This week has been a pretty cool week. All of us guys decided to go to a waterfaon Tuesday. It was really fun and the water fall was about 50-60 feet high. They water in the air was overwhelming. There was so much water in the air that I couldn’t work my phone and I thought it was broken.
On Friday a few of us went to the prison to talk to the guys there. That is always a very hard but rewarding time. Their lives are so very hard. Some of them shouldn’t even be in there and were wrongfully convicted. One guy is 17 years old and he has already been in there for 6 years of his life for steeling something little that didn’t even matter anyway. When you walk into the jail there isn’t a sense of fear or of anyone trying to be above you in any way. No one walks around with their heads held high or anything like that. Everyone walks around with a humble attitude. They are there to learn and to get to know you and the Lord.
These men in here inspire me. They are in a situation that seems to be hopeless. They don’t get a court date or another chance to leave early. They could have been put in here for a wrong reason to begin with so a police officer can get an extra buck here and there. These men have been forgotten by their friends and families. I talked to one man who has five children and a wife who he hasn’t seen in years or even heard from. The families are ashamed of them so they cut all communication with them. The prison is made for like 200 men and there are over 1000 of them in there right now. They have to take turns during the month to see who can sleep on a bed that night or at least a couple hours during the night. They don’t even get enough food there.
All of the trials of being forgotten by everyone and everything that you care about and no food or a bed and having standing room only. All of the things that everyone fears so much and they still choose to come to see my group and I once a week to hear abut Jesus! These men have no reason to love God or to try and pursue them. They aren’t going to get out any faster if they come to these sermons. They aren’t going to get some kind of gift or anything. They are coming because they are choosing to give their lives to God. They choose to believe that God can help the and save them. I know that the men in there can have the thought “God made my life this way. He made me do what I have done. He has forgotten me just like everyone else has in my life”. Yet these men that come and see us aren’t thinking that.
These men inspire me. They know the pain of the world and the sorrow and its hardships and yet they choose to pursue the Lord! It amazes me that people that I know back home that have 2 or 3 times as much hope in their lives choose to walk away from the Lord because they think their life is hard. They think that just because they have had a hard situation in their lives that they have the right to turn their backs to the Lord. Trust me when I say, there is always hope, there is always the next door that can open up and change your life in crazy ways! Even these men in this prison that have little to no hope, see that there still is hope. There still is a chance for a life that is worth living if you pursue the Lord.
I tell these men in the prison that I can’t bring their families here to see you. I can’t get you out of here any earlier. But what I can do is share your story with others, to use the most useful tool that anyone on this planet has ever been given. I can pray for you. The Lord hears every prayer no matter how small or how meaningless it seems. I can also tell these men that no matter how alone they feel they are not alone. They have me praying for them and everyone in my group praying and they have all of you too! No matter how hard your life seems, no matter how hopeless you are, there is always a way out and his name is Jesus.
Our pastor here is named Mike and he is a super good guy. This guy is a very very cool man in many ways. He was telling me about his life today and he told me how he got to the church hr is pastoring at right now. He was telling me that he was leading a bigger church before and that his pay was at 60,000 P a month. ($1,200/month. $14,400/yearly) Also, at that same time his wife was a good teacher at a great school and his three kids had free schooling because of her job. They were really well off with everything that they had.
Then one year, out of the blue, God called him to the church where he is at right now. This job would only pay him 6,000P/monthly($120/month. $1,440/year) and his three children would not be getting their schooling payed for. This is a huge change in life styles and pretty much everything. Nothing would be staying the same for his family. Even with the huge change in everything and the potential of not being able to provide food for his family, Mike decided to have faith in the lord and listen to what he was being told to do.
This shows a ton on his character and who he is as a person and how we should strive to be. This man traded all the things that were certain in his life for uncertainty because of his faith. Do you have that kind of faith? He has told me that God has always provided for him in everything him and his family and all that they have needed. Some days it would be 1PM and his family hasn’t eaten lunch yet so they would sit and pray for a meal to come because they didn’t have any money to eat. Then someone that they didn’t know brought food and money to their door within a couple of minutes of praying. God will always provide for what you need. Thats saying a lot, but if u think about it, he provides for all the flowers an all the animals and nature. Why wouldn’t He provide for humans who He loves the most and are made in His image?
Some people may be thinking right now,” Well there was that one time that I needed this and I never got it.” My answer to that would be this, then you didn’t truly need it. If God doesn’t think you need something so he doesn’t allow you to get it then you must not really need it. Our needs and our wants have really put into one group now. Some people say they need a phone and a tv and a big house and a car. I would say that you don’t need them but you want them so that life will be easier for you. You don’t need a phone to survive, or a big house. The only thing that you really need in life is the Lord and he will provide everything else for you that you need.
Pastor Mikes motorcycle has broken down and can’t be fixed. He is telling me that now he has to walk an hour or so one way so he can go and do ministry some days. Thats when I told him Ill be praying that he will some how get a new motorcycle to help him with ministry and getting to the church. He told me,” Don’t worry about praying for me about that. I believe God puts us in the situation where we are for a reason. God has had my motor break down for some reason. Maybe that reason is to have another possibility to meet someone who I can share the gospel with along the way. Or maybe God just want me to walk and pray and be more intentional with him and learn how to be in constant prayer. What ever the outcome, God has a plan and has had everything happen for a reason.” That is so wise of him to say. He has learned what it is to just be content. Content with what he has to and content with where he is at in life right now. I couldn’t believe when he told me this.
Being content is a huge lesson that most people (at least in America) know nothing about. Philippians 4:11-13 Paul tells us that being content is huge. Being content is something that take time to learn and will strengthen your life with the Lord and probably in a lot of other areas also. I would encourage all of you to try and live like pastor Mike in these ways. He is very inspirational to me and is truly a man of God. Im going to try my best to learn everything I can from him in my time here.
Alright! now lets talk about me haha it is my blog and all. So this week or maybe two have been really awesome in everyday pretty much. I have been in my Bible for hours at a time reading more than I ever have. The Lord has answered my prayers and He has really been helping me get more interested in the Bible. That being said everything else has been put into place too. The devil still has been trying to attack me mentally and everything but it has been way easier now to see when it is happening. I ca call it out and stop it before it actually becomes a problem.
All of you who have been praying for me, thank you very much and your prayers are working! I can see it even in myself the change that has been happening. Also, I have many people like my good friends and Rachel and my family to push me deeper and deeper in my relationship with the Lord! This trip has blessed so many people and I’m happy to say that I am definitely one of those people! Thank you all!
Also, I have been praying for a while now and everyone has been asking me what I’m going to be doing after the race and everything like that. I really don’t have a finalized answer for some reason. Honestly, I would have thought that I would know what I want to do and everything by now and its a little concerning that I don’t but yet its not concerning at all either. When I answer that question I just want to say one thing but I feel like when I say that, everyone is going to be like,”Psh, thats not a plan. He can’t live like that.” I totally see where everyone is coming from when they would say/think that, but the fact remains that this is still an overwhelming thought in my head. When people ask me,” What are you going to do after the race?” I answer,” I want to live by faith for the Lord and do whatever he wants me to do in every situation.” Thats honestly the only thing I can say as of right now and it could mean anything and everything. I honestly feel like the Lord could be calling me to do missions work for a while. I don’t know what that looks like or where, or how I’m going to have the money to do it or who for or anything for that matter but I know that all that doesn’t matter. I know that the only thing that matters is if God is in it or not. If God is in whatever I do then I know that what ever I do will happen how he wants it to happen. If the Lord wants me to go on another missions trip, then I have total faith that the money will come somehow and that he will provide for what ever I need.
All that being said, does that mean that I don’t ever worry about money or anything. No, I totally worry about money. I have worked every year since I was 9 or 10 years old. This is the first time I haven’t worked an actual paying job in 10 years. This is totally different and it is a 100% change to what I am used to but I know with all f my heart that the Lord has my back in every situation and that I will not go without my needs being filled. I won’t get my wants(haven’t had what I wanted in about 6 months now haha) but every time I needed something he was there to make it happen and I believe that He will continue with that.
Thats why I have to say thank you to all of you out there. Thank you so so so much for everything. I say that from the deepest part of my heart, I wouldn’t be the man I am today without you guys. God used all of you to give something to me so I could go out and change not only my life but all these kids lives and all the families lives by showing them that the Lord cares for them and even people from America care for them. I try to write with all my emotions so I can somehow portray all the things that the Lord has done on this trip. Whether God puts in your hearts to donate to me again sometime in the future or not doesn’t matter, but the purity of the smile of an old homeless woman that I bought food for matters more than anything and I am only ever able to do anything of that nature because of all you guys. You all are the true heroes and I look up to you! So thank you, thank you so much for what you have done for everyone!
Ill talk to ya in a little while, a lot is going to be happening in the next week like flying and my mom is coming and everything is changing so I can’t wait to tell you all about it! Till next time!!ll
