Hey everyone! I thought about giving you all a day by day run down from the past week but figured that would be to long and boring. So – I picked two days out of the week that I want to share with you.
Just so that you know what is going on this month – Team Z.E.R.O.H. has had a lot of down time becuase our ministry for each day keeps getting cancelled. But don't worry becuase God has been using this tiem for us to grow stronger as a team and to have lots of time studying and praying – something that we (as a team) didn't do so much last month. It has been awesome to see how God has brought us closer as a team and to Him. We needed this time to form as a team.
So here are two of serveal days that I want to share with you that are filled with God, team time, ministry, and fun!
Thursday 14th:
Happy Valentine’s Day! Our awesome contacts, Jenny and Suzie, made pancakes for us for breakfast! We were told that we were going to go to the hospital today but shortly after breakfast we were informed that they cancelled on us again. So we decided to go to the coffee shop and try to talk to some family before lunch. After sending a few messages out and just enjoying listening to worship music we headed back to the house for lunch. During or right after lunch we were informed that the hospital called us back and wanted us to come! Upon arriving the kids were already in their Valentine’s celebration of music and trying to hit a piñata. We talked, dances, walked, played, and prayed with the kids there for about an hour. It was a great way to spend Valentine’s Day, even if it was or an hour.
After we got back everyone hung out at McDonald’s and I stayed back with some Valentine’s Day surprises to get ready for. The lady’s decided that instead of the guys doing something for us on Valentine’s Day we would turn the tables and do something for them. So I made cards for them that we all signed (and I made cards for the rest of the team) and Karilyn had the job of distracting the guys, which thankfully wasn’t hard because they also wanted to go to the gym. Carrie and Savannah stayed at with the internet because Carrie’s sister was having a baby! Emily cooked and I helped (the day before we all managed to get all the food and stuff that we needed). Then once everyone got back from wherever they were we set the table and served chicken parmesan and spaghetti with brownies and ice cream for dessert! After dinner we passed out the Valentine’s card to the guys and the rest of the team. Then we had a dance party in the Salon! The front part of the house is Tatiana’s beauty salon. It was a great night for everyone!
Sunday 17th:
We went to a Spanish church service with Tatiana (the lady who opened up her home to us). While we were there Jake gave is testimony and the church prayed for him, and the pastor had us get up in front of the church twice – once to introduce ourselves and the last time to pray for us.
At about 5pm we left the house to go to an English church that was translated into Spanish. It was fun to see the difference between the two. One difference was that the Spanish church was excited to have Gringos in the service with them and the English church didn’t seem to realize that we were there because there were several Gringos that are members. It was also fun to see how the different styles reminded me of different Alabama churches I’ve been to, so I felt right at home at each place.
After the second church service we went to an area to feed the homeless. At first I helped serve the food, and then I went over to talk to some of them. It was hard at first because I didn’t know what to say (or speak in Spanish) one of my new Salvadorian friends helped translate for me. The first guy that I talked to was David. He had recently cut his foot on glass and there was a chance that it was infected. So I prayed for healing. The second guy, came up to me and started speaking and I tried to tell him that I didn’t know Spanish, but then I realized that he just wanted someone to listen even if I don’t understand. It was a hard time seeing them living on the streets, knowing that this was the first time that someone had come to feed them, that they have nowhere to go because their family rather didn’t care or also lived on the streets, and it was hard to see the need because we could not help them fill that need. All we could do was be Jesus to them, and I think that in a way they where Jesus to us.
When people normally think of being Jesus to someone they think helping in some way, serving food, preaching, teaching, being a light, etc. But now that I think back on that night, I think that they were Jesus to us not because of the scripture that says “when I was hungry you fed me” but because of the hope and amazement that was in their eyes when we fed them. I think that it’s the same hope and amazement when we come to God on our knees asking for forgiveness, for wanting to know Him more, for wanting to know His heart – the hope and amazement that says “wow! They care about me! They want to know how I am! They want to know me for who I am! They chose to spend time with ME!”
They may have seen Jesus in us but I know that I also saw Jesus in them.
