Home Away from Home

I'm back at headquarters! My flights yesterday were relatively uneventful and I arrived in St. Louis at 11:00am. I ate lunch, crashed in my room and slept for three solid hours. It was so refreshing to get up and take a long walk outside and just...relax!

It is amazing to see all of my fellow Summer Missionaries and hear their stories. It's like a big family reunion - I LOVE it! :-D I had my debriefing session this morning with several of the Summer Missions staff and it was good to talk about things and get it out of my system. Having to review (in graphic detail) the lows and highs of the trip was emotionally draining, but it was good to share. Thankfully, I don't have to "do" anything until after supper. How delightful to be able to get some good rest and fellowship before getting back to Real Life!

I can't wait to see everybody at home and share pictures and stories!

Last post from Boston

I'm all packed up and our apartment is clean - now it's time to put the computer away! Prayers for safety in all aspects of travelling are greatly appreciated. I'll be arriving in Missouri either late morning/early afternoon tomorrow.

Farewell, Boston!

Last Day

Today is our last day of clubs. Can you believe that? I can't. This week has gone by so quickly, it's hard to believe that today will be my last day of teaching in Boston and tomorrow will be my last full day in this city. I will be flying back to CEF's headquarters bright and early Sunday morning (as in 6:30am) for several days of debriefing and then flying home on the 26th. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Tamara hasn't heard anything from her doctor, yet, and she is getting rather frustrated. Her plan is to spend the rest of the summer at home resting, and try to get things figured out before she goes to college this fall. Please continue to pray for her.

Philippians 4:4-7

4Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice!

5Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon].

6Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

7And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Rainy days

It's really cool and rainy here today. Just the kind of weather for a bowl of soup, a nap, and an indoor 5-Day club. So far, I've had both the soup and the indoor 5-Day club, and maybe I'll be able to squeeze a nap in before our next club. :-)

Our first club today was so much fun. I just love those kids! But first, let me tell you about yesterday. I ended up driving Chris, Joel (another young man who works with CEF here in MA) and myself to teach our club because Tamara didn't feel up to it. Praise the Lord that Chris and Joel were able to help - and that I survived some pretty crazy driving experiences! Anyway, a mom and her two kids, plus another girl came for the first time. I think that they saw the sign outside of the church and decided to drop in and see what our club was all about. I'm excited to report that Eleni (14) and Ursula (10) both decided to receive Jesus during our club. How amazing is that?

We brought a puppet to our club today. Laurel and her older brother, Dan, were so excited. We had "Freddie" introduce the club, review the rules and explain the Quiet Seat prize. The kids also "taught" him one of our songs. It was such a hoot! At the end of our club, Laurel prayed, "Thank You for our club and thank You that they brought Freddie."

Dan, Laurel's brother, is such a sweet kid. He is almost ten years old, and received Jesus at last year's club. Tamara says that the growth in his life is obvious. Today he told Tamara that he "needed to show God more respect because He showed a lot of respect for me by dying on the cross." When we left, Dan said, "Why do you have to leave? Are you coming back tomorrow?" And then he gave us the sweetest hugs. It has been such an encouragement to work with a group of saved children who attend church regularly, and who are so eager to learn and grow. It puts an entirely different spin on our teaching, since we have to gear our lessons toward growth principles.

Praise the Lord that Tamara is feeling lots better today! It's such a relief. God continues to teach us lessons in flexibility, and He is also proving to me that I can be considerably outside of my comfort zone and...not die. :-)

Quick update

Praise the Lord for a fabulous final day of clubs last week! All three of our clubs went extremely well, and at the final club, I was able to lead a little boy named Angel to Christ. It was so wonderful! After our clubs, Tamara and I drove to her hometown of Plymouth for the weekend. We did a Party Club for a Brazilian church on Saturday afternoon, which was loads of fun. Tamara spoke at a church on Sunday morning, and we spent the rest of our time visiting Tamara's friends and family and sight-seeing/shopping in Plymouth. It was a busy, but good weekend (and I got to spend time at the ocean which is one of my most favourite things to do).

Our church clubs started yesterday. A little girl named Laurel (aged 6-7) received Jesus yesterday afternoon. Apparently she had come to last year's club and was very close to making a decision but never did. She certainly did yesterday! Very exciting stuff. Our second club is held in a park and is sponsored by a local church. Church members bring children from different areas in the city to the club. I'm specifically praying for one little girl who seems to have a lot of head knowledge, but it hasn't made the connection to her heart. She is quite the little firebrand, and it would be so wonderful if she could be on fire for Jesus! :-)

Please keep Tamara in your prayers. She was feeling okay yesterday, but today she is feeling worse than ever. Seriously, I don't know what we are going to do this week if she continues to feel so badly. There is no way that I will be able to teach by myself and Chris is doing other clubs this week. It's really hard for Tamara when she feels fine one day, and terribly the next. Please pray that her blood test will reveal the problem and that a solution can be reached soon.

Thanks for praying! It's amazing to think that this is my final week in Boston. Has time flown, or what?

:-)

Heraldo/Geraldo/Jeraldo/Gerry/Jerry update (I obviously don't have a handle on the poor kid's name): he came back to club and announced that he tried to look up the verses in the tract that we gave him, but he couldn't figure out how to do it. I showed him how after club and he got all excited. He caught on really quickly and was able to find references for me. I got his address so we'll be able to enroll him in Mailbox Club and be able to send him Wonder Devotionals. I told Tamara that I feel like he is our "special project," or something. Apparently he is the ring-leader of most of the kids in that housing development. One kid started swearing, and he said, "You stop that right now and confess your sins to God. Swearing is a sin." He could influence a lot of kids for good if he wanted to.

Tamara felt yucky this morning, which meant that I had to get Chris and drive all of the way to the Salvation Army club by myself. Yeeps. I was running a little low on steam myself (it is the fourth day of clubs, after all) and defensive driving was not my idea of a good morning. I checked my email and looked at my daily Seeking Him devotional. It was about being surrounded by angels, like Elisha in 2 Kings 6:15-17:

15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.

16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

That's exactly what I needed to read this morning and it gave me the confidence and the peace that I needed to be able to drive and then teach club at the Salvation Army. Praise God for His perfect timing!

Keep praying for Tamara. She is still feeling really crummy. We have three church clubs scheduled for next week, and she and I will be the only teachers. At this point, she isn't even up to attending club, let alone doing some of the teaching. She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so maybe she can get some answers.

Happy Day II

Our club at the Salvation Army yesterday morning went marvelously. It's amazing to see how much the kids respond to Chris, especially the little boys. Chris was able to counsel three boys (aged 10-12) to salvation and before we left, each of them came up to thank Chris and give him a hug. It was the sweetest thing! I counseled several children, and one little girl named Tauryn prayed to receive Christ. Yay!

After our club, we met a fellow CEF-er at the Boston Commons for a picnic lunch. He was working at several CEF camps up in Maine and New Hampshire, and he decided to come through Boston on his way back home to Missouri. It was a perfectly gorgeous day, and we spent the afternoon leisurely walking through the commons and the Public Gardens. As a major fan of "Make Way for Ducklings," it was thrilling to actually be able to ride a Swan Boat in the Public Gardens and see the island where the Mallard family made their home. :-) We also popped into the Old Granary Burial Ground and saw the graves of John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and the victims of the Boston Massacre. I feel so spoiled by all of the historical sightseeing that we've been able to do in between ministry. How fun! Downtown Boston is a perfectly charming place to visit.

My day was going splendidly, but I didn't know that it was going to get even better. We drove straight from the Boston Commons to our afternoon clubs. The first club got started a little late, but it went well and the children were a pleasure to teach. Then we headed over to do our second club. Unfortunately, many of the kids who attended the club on Monday were participating in a basketball tournament, so we had to move our club to a different location within the housing development, and not many kids came. I was feeling frustrated while teaching the Bible lesson because it was obvious that the two boys who agreed to listen were just waiting for the opportune moment to make their escape. It was difficult to keep their attention and I found myself thinking, "What is the point of pushing this?"

As I was explaining the Person and work of Christ, the basketball game ended and a few more kids joined the bunch - including the foul-mouthed boy (named Heraldo) from Monday. God had answered my prayer that he would come back to club! He listened intently to what I was saying, and even when other kids tried to distract him away from the club, he said, "No, I'm staying here and listening." Before I knew it, nearly all of the kids had left the club, and it was me, Heraldo and one other girl. Both of them responded to the invitation, so I went into counseling right there on the spot. When I asked Heraldo questions, he gave me the most concise answers that any kid has given me during counseling. It was apparent that he fully understood every aspect of the Gospel message. When I asked if he had believed in Jesus before, he replied, "Well, I don't think so, and I only go to church once in a blue moon." That totally amazed me as well - he knew all of these things and didn't even receive regular teaching in a church setting. It was also amazing that he readily confessed that he hadn't believed in Jesus. Heraldo decided to pray and receive Christ yesterday afternoon. It was the most sincere, obvious "conversion" that I have witnessed thus far. I've been told that often you can tell by looking in a child's eyes: Heraldo's entire countenance changed!

As we talked about assurance and how he could grow in Christ, Heraldo told me that he had read an entire children's Bible and part of the Old Testament. He was so eager to get a Wonder Devotional Book that he ignored his friends and followed us to the car to get one. Then he said, "Are you really only here until Friday? Is anybody going to come next week?" Sadly, we told him that Friday is our last day of club, but maybe we would be back next year. "Aw, that's too bad," he said. "I think club is fun." And he hadn't even been to one full club hour yet!

We rejoiced all the way home. I'm still overwhelmed at how God answered prayer for Heraldo. the Verse of the Day on Biblegateway.com for June 9th was Ephesians 3:20: [God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us. For me, asking God to bring Heraldo back to club and allow him to be saved was something that was beyond my imagination. I hoped it would happen, but it felt like a "way out" kind of request. Now I see that God IS able to do more than I ask or imagine!

Please keep Heraldo in your prayers. He has a lot of potential if he could somehow receive long-term follow-up or discipleship. I'm going to try to get his address today so that maybe we can find a church that he could attend (he said that he had trouble finding an English speaking church, because he doesn't understand Spanish very well). Just pray that he will be able to grow in Christ and to be a strong follower of Him.

Praise the Lord for continued safe travel in and around the city. We're also grateful that Tamara felt well enough to teach the Bible lesson this morning at the Salvation Army club and that we are continuing to work so well together as a team. Pray for energy for both of us as we finish out the clubs this week and that we would be sensitive to what God would have us to say to the children. I've so enjoyed teaching the clubs this week, and it's going to be hard to say "goodbye" to the children on Friday.

Thank you so much for your prayers and for taking the time to read my updates! It means so much to me.

Can't trust that day....

My morning got started off right with a club at the Salvation Army in South Boston. We taught between 60-80 children, and it was so much fun! It is definitely different to teach large groups, but it is also very exciting. There were plenty of counselors from the Salvation Army to keep the kids in line, so we were able to focus on teaching. Four children prayed to receive Christ, and that made it a happy morning indeed! Praise the Lord!

Tamara didn't feel well enough to teach clubs this afternoon, so guess who got to pick up Chris and drive to our two afternoon clubs? Moi. Again, I'm just praising God for the peace He continues to give me when being continually faced with unpredictable and (potentially) uncomfortable situations. I've discovered that driving in Boston is like Broken Bow driving on a larger scale - I have to drive defensively and not expect anybody else to follow traffic laws. :-)

I'm increasingly amazed at the wonderful conversations that I am able to have with children concerning spiritual issues. That is probably my most favourite part of teaching. Sometimes I wish we could just stop and have Random Spiritual Question discussions. That is what makes me excited about eventually becoming involved in long-term discipleship (through Good News Clubs) where I can build lasting relationships with children and be able to spend more time just answering difficult questions they might have. I find it so thrilling when children seem to "get it" and are eager to ask questions. I inwardly do the Napoleon Dynamite "YESSSSS!" :-)

During our second afternoon club, one little boy took it upon himself to start hollering one horrible profanity after another. I stopped the lesson and firmly told him that we did not allow bad language in our club and that if he wanted to speak that way he was going to have to leave. Thankfully, that quieted him down. Later on during the club, I was explaining how Jesus chose to let men arrest Him, beat Him, and nail Him to the cross. This same little boy raised his hand and said, "Yeah, but they didn't understand. They killed Him because He said that He was going to tear down the temple and raise it again in three days. They didn't know that He had to die for our sins." I was shocked: this was coming from the same mouth that was just swearing uncontrollably. If this child could transfer his amount of head knowledge to his heart, imagine what could happen! I hope that he comes back to club tomorrow.

Driving to clubs, teaching clubs, and driving back from clubs is rather tiring. I need to go to bed.

Sunday

The past two days have been quite full, so I'm grateful to have a schedule-free Sunday to relax and be refreshed. On Friday, Tamara and I had to pick Terrie T. and Mark J. up from the airport. They are from CEF's headquarters, and we were the first stop on their "Whirlwind Tour" to visit several Summer Missions destinations and encourage the missionaries. We got seriously lost several times getting to and from the airport, which resulted in not having enough time to pick Chris up to help with our late afternoon clubs. So Tamara and I ended up teaching them ourselves. Another lesson in flexibility, right? One little boy named Eric received Christ, which was very exciting. When children come to know Christ it makes all of the stress of preparing and getting to club so totally worth it. Quincy and Rob didn't return to club, which was slightly disappointing, but I'm praying that the seeds that were planted on Thursday would eventually take root in their lives.

You might want to keep Paige and her family in your prayers. She came to our club on Thursday with a certain degree of hesitation, but stayed for the entire club hour. When we were heading to our car after the club, Paige's mother began to holler out of her apartment window that "we weren't allowed to give any material to these children" and that "if we came back, [she] would call the cops and press charges." We have permission from the Boston Housing Authority to do the clubs, plus we didn't force any material onto the children - they were free to take it or leave it. Nevertheless, we were concerned that this woman would cause disruption during our Friday club. I was surprised to see Paige at our club on Friday, and even more surprised to see that she had brought her two younger brothers. She made them sit down on our blanket and participate in the club. Before we had progressed 15 minutes into the club, Paige's mother came storming over. She removed her kids from the club, hollered something about suing us, and then marched off. And that was it. We were SO grateful for God's protection in that situation and that we were able to continue the club without issue. My heart broke for Paige, though, when I saw her standing on the top of some nearby playground equipment, attempting to hear what we were teaching during club.

Yesterday was spent doing some sightseeing in downtown Boston. Since Terrie and Mark's plane did not leave until late afternoon, we ventured down the Freedom Trail and saw many amazing historical sights. I particularly enjoyed visiting the Old State House (and seeing John Hancock's coat!!), Paul Revere's House and the Old South Meeting House. It was incredible to stand where great events in our nation's history took place and to be where famous men once stood. It was a full day, but it was very pleasant indeed.

Tamara is still praying and seeking wisdom about whether she should continue doing ministry this summer, or if it would be wise for her to take the opportunity to get completely physically well. Because her decision will effect what I do, I am praying that God's clear direction will be given. I hate being in limbo, where I don't know from day to day what the plan will be.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that God is still in control of this trip and our ministry when it feels like we have been jumping from one stressful event to the next. Sometimes, I'm tempted to think, "What is the point?" From my viewpoint, we haven't been as effective as I would have liked. But my plans and ideas are not necessarily God's and I am confident that His plans will be accomplished if we continue to seek Him. His faithfulness has been apparent in everything and I'm grateful for the security I have in knowing Him.

Enough of this epistle for now.

Philippians 3:8-9

Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law's demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.

Happy Day

We had clubs in two housing developments in South Boston yesterday. These were the clubs that Tamara and I were supposed to teach earlier this week, but Carolyn and Chris ended up teaching them. When we talked to Carolyn about the clubs, she said that no children came to the first club and only one little girl listened to the Bible lesson at the second club.

Tamara and I prayed that more kids would come yesterday, but we honestly didn't expect very many. We arrived 1/2 late to the first club (due to traffic issues), and few kids seemed interested in coming to the club. We talked to one little girl, who said that she needed to go check with her mom. She came back a few minutes later with five of her friends - each carrying dolls and a bag full of doll clothes. They all plopped down on the blanket we had brought, made their babies "go to sleep" and proceeded to participated in our club. Two more girls joined us later on - huzzah! It was like having a mini-MOPS meeting. :-) Each of the girls promised that they would return to our final club today.

At the second club, we started out with three children and ended up with eleven! One little boy named Stephen kept jumping up and saying, "I'll be right back." He would have two or three more children in tow when he returned. It was so neat to see him eagerly invite his friends. I taught the Bible lesson on "The Good Shepherd" and as I began teaching about sin, several of the boys began asking deep questions like, "Is it sin, even if we do only one thing bad?" and "How has everybody sinned?" I continued to explain, and one little boy named Shomari raised his hand and asked, "Well, what can I do to get rid of it?" I told him to hang on just a second, and I would gladly tell him what he needed to do to have his sins forgiven.

All of the children came back for counseling after the invitation, so Tamara and Chris took most of the younger children, while I talked to the older boys. After going through the counseling steps, Shomari decided to receive Christ as his Savior. It was the most amazing thing to see him totally "get it" and make such a conscious decision to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus. I was so excited! This was the first time that God used just me to counsel a child for salvation, and it was indescribably thrilling.

Praise the Lord for His blessing our clubs so mightily yesterday! Praise Him for bringing Shomari into a relationship with Himself. Praise Him also for providing Chris as an excellent helper and teacher.

Please pray for our clubs this afternoon that the kids who attended yesterday will return. Specifically pray for Quincy and Rob - they were so close to making a decision yesterday, but it didn't happen. They have grasped the salvation message, but haven't come to the place of personally believing in Jesus Christ.

Please continue to pray for Tamara. She is still struggling with health issues, and she is wondering if maybe it would be best for her to stop teaching/being responsible for the ministry in Boston this summer. She really needs to get some serious rest before starting school in the fall. Pray that she will have clear discernment as to God's will for her this summer.

Paper Clip Girl

Yesterday was definitely the most insane day of this mission trip - so far! I am praising God for His faithfulness in all circumstances and how He provided so much grace and strength in my weakness.

It started off with Tamara feeling worse than ever, which meant that I had to prepare to teach the Bible lesson for the final session with the Arabic Church children. It just so happens that the lesson I was going to have to teach is the most difficult one in the Knowing Christ lesson series and I had about 1 1/2 hours to prepare and practice. I was still having trouble with my voice (I'm feeling much better overall, though), and I kept praying, "God, I have no idea how this is going to work out...I have no idea how I can possibly prepare this lesson." Amazingly, I did not feel panicked, and when the time came to present the lesson, it was honestly like God was keeping everything I needed to say at the forefront of my mind, and all of the distractions out. It was such a relief!

Our final session ended early and Carolyn and I began to pack up our materials. As we were walking back up to our room, we met Tamara in the hallway. She was coughing uncontrollably and said that she thought she was having an asthma attack. She has struggled with asthma over the past few years and apparently the bronchitis triggered an asthma attack. The conference physician gave her an inhaler, but as she was unable to get her breathing under control, an ambulance was called. She and Carolyn left for the emergency room, with the idea that I would follow. Mercy (a very sweet lady who was ultimately in charge of child care at the conference) agreed to help me pack up our hotel room and our teaching materials and then offered to drive with me to the hospital. I was grateful to have somebody to follow since I had absolutely NO idea where I was going and I am extremely uncomfortable driving on busy Massachusetts interstates.

That's when the insanity kicked up a notch. I was following Mercy and I noticed that we kept going around and around the town of Lowell. Since I really didn't have a clue about where we were going, I just kept following. But finally she pulled over and said that she wasn't from the Lowell area and the directions to the hospital that the hotel gave her were obviously inaccurate. We were in a downtown-ish area, so Mercy began asking people for directions to Lowell Hospital...and each time she asked, the directions were completely different! We ended up driving around Lowell for an hour, trying to locate the hospital, when Mercy decided to stop at the fire department and ask for directions. While she was asking one of the firemen, I received a call on my cellphone from Carolyn saying that she and Tamara weren't even at Lowell Hospital - the EMTs had changed their mind soon after leaving the hotel and had gone to a different hospital. Thankfully, one of the firemen offered to lead us to the correct hospital, so we wouldn't get lost again. That was such a huge blessing!

Tamara was in the hospital for about 3 hours before getting dismissed. I had to drive back to Boston, which would have totally freaked me out, if it weren't for the incredible peace from God that transends all understanding. It didn't make sense, but I felt so calm and able to do what I needed to do. We made it back to our host home at about 5:30pm.

Tamara and I aren't teaching clubs until Thursday, so we are spending the next two days getting some much needed rest. Please pray that we will continue to heal physically and that the remainder of our time in ministry here in Boston will go more smoothly. This has just been crazy! I am glad that things happened when they did, however, and not when Tamara and I were completely alone somewhere. I'm also so grateful for God's protection and provision and just being such an amazing God!

I'll have to post about the Arabic Church Conference later.... :-) Thank you so much for praying!