I Prefer Pencils over Pens....

Have you seen the Panda? Yah..someone let him out of his cage, I don't know why, guess they fell for his puppy dog panda eyes. But now this Panda's running around town going bananas! (or going bamboo?) Anyways..let me get down to what's really going on with this bear! He stole my pencil and I think my eraser too! This is a horrible, horrible situation! It's horrible because..well..I prefer to use my pencil with studying the language over here rather than a pen... I prefer to use a pencil to write down to do lists and to journal with. Well, since you asked here are my reasons for preferring a pencil over a pen:

1. being a perfectionist it helps to have an eraser

2. mechanical pencils break way easily when you are learning to write complicated characters

3. pen ink is hard to come out..esp. when you leave it accidentally open in your bag and it decides to write over everything else that has become its' new neighbor

4. i think my handwriting looks better with a pencil

5. did i mention studying and working on characters?

6. cheaper to buy than pens

7. you get to use a pencil sharpener (mine is blue and see through so you can see all the shavings)

8. gray is not a bad color..it's neither black nor white, it's in between!

9. i heard that artists use pencils more than pens

10. pencils never run out of ink..just lead, but you know when its end is near and it is never a surprise

So..you now understand why I need my pencil. I don't know why a Panda would steal my pencil, maybe my husband put him up to it. Now that I think about it he was complaining of me studying too much..and what better way to keep me from studying than to take away my desired writing utensil! .............eerrrrr....

****Stay tuned next week for the End of the Panda's Escapade****

Feeling Small

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt that God had definitely placed you there either to make intercession or just to be a presence in a place that needed light? Or that He placed you where it is extremely hard to be that light but wanted you to learn something new? Well, on Tuesday of this week I definitely had that take place for me over here. I planned to venture the city alone while my husband had another meeting of his own with a new brother for discipleship. I first went before the Lord and asked to be used for His Glory and took time to worship and meditate on Him. Then I left for the afternoon to hunt for a place where I could share about my Savior to ears that have never heard. I rode my bike (yup..haven’t named my bike yet..but thanks for all the ideas..promise to do that soon) and found a restaurant near a local hospital and had lunch. As I passed by the hospital on the way to the restaurant I felt a desire to go and visit the hospital, but did not know how to walk in alone. I sat down in the restaurant and had a bowl of lamb noodles and a bottle of Pepsi (sad but true, they did not have Coco Cola and my father in-law would be proud! Ha ha!). I stayed throughout the lunch hour and after finishing my noodles I pulled out my books and began to study the language. My intent of course was not to be fully wrapped in studying, but to make myself available for friends to be made. It worked well and after all but one or two customers had left their finished meals, I had several young waitresses at my table curious with what I was reading and with who I was. Being a foreigner in a country where you are not the normal view does have its’ advantages in spreading the Gospel. They want to learn about me and I desire to share my identity with them as well, my identity in Christ. I had the wonderful opportunity to share my testimony in their heart language, a feat that has taken great energy and time to learn, and made friendships that afternoon. Unfortunately, a young lady that was sitting right behind me began to choke on a small bone that she had accidently swallowed, not seeing it in her food. She was able to breathe and speak, but felt that the bone was stuck in her throat. I won’t go into much detail on this part of the story, however I will share about the urgency from the Holy Spirit pressing in. A waitress and older friend of the waitress walked the pained lady to the nearby hospital and I sat there watching and praying for her safety. I watched all three of them walk out of the restaurant and down the sidewalk and out of view. I continued to pray for the lady and asked God what I should do. I felt the Spirit leading me to go and pray over the lady that was hurting. I remembered how earlier that day I had told the Lord to use me for His Glory, so I quickly, but with fear, obeyed. I gathered up my belongings and started for the door of the restaurant. The other waitresses asked me why I was leaving and I simply told them that I wanted to go and pray for the hurt lady. They exclaimed that I did not even know her and I said that it did not matter and that I needed to go and pray for her still. I continued on my way, not knowing if I would find the lady again once I reached the hospital. It took me only five minutes to make my way there and after asking a nurse with my poor language skills and hand motions where the lady with the throat problem had gone to, she recognized my attempt at the word throat and told me to go to the third floor. I can’t tell you what a miracle it was that I found the lady along with the waitress and older woman that had escorted her to the hospital. As I went up the stairs and made it to the third floor I ran right into them..and they were surprised, so was I. I asked them if I could help them and they agreed. I followed them around this hospital, and apparently it was some type of emergency outpatient hospital, and soon was seated beside the lady with the swallowed bone. I asked if I could pray for her and she said yes and then I obediently prayed over her with my hand on her shoulder. I prayed in English, a prayer of comfort and quick healing and really felt the power of the Spirit flowing through me. After I finished praying over her, she thanked me in English and said a few sentences as well. I was surprised that she knew English, I just prayed over her and thought she was not able to understand me, but she did! The x-rays came back and the bone was gone, it had passed onto her stomach. I asked about her again on Thursday returning to the same restaurant and the waitresses said she was doing well. It is hard to describe the power of the leading of the Spirit, He leads us, if we are willing, into situations that require courage and stubbornness, stubbornness of course on the part of being obedient to Him no matter the difficult or rather upsetting circumstances. I confidently feel that God knew what He was doing that day in leading me on my way. I had no idea of course what was going to happen, I was just going for some lunch and seeking to be used. It bothered me to see the lady in so much pain, and to see so many in an emergency hospital in pain as well. I remember standing there in the hospital, while we were waiting to hear from the doctor for the results of the x-ray, and looked around at all the people that were obviously in pain as well, I remember asking Father if this was supposed to feel uncomfortable, to be standing in a hospital not knowing much of the language, not able to help anyone but pray. I asked Him is this where you want me and am I strong enough to handle such deeply upsetting scenes. He responds so gently to us, and He told me that He was strong enough to die for them all and He will continue to be strong for them through me. I never felt so small like I did that day, yet I felt the Holy Spirit so powerfully. The smallness came from the reality of seeing people deeply suffering and to do so without the True God in their hearts. Sometimes the world seems so big in situations like that, where you are so small and at a loss for how to help. Prior to this entire ordeal, I had wondered earlier of how I could enter that hospital, well God gave me a door in. So, you can guess where I will be visiting again in the near future, to get a chance to pray for someone else and give them hope for a Savior that can be with them through their pain, heal them, and eternally save them. If indeed we allow are ourselves to be small, He will be allowed to become Greater.

How We Will Go...

If you haven't read the below blog entry that I wrote read it first, this one comes after it....

Here is our new proposed strategy in reaching our city. In looking for those that are hungry for a living God in their lives, we have decided to go and look for them until we find them. This is not a new revelation of our calling, but a reminder of why He has allowed us to live here, to reflect Him by going out and finding the lost. Our first three months here have been busy with catching up in classes, setting up our apartment, meeting the needs of a short term team, and following up with new contacts. We are excited to gain some breathing room from all the busyness to take time to focus on our strategy. It's very simple and leaves great room for the Holy Spirit to move us to be a part of amazing things. We desire to visit restaurants, hospitals, libraries, parks, and more.

Our Strategy and Schedule during these next two months while we have no classes to attend to:

1. Wake up
2. Worship God and be filled with His Spirit and pray together before we set out for the day
3. Look at the map of our city and choose a place
4. Go and Prayer walk in that place
5. Share with the locals in that place the Good News during and after the Prayer Walk (in the local language here), being very intentional in this. Look for persons of peace in that area to start churches there.
6. Plan to return to that area bi-weekly. Return home, praising the Lord, and make notes of our findings.
7. Next day, Repeat steps 1-6 in a new location of the city

Please lift up our new strategy, asking Father to open doors for us to reach different communities within our city. We both prayed for direction in how to begin reaching our city and we both, trying very hard not to be overwhelmed by the vastness of the lost here, feel this will be a great start! I am also currently spending time in prayer about a group of people in my city that needs great attention to as well, please pray that I truly hear from Father in how to reach them. Thank you for lifting us up!

Go and Find the Lost

I should start off by describing the emotional rollercoaster I decided to ride during the month of December... after getting sick from the ride I wisely got off the rollercoaster and saught the Lord for help! It all started when my husband and I had planned a beautiful christmas party and expected many to show up with many of their friends showing up with them, yet only four followed through with their committment to come. I also had made several appointments with new believers and had been cancelled on multiple times. The lesson came to me when I asked the Lord what did we do wrong during the preparations of this party and with my making appointments. I had no problem with getting students to come to my parties in the past, but now that our focus group has changed to working with the business population of this city rather than university students, I was starting to find out that they are not as committed and loyal as students who have much more free time are. They have overtime to work, families perhaps, friends coming into town, or a basketball game to play.. pretty much misplaced priorities as lost people do. So why am I taking it so personal that most of the appointments that I make with new contacts fall through? The Lord, in His amazing faithfulness, reminded me to be thankful with what He is doing rather than complaining about what is not happening. Colossians 2:6-7 "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Where was I overflowing with thankfulness? So much have I to be grateful for that I was only seeing what was not working in my own plans rather than seeing how amazing God is and how beautiful is His love for us. I decided to change my thinking, my words, my heart, to give praise to Him instead. If someone cancels an appointment with me because they do not find the importance of taking time to study His Word, than I will move onto the next interested heart and continue to share His Truth. A little doubt, a little dissapointment, and believing big lies will quickly discourage us from why we are here. I am here to reflect Christ, who lives in me, to all around me. I have used the lesson I learned from our Christmas party, which was still a wonderful time, and the cancellation of appointments to spur me on to find where God is working in this city. My next agenda: if they will not come to us, go to them! Go where they are, go to those who are ready to commit, find those that see their need for God and are desperate for something else in their life, find those that are waiting for His name to be shared with them. They are out there, I just need to go and trust that in His leading he will lead me to those hearts that He has prepared for a Revelation of who He is. After all Jesus did come to us....