Hello everybody! I fully expect you all to know that phrase when I
come back... So I'll give you the pronounciation. Oye! Two-doo bang!
There, now you know how to say, hello, everything's great! Well, I can't
say that everything is great, but for the most part it is! This past week
(my second) at Presidente Prudente has been very busy and full of the
usual adventure. First of all, I would like to thank you all very much for
your prayer support for last night as I preached during the evening service!
That was the first time that I have prepared a message and preached during
service. It was a very different experience for me and a bit scary as well.
But on this whole trip and everything leading up to it, I have been asking
myself if I am the right person to do go to Brazil, to be serving by myself,
to be teaching english, to be preaching... There are many people that
study the Bible more than I do, that have much better prayer life that I do,
that would be better suited to serve than me. But what is often hard to
realize is that all these doubts are through human eyes. God wants to use
me in my weakness for his glory. Like one of my friends likes to say, "God
doesn't care about your ability, but your availability." How
true. In no way am I worthy to do God's work, I have done nothing to show
that I have deserved this opportunity. I have only come here to do these
things because God has called me to do them.
Once I realized that yesterday afternoon, things were better. I shared
about Psalm 51:1-17. I wanted to share about David, a man after God's own
heart. He was the same as us, struggling with sin, but he was willing to
admit his sin and to humbly ask God for forgiveness. Not only that, but
he realized that this process is by grace and showed thanksgiving in
practical ways. I wanted to show how his example in this chapter could
serve as a model for our own lives. I shared during the night service, w
hich is smaller than the day. There was probably about 25 people
there, which was surprising, considering that the Copa America (soccer)
finals were on television at the time and Brazil was playing against
Uruguay. By the way, Brazil won, 3-0.
Anyway, the preaching experience was a good stretching experience for
me. Boy, is it difficult to prepare a message! Hmm, what else did I do d
uring this past week? Oh, I got to play tennis on clay courts for the very
first time! I was very excited to do so. I went to a club with two of my
students and with the family of one of them. Here in Brazil, tennis is
mostly for the upper middle class and rich people. I ended up playing a
set against the instructor of the club. I have not played in two months
due to ankle problems and I found that clay plays oh so different from hard
courts. Let's just say that I was very embarrassed on the court! But it
was a great experience for me.
There have been good opportunities for outreach. I have found that the basketball clinic is a good way to hang out with my students.
The clinic on Saturday morning has pretty much turned into just a
time where we play half court three on three or full court 5 on 5 with a bunch of church people and some of my students who might not otherwise come out to church. Pray for
our english Bible study. For the evening Bible study it is difficult in
terms of the comprehension of english (how exactly do you define terms like
"blessed" or "holiness" in simple english terms, not using
theological stuff?) so my questions have to be very simple.
As for the classes themselves, they are going okay. My students seem to
have a fun time and it is neat to see how they have progressed in their
comprehension of english and their willingness to speak in class. And my
Portuguese is getting better! I am understanding more and picking up more
and more vocabulary as I go along... But I've still got a long way to go!
Well, right now I've got to prepare my lesson for the afternoon class, so I
have to end now! Take care everybody!