Tuesday 18 November 2008 at 5:33 pm
Last week we agreed that if noone showed up for Bible Study tonight we would go out and visit some families. So of course I came down with a cold and the weather turned cold! I was determined to go, so Juan, Mayah and I bundled up and headed out. The first family I wanted to visit was the one that recently moved back after many years. The mom and younger son were home and quickly invited us in out of the cold. We had a great visit and Juan was able to share the Gospel very clearly. I am sooo grateful for the opportunity we had tonight! When they lived here before the boys were young and I did not know Spanish, so I couldn't communicate with their mom. When they moved away we longed to see them again and prayed that the Lord would bring people into their lives to continue to share Christ with them. I didn't expect to get to be a part again years later! Pray that the Lord will soften their hearts.
The Lord also blessed by having us visit inside an apartment that was warmer than mine!
Did everyone see the snow flurries in Raleigh today? It was a pretty view from my desk this afternoon!
Thursday 06 November 2008 at 6:11 pm
I found this picture in my Snapfish account. It's Holly teaching the Easter Egg lesson in 2004. They look nothing like this now!
Thursday 06 November 2008 at 5:46 pm
At the end of homework help today some kids wandered in to see if they could talk us out of a snack even though they hadn't bothered to come do homework. (The answer was no.) In that group were some new faces who I had seen hanging around a couple days ago. The youngest boy came up to me and said, "How long have you been here?" I asked if he meant how long had I lived here and he said, "No, how long have you been HERE." I explained to him that we had only been in the current community center since March and he said, "But how long have you been doing this?" I told him six years and he said, "I think I know you, are you the one I took the picture with?" And then he turned to question his older brother who said, "Yeah, that's her." (I would like to point out that his question was not the least bit helpful to me - I had no idea which of hundreds of pictures me and a kid he was referring to!) At that point both brothers started talking and I quickly heard, "We used to live here a long time ago." "We came to this before." "We took a picture." "It used to be over there." "Where's Brooke????" "I had a leaf project that we did like 5 years ago." "Did you cut your hair?"
And somewhere in that stream of words I suddenly realized who they were and was stunned. They lived here when I moved in. They were 3 and 8. Now they are 9 and 14!!!! They were in the community center every time the doors were open (once the little one turned 4 and was old enough - some of his first English words were "Kids Club"!) and at our apartment all the time. I have TONS of pictures of them. (sadly, that was before I had a digital camera) I clearly remember the Sunday afternoon that I was driving home from Maryland and Brooke called to tell me their apartment was vacant when she had gone to get them for Kids Club the day before. I do not remember the next several minutes of the drive because I was sobbing.
They've moved back! They are living right next to the community center!
I'm still stunned and can't believe they're back! They've grown and changed a lot and I'm looking forward to getting to know them again. Their rapid flow of words when they confirmed that it was me was interesting. I still don't know what picture the younger brother is referring to, but it obviously was important to him. I had forgotten about "the leaf project" until the older brother mentioned it (I know it involved Brooke, wax paper and an iron) and it's not the first thing I expected to hear from the 14 year old standing in front of me!
It's so hard when families move and you have no idea where they've gone or how they're doing or if anyone is in their lives sharing Christ. I am so thankful to have one return and pray that their hearts will be soft and open to the Gospel.
Saturday 25 October 2008 at 1:01 pm
It's the week of the NC State Fair!!! This is one of my favorite times of the year in North Carolina! I love the fair! This year I went 3 times! Yes, most people think I'm crazy, but I had a really good time. Each time I went I walked through different sections and saw different things. Last night I got to show some friends that there is more to the fair than the carnival rides, games and food. They had no idea!
Last weekend I went to the TobyMac concert at the fair, which led to pulling out old DC Talk albums for a time of reminiscing. (My first DC Talk albums were on cassette!) Our trip to the fair last night made me think of their song "Colored People". It's strange to me that people find it so strange when I go somewhere with a group of all hispanic friends, but I frequently hear comments about it. It's very normal to me, but even my friends usually expect me to feel weird. Apparently observers also think it looks strange.....
Sully saw some friends from school and went on a ride with them. Later she relayed this conversation to me:
Friend: "Is that white lady with you?!?!" Sully: "Yeah" Friend: "Who is she?" Sully: "She's kinda part of our family." Friend: "Oh????" Sully: "Well, she's not a blood relative." Friend: "Oh! So she married your uncle?" Sully: "No! Not like that."
The friend was still confused. Her confusion and surprise is a reaction that I encounter frequently. The comments and such don't bother me, but the racism they reflect is sad.
Thursday 23 October 2008 at 5:24 pm
When I logged on to write this update I noticed Scott's last post had the same theme. I have not been out of the country, nor have I been sick (the latter for which I am extremely thankful!), but the past month has been a whirlwind. The Lord has provided a full-time job and I am readjusting to bi-vocational ministry after 3 years of serving full time in Mission Raleigh. One huge change for me personally is going from being a night owl to now at 8:20 pm trying to finish this quickly so I can get ready for bed! As I was searching for a job I set some expectations; a consistent monday-friday schedule, being off for evening ministries and hopefully afternoon homework help (which I did not expect to happen), health insurance, and a salary I could live on. I now work monday-friday from 6 am to 3 pm, will soon be eligible for health insurance, and am receiving a salary in the range I had set! On top of that, my boss is very kind and I'm working in a super pleasant environment. The Lord answered all my prayers concerning employment and also provided for some details I had not considered! I am extremely grateful for His provision and enjoying my work. I have not yet adjusted to the very different sleep schedule! I have been spending very little time on the internet, but I will try to remember to log on more frequently to write here.
Good Night!
Wednesday 17 September 2008 at 9:37 pm
We have many new refugee families in the neighborhood who speak little to no English. The kids have all started school and I cannot imagine what this experience is like for them! 3 boys came to Kids Club on Monday and told me their names, but it took several tries to find out their ages. One boy finally understood my question and interpreted for the others. Today I saw two of them after school and asked if they had homework. They smiled and shook their heads no. I told them they could bring it and we would help them, but they just smiled. I didn't think they understood what I was saying at all. A little while later I was walking around and saw a man with the younger boy and he pointed to the older brother who was carrying a homework folder and then to the community center and said, "He wants to go." A few minutes later he came shyly to the door! We made it through most of his math homework (minus the word problems!) I'm thankful he felt safe enough to come by himself and his little brother really had understood what we were doing!
Friday 12 September 2008 at 11:18 am
Someone recently told me their side of the story about "an incident" they were involved in; what they said, how they said it, why they said it, and then the awful response they got. They wanted me to understand all of this because it is the reason behind the action they are currently taking (which affects me).
What the person didn't seem to realize is I was present when "the incident" occurred.
I'm sure this is something mothers experience on a regular basis; kids fight and one runs quickly to mom to explain in order to try to look innocent while tattling on the sibling, not realizing that mom observed the whole thing and knows that both are guilty! (I know it happened to my mom!)
As I was thinking about this whole situation, it made me think about how many times I try to do the same thing with my Heavenly Father; "Goooood, such and such happened to me and I tried so hard to be faithful and loving in response and things kept escalating no matter how sweet I was and I just don't understand what's happening here!" As if He wasn't aware the whole time how selfish or lazy or I was behaving...
Tuesday 09 September 2008 at 9:03 pm
We had a mission team here for Labor Day weekend. They spent a day at CP painting and doing some electrical work. The community center looks like a totally different place! It's so warm and inviting! We also have a new light in the bathroom, which is very helpful!
All of this was just in time to kick up a new year of Homework Help!
Please join us in praying for more volunteers to come out on Wednesday afternoons and help students with their assingments.
As more families move in who are just entering the United States, this ministry is needed even more!
Sunday 17 August 2008 at 10:48 pm
I have a neighbor who I've only met briefly on a few occasions and she seemed very distant. I wanted to get to know her, but hadn't seen an opportunity. Tonight she came to my door at 10pm and asked me to pray for her. She said, "I don't know you, but my kids talk about you and I know you give them spiritual guidance, so I was wondering if you would pray for me." For the next hour we sat and talked and cried and prayed together.
She apologized for "bothering" me - not knowing that moments like this are the reason I live here!
Sunday 17 August 2008 at 10:35 pm
This afternoon three teenagers stepped out and followed Jesus in baptism in front of friends from the community and their church family.
The girls shared before they were baptized:
"Since I became a Christian the Spirit has been changing from the inside. I'm a different person. I know this miracle that God has done in me, he can do in my family also. I have hope."
"I was baptized before because that was what my family believed, but now I want to be baptized because I have become a Christian."
"Now that I accepted Christ I'm a different person. It's not because I go to church or because I'm with Miss Amy all the time; it's because God is changing me inside. I don't want to do the things I did before. Now I know that I will go to Heaven when I die, but it's not just that - He's with me now. No matter what happens in life, it's ok because He's with me, helping me."
