Sunday, May 23, 2010

2 for 1

hello. = ) first off i would like to say that whoever takes the time to read this ginormous blog deserves a parade. you're a trooper. ; D
goodness, im two weeks behind again, aren't I? well let's see what i can remember from 2 weeks ago. Monday we had girls basketball as usual, although i think im gonna have to stop calling it basketball. What we play looks more like the distant cousin of basketball, soccer, and football.. sometimes even a little UFC! ok, maybe not that last one, but either way we have a lot of fun! Pastor's wife lead the service on Tuesday about being athletes for Christ. One of her illustrations (unbeknownced to me prior to her calling me up to the front) was to have Joyce and me pretend to box. I dont know exactly what her point with that one was, but the whole message was one about how Christ has already won the fight against Evil, and if we are on His "team", we are champions over the world as well. Amen? Wednesday service was good as well, followed by a fun Children's Worship time on Thursday with the little kids and Friday with the Pre-teens. (im pretty sure we served them hot dogs for their snack.. im also pretty sure that, afterwards, the floor inside the Grupo CEO building looked like it rained pieces of hot dog. lol) The teen meeting was a blessing again, especialy because of one of the guys who gave a devotional. Evair had asked me earlier in the week to give him an idea of what to talk about for his devo and i told him that it should come from his heart and he should pick something that maybe he has struggled with and go off of that. So at the meeting that night, he read a verse in Proverbs and started to talk a little bit about wisdom and also forgivness. Then, mid-scentence, he stopped and put his head in his hands, choking back tears. He tried to keep going, ended up just keeping his head down, whiping away those few tears he couldnt keep from falling. we paused for a little while and Thiago prayed for him, then the next person continued with their devo. I didnt know it at the time, but it turns out that, either before the meeting or earlier that week, im not sure, Evair had gotten into some sort of fight with Fabrissio about his guitar. I guess the argument got pretty heated, and as Evair was preaching on forgiveness, the Holy Spirit tugged at his heart, telling him he needed to set things right with Fabrissio. To God's glory, everthings good between the two guys now, and it was so beautiful to see how sensetive Evair was to God's voice. (is it weird to describe that as beautiful? maybe, but thats what it was) He's a good guy and, just like the rest of these teens, FULL of potential to make God famouse!
Saturday we spent the afternoon at the mall. Patrick, Douglas, and I saw Iron Man 2 while Amanda and Erika had some mother-daughter time. Sunday was a day of relaxing and getting ready for a week of mid-quarter tests. Thus ended a pretty good week!
Now this past week, every day was pretty bipolar. "Jordan, you're saying your days were bipolar?" allow me to explain. So, i get up in the morning and go to school, trying (usually in vain) to get some sleep on the way. Then we have the first 3 classes as normal (which means homework as usual on top of studying for the tests. blah.) Then the time arrives to take the lovely little assesments so we give it our best shot, hoping we studied the right stuff, and turn the test in, thankful that its over! Then we go home, (depending on what day it is, patrick and i study for 2 hours with the tutor). then, finally, the time arrives to go do the ministry activities and all thoughts of school fly away and i get to interact with all the kids and teens who i love so much! haha. All of the services and studies this week were just really great times that i could see God working and moving in even the smallest way, and there were a lot of times this week that i just stopped for a moment to think about how God has brought me so far, how incredibly much He's blessed me to be able to spend every day with the people here. I told myself, "Jordan, when you were down here in 2007, you never dreamed that in 3 years you would get to spend 180 days in a row with these persons!" Thank you, Jesus!!
Monday, Patrick and i had a movie we had to watch for a paper we had to write, so it became a movie night for us and the pre-teens who normally have Cycling on mondays. it was a good movie, with some pretty good company. = ) Tuesday and Wednesday were, as i said, bipolar, with tough tests in the morning and good times at Grupo CEO in the afternoon. Thursday's Childrens Worship was a lot of fun, and on Friday with the pre-teens, Thiago and i had a bit of a dance off during one of the songs. Hes pretty light on his feet, he is, but had a little trouble copying me when i did the worm (the only thing that i can do dance-wise thats semi-impressive. lol) Both Children's Worship services were especially good this week! I didnt give a devotional at the teen meeting this week because i was spending a lot of time studying for tests and doing homework, but one of the people who did give them did a good job. Josefa actually gave her devo this week and, considering she gets embarrassed to death when she talks in front of groups of people, i was really proud of her stepping up and sharing. Alane was super nervouse too, which surprised me because she has already lead a devo once before. Both them and Thiago and Patrick shared from the heart so needless to say, i was blessed. Since i didnt share anything this week, Pator Eudes lead a discussion with the kids about purity and "friends with benefits" kind of stuff, which is common here. Everyone seemed to stay engaged and a few people gave their oppinions. All the teens agreed that its not alright to be physically involved with anyone, but easier said than done, right? Pray that the Holy Spirit uses the Word that was taught to mold the hearts of these teens!
Saturday, Erika went to VQ with Pastor and his wife so their daughters Gessica and Amanda spent the day at our house hanging out. It was a great way to spend the day! Today i spent a lot of time planning my devo for friday, writing this monster of a post, and planning the lessons for the teen meetings that Rob Lauter and I are going to be leading once he gets here in 18 more days!!
i had some of good chances this week to talk with a few different girls about stuff in their lives and point them towards scripture so that it's not me who is helping them with tough times, it's our God, cuz He'll always be there and isnt leaving to go back to His home country 2 months... Im going to miss everyone a lot.. a lot, a lot.. theres a quote that says, "How lucky I am to have known someone that was so hard to say goodbye to." I really like this quote, but i would change 2 things, because for me, its not just a someone, its a lot of persons (no, not people, persons), and im not lucky, im blessed.
Thanks for reading, thanks for remembering, thanks for praying. = )
Until Next Time,
Jo

3 comments:

  1. You amaze me. I love you so much!

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  2. Praise God, God is so alive and crying out to us all each and every moment of our lives . For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His Only Son......Sunday My Rabbi became quite emotional as he shared his passion for his desire to engage us to the urgency of our calling to share the Gospel of Christ to the lost. To the utter most parts of the world. Keep the faith keep pushing forward thru the clogs of dirt, Keep your hand to the plow ,Keep your eye on the calling and task He has called you to do. Josefa,Alane,Evair,will continue in ways that will cause a celebration in glory. The holy Spirit is moving as we allow . We lift you up Jo feel our prayers for you and all there . Love Pa pa

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  3. Jordan, it's so good to see God's Will beautifully unfolding in your life. It's easy to see how much God is using you and doing wonders through your time there. I've been very blessed to say as caught up as I can, and all these months have flown by until here we are, under 20 days for getting to work together. I'm praying daily for our time down there, that it would be beneficial and that the Holy Spirit would work in marvelous ways during not only our time down there, but even more so when we leave. I miss you and am very excitied to see you soon!
    Your brother in Christ, Robert

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