Daily awakening #3…
Day 12: All Scripture is God Breathed!
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Scripture is God breathed= from God, through the Holy Spirit it was given to the writers of the many books of the Bible! This verse is a reminder of where the Bible came from and what we should base our lives on!
Day 13: In need of some company!
One of our ministry outings this month is to go to a Kennedy Park in Miraflores, Lima, Peru and build relationships. This area was specifically chosen for us, because this where one of the church locations is in the town.
The church we are working with is called Grace Life Lima. It was founded a few years ago by an American preacher who would go back and forth two weeks in Peru, and two weeks @ his home church in the USA! This got old after awhile and eventually he felt the Lord leading him and his family to Lima, full time, so in April he moved to Lima with his family. He preaches in English (which is then translated to Spanish) in a church in the morning in San Miguel area and at night at another branch in Miraflores were the service is mainly in English!
We were guided to ask the Lord what he wanted us to do and to explore the park! So we walk around trying to figure out how, who knows English (this area is known to have English speakers!), what to say… (Y’all it’s hard enough in English, try doing it in another language or trying to have a translator!) Anywho, we walk around praying how to open the conversation door! I suggest, let’s go play with the cats and see how that opens the doors?!? I know random, but there are a lot of cats around this park… So my teammates start petting the cat and then all of a sudden this man on a park bench yells at us! Our translator tells us the guy says you should grab a plastic container and give it some water. We stand confused?!? Where are these containers?!?
Hannah Conway, grabs her water bottle and pours water into the lid of the bottle and the cat laps up the water! Yep, the guy was right the cat was thirsty! So the cat drinks it’s fill and then leaves. We turn around and head over to the guy on the bench. We start talking and soon find out that his name is Oscar! He is from up in the mountains in Lima and sells Olives! Then we proceed to learn all about olives, his family, pigeons, and a bunch more random facts… We asked him what his beliefs are and explained why we were in Lima. He said he didn’t believe in God, and had some strong views about how some people have used God for personal gain.
By this time, We only had a little bit more time left in the park, so we asked if we could pray for him. He allowed us to pray and then we took a picture with him that he had requested.
Did he come to Christ? No…
Did we make an impact on him and his life? I really don’t know?
Did we get to share Jesus’ love with him? Yes
That’s all that matters, we were obedient and loved him as God would love his children!
I really feel like the Lord put him in our path and pointed out Oscar to us so we could love on him where he is currently at!
Day 14: The Christmas Market
In a park next to the mall, Plaza San Miguel, there was a group of tents set up! Each tent was a separate vendor, they sold all kinds of things, from handmade crafts, paintings, ornaments, dog toys/clothes, Christmas trees, etc. Sarah and I where looking around together and came across a lady who was selling ceramic mugs! They were so pretty! As we were looking the owner started to talk to us in Spanish and soon realized that we were speaking in English! She started speaking in surprisingly good English! Her name was Lina, she was selling these ceramic mugs, had made some of the decals that went on them from local inspirations such as Lamas, the local fabrics, stain glass windows in cathedrals around… She said that she was born in Peru, but had lived in the United States when she was younger for a few years. She said that her sister was actually in the US military for a while, that she still lived in the states. She also said that her parents were visiting with her Sister in Hawaii, we joked with her saying she should have gone! She was saying that she hoped to go one day!
She was so excited to practice her English and wanted us to come back and talk some more! We told her about the new bilingual church that had started and started that she would practice English there. Also, we told her about our English class we were having on Saturday where she could practice. Lina told us that she would be at the booth pretty much every night until Christmas selling here mugs, so she couldn’t make it to our English class! We told her we would try to come back and chat more.
The Lord orchestrated that meeting and I feel we planted a seed and loved on her as the Lord loves her!
Day 15: Conversations in other languages
This is just one of the many mini conversations that we had in English, during our English class. We had three people show up for English class! In truth, we were excited and yet at the same time bummed! 3 people, that’s it… we handed out at least a hundred flyers outside the English speaking school! Once we got past our pride and egos, we dug in! Pairing up: 2 or 3 of us (native speakers) with each 1 none native English speaker!
Sarah and I were paired together with a Peruvian native, named Luis! He was 33, was going to the English school, and worked at a vinyl printing company! He said he wanted to learn English to further his career and feels it will help him in the future! We practiced different English phrases and asked questions! He seemed to understand more than he spoke. He was a little bit hesitant in speaking it,( I completely understand that, because that’s how I feel about Spanish)! He had a lot of questions about God and we invited him to join us at church the following day, even encouraged him even more because the preaching is in English, and then Translated over to Spanish, so it would be a great way for him to hear both and learn.
While Sarah and I were talking to Luis, our teammates were taking to a couple from Venezuela! Who were so sweet! (But I’m not surprised, all of the Venezuela’s we have meet here have been so loving and sweet! They have big open hearts, even though they have been through so much in the last few years!!)
That day we started some good friendships and loved people as the Lord loves people!
Day 16: You never know when you will encounter Jesus!
This is one of the major take aways that I got from the first sermon preached in English (since I left the USA)! You see pastor Roger was preaching on a series about “Seeing the invisible God”! He was talking about how Jesus came to earth in an unexpected way! Asking if the people of the town ever realized that they missed Jesus?
None of us know when, where, why, how, or who (he chooses to use); when we will encounter Jesus!
Be open and ready to encounter Jesus! Look for God this Christmas season!
Day 17: In the Chaos
God has continued to ask me over and over again to sit still in the chaos! It’s hard… it’s hard to focus… it’s hard to not get distracted… it’s hard to not let your mind wonder… it’s hard to sit still…
But the more and more I’m obedient and draw near to the Lord, the closer my intimacy grows with the Father!
Day 18: Listen & Love
I’ve been reading the Bible through and currently I’m wrapping up Deuteronomy! I’ve been following a reading plan from The Bible Project! They outline what it is you need to read that day, normally some chapters in a book and then a psalms! Also, with the Bible project they have intro and specific topics videos that go over key features in that section of the Bible!
So I’m finishing up Deuteronomy and I watched one of these videos recapping Deuteronomy! It’s talking about the Sh’ma! (I’m going to try to describe what was so greatly articulate in this video, please check it out, https://youtu.be/NMhmDPWeftw )
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Listen and Love are two of the key words in these verses! A part of listening is to respond to what you hear, which requires you to do this by obeying! In order for Israel to obey, they must have love, but they don’t truly love without obeying! When they learn to listen & love ( through obeying) then Israel will fulfill their original calling to be the family of Abraham, which is to show all the nations the wisdom & justice of God and to become a blessing to them!
Wow the Lord’s been working and revealing so many new things to me! I can’t wait to see what else he has in store for me…
