Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Pray for continued wisdom for me and my fellow missionary, Ginny, as we teach a Bible study in a nearby village. Pray that God would continue to give me the Spanish words to communicate His Truth clearly. And, most importantly, pray that the Truth of God's Word would seep into fertile, good soil and that these three women (Mirian, Claudia, and Rosenda) might come to know our Savior in a very real and personal way.
2. Pray for Joe and Megan, fellow members of the Xtreme Team. Megan is pregnant, and she began bleeding heavily this morning. The doctors in Peru put her on three days of bed rest and will go from there. Please pray for a safe pregnancy and for God to be glorified in this situation.
3. Pray for my current teacher, Rosenda. I am trying to discern whether or not she is a true believer. If not, she is very close. She has never before read the Bible for herself, but we are currently reading through the book of Romans in class daily. Please pray that God's Word would correct any falsehoods she has been taught and that she would be drawn to Him.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
Wow, what a time it's been since I last wrote! God has richly blessed, and your prayers are being answered in awesome ways!
During my time here, we have changed teachers every four weeks. This is good in many ways, as it gives us the opportunity to try to understand different speech patterns and to benefit from different teaching styles. But it's also given us the chance to share Christ with multiple people, which has been the best benefit from my standpoint.
Well, each of my teachers has been from a little town called Jocotenango (pronounced ho-ko-tay-NAHN-go), which is a little over a mile away. After the second teacher told me she was from there, I started wondering, "Lord, am I supposed to do something there?" But, with my third teacher, the Lord made it very clear.
Claudia (pictured with me to the left) is in her mid-30s and VERY lost. She readily admits this, but she is also hungry for the Word of God. During our classes, we studied through the book of Romans, and she wiped tears from her eyes many times during our discussions. She loved to ask me questions about the Bible's teaching on a variety of topics, from ghosts to the second coming of Christ.
When our time together ended, I asked her if she'd like to continue studying the Bible with me in her home, and she quickly said yes. She even agreed to allow me to invite the other teachers from her town. What a blessing!
But the story doesn't end there. I started asking the Lord what I should teach because I would only be in Guatemala for five weekly sessions, but I didn't want to race through things without laying a strong foundation for the Gospel. I wasn't sure whether this should just be a short session that would end in five weeks, or whether it should continue beyond that. And, if it should go on, who would be the leader?
The Lord answered that question by sending a new group of IMB missionaries to the area. We now have eight new missionaries nearby, and one of the Board's requirements is that we each have a ministry in Spanish while we are here in language school. The Lord laid Ginny, one of the new missionaries, on my heart, and I asked her if she'd like to accompany me to the first session and potentially take over leading the study after I leave. She was excited and felt that it was exactly what the Lord wanted her to do!
We traveled together to Jocotenango this past Wednesday for our first class, and it was absolutely amazing. The Lord had led me to do what I will be doing when I arrive in South America: Chronological Bible storying. This means that you tell a story from Scripture, never deviating from the Word but presenting it in an oral format rather than in a written one. This approach is effective even in a literate society because most people like to hear stories and the Bible, of course, has the most interesting ones ever written!
We went through the stories of creation and the fall of mankind, then discussed a variety of questions about them. And, of course, it was all done in Spanish. How amazing is it that God gave me the understanding and the words to lead a study of His Word after only three months of learning language! And how incredible is it that God began a Bible study among a group of Spanish teachers who are patient with our mistakes and often able to understand us even when we can't communicate perfectly! He really does know be
st, doesn't He? :)But the best part was something Ginny shared with me as we walked home that evening. During our discussion of the fall of man, we focused a great deal on the promise of the offspring of Eve Who would eventually crush the head of the serpent. And I told them that it is the first prophecy in Scripture and the first prophecy of the Messiah. Ginny told me that the eyes of each of those women lit up when I said that, realizing that God had promised all the way back in the third chapter of the Bible that He would send One Who would conquer sin. Wow!
What an incredible thing it is to be a part of God's work! To be there to see it as someone's eyes are opened to God's Truth for the first time... there is just nothing better! And your prayers are the indispensable part of the work here. I will continue sharing the results if you'll keep praying. You are truly my VITAL partners in ministry!
