I’ve spent this first week teaching English to teenagers. The first couple of days were pretty rough. I had to dust off some cobwebs. I had no idea what direction to go in and I couldn’t gauge where they were at, so it was a bit frustrating. At the end of my first class, one of the students came up and asked me, “is this an easy, medium or hard class? I would like a harder class.” And I was like oh dang okay. Gotta bring the hammer down.
I was also feeling a lot of pressure to teach well (not from my team or from our ministry partner, to clarify). But then I remembered that I don’t have a degree in teaching and I will not receive a performance review at the end of my month here. So now I’m just going to relax and let the Lord lead class. I want these girls to have fun and to feel cared for. If that means playing a game the entire time, that’s more than okay with me.
It’s still such an odd thing because we don’t use the word missionary here. There is a woman from America who has lived here for the past 20 years as a missionary, and she says that word doesn’t matter to them and doesn’t make sense to them. So when the students ask, what do you do for a living? I just say, I teach and I travel around the world. What a life.
We are still praying for a license to evangelize in this city. My teammate (Gabriela Gil) wrote a good blog about this other day. Imagine seeing someone desperately lost but not being able to tell them about the hope that is in Jesus. Instead, they have to ask. And THEN we can tell them. How can we tell someone they’re thirsty but can’t offer them a bottle of water?
It’s frustrating because I can’t tell my girls directly about Jesus either. I pray I’m communicating it with my actions. Please pray that the gospel would be evident in me and that I would find an alternate way.
We are also praying that God moves mightily in these next two weeks and that we see the license granted. Please pray with us in that, too!
On Saturday, we went to the countryside with our ministry partners. This was so stinking fun. In order to get there, we had to take a million dirt roads that crossed in every direction. I have no idea how we even found the ger we were heading too. There’s a million gers out in the middle of nowhere and there aren’t street signs or numbers on the gers and they move all the time… it’s a mystery to me.
So there we were, off-roading in a Toyota Prius. We arrive at the ger and we’re ushered inside. They offer us milk tea and curds with butter. The milk tea tastes sort of like the milk you drink after cereal, but a bit more diluted. The curds taste like parmesan cheese but with a bit more of a bite.
Our stomachs are unfortunately not used to things like this quite yet, but it’s amazing that these foods are in their most natural state.
Quick side story – earlier this week I helped out in the kitchen after dinner one day and had one of the most surreal experiences of my life. One moment I was chopping raw chicken; the next moment I was racing into the next room sawing ribs with a butchers’ knife. There was a lot of blood. But it was hilarious because the chef next to me was chopping the rib-bone in half with a cleaver on a tree log. There was another woman in the room churning butter. Just kidding. But it suddenly felt like I was transported to Mongolia of the 1500s because the light was so dim it was almost like candlelight and the chef was kneeling next to a tree log chopping a VERY recently slaughtered animal into tiny pieces.
So back to us in the countryside. As I was saying, I know these foods are in their most natural state because I’ve now experienced it firsthand. We spent most of our time outside, doing normal things like playing soccer and uno. However, the field that we played soccer in had incredibly long grass. And our goal posts were stools. It was incredible.
We also watched a young man bade a horse. That was even more incredible. That young man was fearless.
When we aren’t adventuring out or teaching English, we’re spending intentional time together as a team. It’s crazy to live in community like this. I’ve realized a lot about myself through it. It’s beautiful to see people who still love you and fight for you when they see you day in and day out and know what a mess you are. It’s truly the love of the Lord.
One last thing and then I’ll be done.
I felt the Lord calling me to give a certain amount of money a couple of months ago. I finally got around to doing it this past week. The next day, I received an anonymous donation that almost tripled what I gave.
What’s even more crazy is that we were asked to go to different cell groups throughout the week. Katrina and I went to one that went over Leviticus 27:30, Malachi 3:10-12 and 2 Corinthians 9:6. These verses all talk about trusting God with our money.
I’m not sure if you’re understanding the gravity of this. Monday night, I told my team I felt called to give. I continued to pray about it. Wednesday night, we attended a cell group that went over what happens when we trust God with our money. I could’ve attended any cell group. There are no coincidences. The Lord was confirming what I asked Him about, almost instantly. And then when I gave, he responded… THE VERY NEXT DAY. With triple the amount that I gave.
So whoever you are that gave, Jesus is alive. And thank you. It really struck a chord.
I love coming full circle.
Thanks for reading y’all.
