My Guide and My Supply

Ahhh. After a very good and spiritually refreshing - although somewhat overwhelming - week away from Lima for SIM Peru's weeklong conference on the coast (pictures will be coming), it's nice to be back within range of the internet.  I have SO enjoyed and have really been blessed by many emails and Facetime/Skype convos with people back in the States. God has placed many thoughtful, caring encouragers in my life and I am so grateful for that!

Now on with the present.  Today I woke up with a slightly churning stomach....thankfully not from drinking non-purified water or eating non-iodonized fruits.  Nonetheless, I was more than a tinge nervous about my assignment for this week: Spanish classes at an institute here in Lima.

Now this sounds benign enough, and really it is.  Until you throw in a few complications...well, really mainly one.  For thousands and thousands of Limaneans, this is a common occurrence.  But I woke up in utter trepidation of the mere thought of navigating the bus system through Lima during morning rush hour.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I not only have no sense of direction, but my entire awareness of common and routine surroundings can be completely baffled with even the slightest hint of change.  Throw this wonderful gift of directionless-ness into the mix with the frenetic chaos of South American-style rush hour traffic - oh, and a semi-unfamiliar language being spoken in rapid succession....aaaand we quite possibly have a nightmare on our hands.

THANKFULLY, Robbye, the short term coordinator here in Peru willingly sacrificed her day to wake up early, lead me through the process of getting to the bus, on and off the bus, and to the school and back.  We arrived extra early since we weren't even sure that I would be able to register for my week of classes.  Again, I was thankful that there were no issues and I was placed in a class with enough time to spare to run down the road with Robbye to put some "saldo" (minutes) on the cell phone I'll be borrowing while in Peru.  Day one of getting to and from language school was a success.

When I arrived home, I found a couple emails from friends back in the States, both saying that they were thinking of me and praying for me.  Later, another missionary also said that she'd been praying for me today.  I was reminded once again of how God cares for me.  Of how He can so easily go before me and smooth over the unknowns and anxious thoughts.  I prayed this morning for peace and, above all, trust in God.  Dependance on God.  He leads me so well.

Tomorrow will be a new step in this dependance process: I will now be traveling to and from classes alone. Yikes. But God's presence has completely soothed the anxiety that was starting to well up in me earlier today. I am thankful for Him. He is present.  In each step and each moment of our days and our lives.

There was one other thing that I prayed for this morning. I asked God to reveal Himself to me in a new way today.   What a (potentially) fun way to see God work.  And he did.

I had the opportunity to accompany another SIM missionary to her ESL (English as a Second Language) bible study tonight.  Since there was a large number of students, she asked if I would help lead a group of the students through the questions she had prepared. The topic was "new life in Christ."   As soon as we sat down, one of the students said that she was having questions about salvation.  She was struggling with the idea of believing in God versus working your way to salvation.  She said that people have often told her that she would have salvation if she believed in God's existence, yet she was wondering why you had to live a certain way if belief in God's existence was all that salvation was about.  What an opening for conversation this turned out to be! As a group, we were able to discuss what belief really is and how good works flow out of true belief in God.  As more questions and opinions came up, again and again I sensed God giving me the words and examples to share.  The students seemed to be absorbing every word.

I feel like I always struggle when it comes to addressing any biblically-related questions, yet God is revealing the power of His Spirit at work in me to give me the words to say and the passion to connect with the hearts of these students.  I wish I had more time with them, but I know that God is at work through this English ministry here in Lima.  How cool to see that!

OK, time to wind down now.  My first experience in navigating Lima alone and then 4 hours of language study await me in the morning.   Sayonara, mis amigos :).