10/8/10
I want to record it all but I’m not sure if that will be possible. But for now, while I have the time and the energy I will record as much as I can.
Today was a good day, it was a really good day. We were told that in the morning for a couple hours we were going to walk around the neighborhood and “do some ministry” whatever that means. We prayed and we seemed set to go. We were doing door to door stuff so we decided to break into our two teams since it might be a little overwhelming to have 13 Americans show up to each house. I’m not sure what’s going on with me, but I’ve been struggling with some insecurities – probably because I don’t feel like I look my best (or smell my best) and there’s not much I can do about it. I shared my insecurities with our team and that I was having doubts about what we were doing and how presumptuous it might be of us but Brooks spoke truth and life into me and reminded me that what we are doing is not of our own accord and that we are following the Holy Spirit, it was encoraging to hear and allowed me to feel a sense of peace.
We started walking around the neighborhood (I didn’t take pics but I will soon because the surroundings are beyond beautiful) and we came across a woman with a bowl of corn on her head. Through much effort in trying to understand each other we think she was pointing us in a different direction because the road was too busy in the direction we were going. It’s funny but I was joking with my mama when we drove down to Atlanta about a Steve Martin movie (if someone knows which one it is please comment in the comments section) where he was asking the Lord for a sign and all of these ridiculously obvious signs were going on around him and he was too oblivious to realize that it was clearly the sign he was asking for “just any sign…” I’ve been having several instances like that on this trip where in hindsight it seems so obvious that God is giving you a sign (“just any sign…”).
So we walked down a different road and I noticed an older man walking with a cane. His home was kind of in a field so we actually ended up walking over this barbed wire that had fallen to the ground – it was like a threshold we had to pass as to whether we were going to be obedient or not. So we went up and I’m pretty sure he told us he had polio. We asked him if he would let us pray for him to which he said yes. It was an amazing time of prayer and it was such a blessing that he was willing to allow us to pray for him. We prayed for healing of his body but more than anything my prayer was that he was able to see the love of Christ through us.
I had also noticed an older woman laying on her bed with an oxygen mask when we walked by her house the first time and I mentioned it to the team but we decided to keep walking. And low and behold she was sitting outside on the porch when we walked by on the way back. She said hello to us and we asked her how she was doing to which she responded “infirma” (I’m sick). We asked her if we could pray for her and she responded with a strong yes. It was a blessing to have two people allow us to pray for them. We plan on going back to visit those two later since we will be here until the end of the month. I’ll give updates for sure.
This evening was the icing on the cake. I was struggling with my insecurities as I mentioned in the beginning of this blog. I was doubting myself to a certain degree and struggling with image and appearance – which will likely be future topics in this blog – unless the Lord decides to miraculously take these worries away forever (I’m praying for that, but hopefully that will come through this journey that I’m on). Anyhow, we will be working at the festival of El Dia del Ninos tomorrow (the Day of the Children) and we got to practice dancing and jumping around to songs, it was so goofy and so fun.
My mom has told me that I seem happiest when I am doing something physical – dancing, playing soccer, playing piano – I denied it for a long time but I know she’s right. So after some jumping around in a hot kitchen we changed our clothes and went to play soccer with our team and some local guys from the ministry. All of my insecurities were gone. For those of you who don’t know, soccer had been a significant part of my life for years. To a certain extent, I feel at home on a soccer field. I am confident in my abilities so I am just able to have fun. Another random side note, I found out about Adventures In Missions when I was 15, I wanted to go on a missions trip then and I found them on the internet. I decided on Peru because the description said “How would you like to play soccer with the locals in the rain at night?” I was sold. I didn’t end up going on the trip then, but I stayed on the email list which is how I found out about the World Race. So tonight, 9 years later, I was able to do that and it even rained a little when we first started playing. God is so good, God is so faithful. I am seeing this over and over again and my prayer is that you will experience this as well.
Another random side note, there is free wifi at the local fast food restaurant called Pollo Camparo, so my teammate Annalisa asked when the next time we were going to Pollo for interent, so we are now calling it “internet chicken.” Therefore, I will blog again the next time I have time to go to internet chicken.
