of time in counseling and ministering to kids, have made 2 trips to another city to work on a new visa, had an aquiantance ask for prices on stuff I'll be selling, made a leader upset for asking him to make a decision that leaders make, had a debate with a kid on "Does God exist" and "How was Jesus fully God and fully man", and met a lot of new people. It's just been a really interesting week-- I've been praying that God will provide more and more opportunities to minister and to help me, step by step, to prepare these kids to rise up.
This afternoon, as I mentioned, I left a sign on the door saying where we were, and then carrying sodas and a basketball and soccer ball, we went around and invited kids we knew to go play basketball and soccer with us and we had our typical meeting there after running around like crazy. We are trying new things to reach new kids and get out of the habit of being inside "four walls".
Tomorrow the leaders will meet to discuss today and make it better for next weekend (because it was pretty cool) and we'll continue discussing the transition of me stepping down and them stepping up, and have our prayer time and course on evangelism, which I have things in mind for them, HA HA HA (evil laugh there, :).
I am excited for that. Please pray for these teens-- for a lot of encouragement for them.
Also, if you would be praying for me about finances after I lost that money and-- in 2 weeks at the latest, I believe, I'll be buying my tickets for Japan!!! :) Yay!
Alright, I need to finish preparing for tomorrow!
Of course, I've also been called other kind of food here. I suppose while Japanese and maybe Asians in general use nature as comparisons, the Mexican kids here use food for comparison.
This week has been interesting-- I've spent a lot of time in counseling and ministering to kids, have made 2 trips to another city to work on a new visa, had an aquiantance ask for prices on stuff I'll be selling, made a leader upset for asking him to make a decision that leaders make, had a debate with a kid on "Does God exist" and "How was Jesus fully God and fully man", and met a lot of new people. It's just been a really interesting week-- I've been praying that God will provide more and more opportunities to minister and to help me, step by step, to prepare these kids to rise up.
This afternoon, as I mentioned, I left a sign on the door saying where we were, and then carrying sodas and a basketball and soccer ball, we went around and invited kids we knew to go play basketball and soccer with us and we had our typical meeting there after running around like crazy. We are trying new things to reach new kids and get out of the habit of being inside "four walls".
Tomorrow the leaders will meet to discuss today and make it better for next weekend (because it was pretty cool) and we'll continue discussing the transition of me stepping down and them stepping up, and have our prayer time and course on evangelism, which I have things in mind for them, HA HA HA (evil laugh there, :).
I am excited for that. Please pray for these teens-- for a lot of encouragement for them.
Also, if you would be praying for me about finances after I lost that money and-- in 2 weeks at the latest, I believe, I'll be buying my tickets for Japan!!! :) Yay!
Alright, I need to finish preparing for tomorrow!
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