Being in another country, in another culture with unfamiliar people forces you to be open to new things. It forces you to reevaluate values, habits and the way you think and see things. Often times we think the way we do things is the right way until were exposed to some different. This is what I appreciate the most every time I have the privilege of traveling to a new place.  It grounds me and helps to realize what really matters and what doesn’t.  It’s barely been 2 weeks and God has shown me so much. I can’t imagine what He will do in the next 5 weeks.

 This week...

Monday, I helped Carrie and Todd with homeschool. I had a blast with the kids teaching the different literary styles found in the bible. I found a new love for Christian literature as I helped Shiloh with her work.

Monday night and Tuesday night bible school classes have been great. They’ve been teaching about prophecy. I’ve learned a lot about hearing the voice of God and how to deliver what he says. 

Wednesday we went to a village in the mountains called Zarzamora (means black berry). It was a 4 hour drive from where I stay. Andy and Karyn have done a lot of ministry with the Indiginous Indians who live there.  They are called Purépechas (http://indian-cultures.com/Cultures/purepecha.html). Andy and Karyn wanted to go and encourage the people there. It was really interesting because when we got there we found out that the pastor’s mother is dying.  Andy and Todd shared messages of encouragement to the people .You can feel the atmosphere shift as Andy and Todd were speaking. We got to pray for the sick. There were a lot of babies and children sick with diarrhea and stomach pains. There was man with pain in his knee who got healed and another guy with pain in his neck that was also healed. It was a great evening.

After the service Todd and Carrie gave a box of brand new sneakers to the Pastor for the children in the village. When the children received their shoes they were so happy.(Though, you can't really tell by their faces in the picture)

Thursday we went downtown to do street ministry. We seen the guy we led to the Lord last week. His name is Rafael and he sells little toy horses on the bridge. Andy shared scripture with him and they discussed it. It was awesome to see this...the beginning stages of discipleship.

I also got to meet Sergio and his family. Andy had ministered to him a few weeks back. Everyday Sergio, his wife and their five children set up a table with handmade crafts hoping that they will sell enough for the day. Neither Sergio nor his wife know how to read. Seeing that their five children do not go to school I’m assuming they won’t learn how to read either. It’s sad to see. However, with Jesus there’s hope. Next week we plan on doing activities for the kids and Andy is going to make some cds for Sergio. I’m excited to see what God is going to do in this family. 

I really enjoy street ministry. Andy and the team are praying for place to rent downtown so that they can open the doors to the homeless. Let's come in agreement with them!