Hey! Long time no see :)
So we just got back from a long 3 days at Murchison Falls. This was the time that we most got to see God’s creation and some of us camped in tents but more on that later.
We started out early on Friday morning, separating into vans rather than taking the bus. I was in a car with 7 other girls from Drake (the MUBS students didn’t come with us). It was really cool being in the car with them because I got to get to know them a lot better and they saw me reading the Bible quite a bit-praise the Lord for the chance to be a witness to them. I’m really glad that we are all here so long because that means that people get the chance to know my life pretty well so the people I room with see me reading everyday and I’m sure by now they know that I am one of Gods (answered prayer request!). God is soo good! Praise the Lord that He is using us here (for things we don’t even expect and can’t imagine!)
We stopped for lunch on the way up north and it took literally 3 hours for us to finish. We ordered pretty much right away and then they started bringing out random food every once in a while going to each table asking if anyone had ordered it. After two hours of this, the teachers finally got so fed up that they actually went into the kitchen and started organizing everything. So after about an hour of them taking over, we finally all got our food and had eaten. I actually had a great time during those three hours-we got the chance to relax and hang out and catch up on the journal thing we have to do while we’re here. Everyone was complaining a ton but God gave me a lot of patience (something I don’t always have) and a good attitude about it so that was another great way to witness to people.
We got to the Red Chilli in Murchison Falls around dinner time. We checked in and they had half of us in tents and half of us in rooms. I got one of the rooms and I didn’t have a roommate yet so I got to room with one of the girls that I haven’t gotten to talk to all that much yet so it was a marvelous opportunity to get to know her better.
The next morning we got up really early, like before sunrise early, and headed out to go on a game drive around the national park. We got to the Nile River ferry right after the sun had risen and it was absolutely beautiful!!! Probably the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen. I got lots of pictures too! We were in the same vans that we traveled in yesterday but they opened up the roof so we could stand up and take pictures of stuff. But we had to be careful because that is a Tsetse fly area and they said it really hurts when they bite (but we actually all got bitten and it actually isn’t as bad as a bee sting so no worries). So we headed out on our 4 hour drive. They also cautioned us about the monkeys. They (the monkeys) are comfortable around people and they know what the food sacs look like so they jump into the cars and try to get the food! Our car hid our packed breakfast’s away so this wouldn’t happen but a monkey did jump into one of the cars in front of us and tried to take food! One of the girls in the car got really scared so she threw the bag at the monkeys head, haha. Good times.
It was so beautiful, going on the game drive. It was on a huge savannah, the biggest national park in Uganda. And we got to see tons of animals – a million antelope, water buffalo, warthogs, elephants, hippos, giraffes (those were my favorites!). Wow, God does great work!!! His creation just screams His name, it was so great to see!
Then we headed to lunch after that and then went to a boat tour on the Nile. This time we were headed to see the Murchison Waterfall. We drove on the boat for a looong time (about 2 hours) before we could see the falls. They were really intense, white water spraying everywhere!! We didn’t get close enough to get wet but they brought us to a little island so we got to get out of the boat and stand on the rocks to look at the falls. Random fact: Earnest Hemingway actually had an experience near the falls. He was on a plane and it crashed on one of the banks of the Nile. He survived. Then a rescue plane came to take him home and soon after takeoff the rescue plane crashed! He survived again but the newspapers in the US couldn’t get the right story so they assumed he had died and published that he died so everyone freaked out. End random story.
One the ride back to the dock (this time only 1 hour since we were going with the current) God blessed me with a great conversation with one of the Drake professors that was there. I found out that she is a Christian (praise the Lord!) and she has an amazing story. She has dealt with a ton in her life (cancer, an unfaithful husband, messy divorce) but what she emphasized most while we were talking was that it was God that got her through it all and that she didn’t let those bad circumstances mess up her relationship with God. Wow, how encouraging!!!
Once we got back, we were all pretty exhausted so we headed to bed pretty quickly after dinner and this morning we headed out nice and early to go back to Kampala. It was a full days ride with the same girls as before so we got to bond a lot more.
I’ve been reading Revelations for the past few days and in chapters 1-3 there are a ton of great promises. In each of the 7 letters to the churches, Jesus makes a promise (through the prophet John) to “those who conquer” (I take this to mean those who are saved and therefore conquer death). Here are the 7 promises:
1. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God (woo!)
2. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death (spiritual death, the 1st death is physical)
3. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it (hmm, interesting)
4. To the one who conquers, and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from the Father. And I will give him the Morning Star.
5. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels.
6. To the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
7. To the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on His throne.
What great promises! Praise the Lord!
Prayer Requests:
-boldness!!!
-that we will finish strong, standing out as God’s children
-faithfulness (now and after we get back with the students here)
-wisdom and humility
Love, Loren
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Day 15
Today was a great day. The Lord is so good!
We had breakfast at MUBS again today and it was a little tough because all everyone could talk about was the club last night so it was a little awkward but I'm still very thankful that I didn't go. Praise the Lord for this chance to witness to people and prove that I am not of the world but rather of God!
Then headed to the New Vision Office, which is one of the major newspapers here. They gave us a lecture which went on for a loooong time and then we got to tour the place. In the process, we saw a radio station so I took lots of pictures for Christy to see :)
Then we had lunch and headed to the craft shops and a jersey shop to get some more shopping done. While we were there, one of the girls got sick (sad!) and I got the opportunity to help take care of her and serve her a bit. Praise the Lord (not for the sick part, for the opportunity to serve part, haha).
And then we drove down to a restaurant on Lake Victoria to have dinner. It was so beautiful! I can't wait to show you all pictures of God's wonderul handywork :) Parents I know you will like it a lot.
Dinner was so good and we got to sit practically on the beach while we ate. I got the chance to talk to one of the MUBS guys about religion and about whether it should be evident in our lives or whether it should be kept only private so no one can tell. I'm so thankful that the Lord made this conversation happen! Please pray that he got something out of it and that the Lord will use me however He needs to for the MUBS students to all learn about Him!
The bus ride back to Red Chilli from the restaurant was my favorite part of the day though. It had just turned dark so the sky was black but still light black with a ton of really bright stars and the scenery was rolling hills as far as you can see with lights that looked like stars popping up here and there from buildings on the hill. It was just majestic! I had my Ipod so I put in some worship and just sat there for the whole 30 minute bus ride worshiping and admiring the beautiful creation. It was so nice to be able to re-connect with God. It's not that I was disconnected from Him before, but now I feel so much closer to Him. I really needed that. It really go me thinking about my motives for things. Am I sharing with people because God is amazing and I want them to know that? Or is it because I feel like it's an obligation and I have to have something to write about? Am I looking at these people as projects or as God's loved ones who are a little lost right now? God is really helping me get on the right path with this kind of stuff. He is teaching me a ton about what my attitude should be. Praise the Lord!!!
Prayer requests:
-a godly attitude
-soft hearts and boldness!
-love and ways to show it
-that we will glorify God with everything we do
-for my time with Michelle here, that we can sharpen and encourage each other
-for relationships to be built that can be cultivated after we leave
Thanks for the prayers and loving!
Love, Loren
And remember parents, I wont be able to post for the next 3 nights so don't worry about me!
We had breakfast at MUBS again today and it was a little tough because all everyone could talk about was the club last night so it was a little awkward but I'm still very thankful that I didn't go. Praise the Lord for this chance to witness to people and prove that I am not of the world but rather of God!
Then headed to the New Vision Office, which is one of the major newspapers here. They gave us a lecture which went on for a loooong time and then we got to tour the place. In the process, we saw a radio station so I took lots of pictures for Christy to see :)
Then we had lunch and headed to the craft shops and a jersey shop to get some more shopping done. While we were there, one of the girls got sick (sad!) and I got the opportunity to help take care of her and serve her a bit. Praise the Lord (not for the sick part, for the opportunity to serve part, haha).
And then we drove down to a restaurant on Lake Victoria to have dinner. It was so beautiful! I can't wait to show you all pictures of God's wonderul handywork :) Parents I know you will like it a lot.
Dinner was so good and we got to sit practically on the beach while we ate. I got the chance to talk to one of the MUBS guys about religion and about whether it should be evident in our lives or whether it should be kept only private so no one can tell. I'm so thankful that the Lord made this conversation happen! Please pray that he got something out of it and that the Lord will use me however He needs to for the MUBS students to all learn about Him!
The bus ride back to Red Chilli from the restaurant was my favorite part of the day though. It had just turned dark so the sky was black but still light black with a ton of really bright stars and the scenery was rolling hills as far as you can see with lights that looked like stars popping up here and there from buildings on the hill. It was just majestic! I had my Ipod so I put in some worship and just sat there for the whole 30 minute bus ride worshiping and admiring the beautiful creation. It was so nice to be able to re-connect with God. It's not that I was disconnected from Him before, but now I feel so much closer to Him. I really needed that. It really go me thinking about my motives for things. Am I sharing with people because God is amazing and I want them to know that? Or is it because I feel like it's an obligation and I have to have something to write about? Am I looking at these people as projects or as God's loved ones who are a little lost right now? God is really helping me get on the right path with this kind of stuff. He is teaching me a ton about what my attitude should be. Praise the Lord!!!
Prayer requests:
-a godly attitude
-soft hearts and boldness!
-love and ways to show it
-that we will glorify God with everything we do
-for my time with Michelle here, that we can sharpen and encourage each other
-for relationships to be built that can be cultivated after we leave
Thanks for the prayers and loving!
Love, Loren
And remember parents, I wont be able to post for the next 3 nights so don't worry about me!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Days 13 and 14
Wow we only have one week left, how crazy is that!!!!
I read the other day in that book that the Phillips gave me one of the devotionals and it was so convicting so here it is:
" 'I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways' Psalm 119:15
The psalmist said that he thought abour or meditated on the precepts of God. In other words, he spent a lot of time pondering and thinking on the ways of God, His instructions, and His teachings. The person who does this, according to Psalm 1:3 is 'like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].
The more time you spend meditating on God's Word, the more you will reap from it. The more Word you read and hear, the more power an dability you will have. You will get as much from the Word of God as the effort you put into it."
- Ending Your Day Right, Joyce Meyer
Love it :)
During my QT this morning, I read in John 7 and in verse 4, Jesus said "For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do thses things, show yourself to the world." I dont want to hide the fact that I am a child of God, I want to proclaim it to the world! So I've just been thinking a ton about whether my life truly reflects my relationship with God. What in my life obviously shows my relationship with God? What in my life needs to show it more? When people look at me, they should see God, so what needs to change for that to happen? How can I further decrease so He can further increase? These were great questions to have in my mind all day because it really made me think about whether each decision I made was really glorifying God or not.
Anyway, didn't get to post again yesterday cause the internet at the hotel was down (both wireless and plug in so there was no chance). And FYI so you know I'm not kidnapped or something, were going on a trip friday, saturday, and sunday to another national park and there will be no internet at all so don't freak out when I dont post (parents). hehe.
Yesterday the day started out with another breakfast at MUBS. (Side note - they have these things for breakfast called samosas. They're like a pizza roll thingy kind of and you can have veggie or meet and it's wrapped up in dough and fried in a triangle shape. I dont get why they have them for breakfast since they seem like a dinner food to me but oh well; they are the most delicious things ever. I got the recipe so I will be attempting to make them when I get home). Anyway, then we headed over to USE (Uganda Stock Market) to see how it works. There are only 12 publicly traded companies and they also sell bonds. But apparently this is good progress because they've been open 12 years and the New York Stock Exchange was open for 15 years with only 6 companies. Anyway, it was kind of interesting but everyone was still recovering from yesterday (our naps exhausted us, but really we were all very tired but I dont know why). Then we headed over for lunch and then we got to go to the Mulago Hospital.
We just listened to a talk about Aids in Africa and then they took some people on a tour of the hospital but I didn't go because they could only take a few people because of space so all the health sciences/pharmacy people went. They described it later to us and it's pretty crazy. Apparently there is just a big huge gym sized room open and a ton of beds cramed in there with no privacy at all. I'm not sure which ward they were describing but I saw a picture and there were so many people there (patients and visitors) that you couldn't even see the beds. The hospital requires that you bring a relative to take care of you while you're at the hospital. Why dont you read that sentence again and see if it makes sense cause it sure doesn't to me! I go to the hospital because I need to be taken care of not so my relatives can do it, haha. And I guess the pharmacy only has a few antibiotics in stock and thats it. Otherwise, your relative needs to go to the pharmacy down the street to get your medicine. Man am I thankful for American hospitals!
Then we headed over to a craft mallish area thing. It was 30 hut kind of craft shops set up in a circle and I went around with my new friend Michelle and she helped me bargain to get some awesome deals! She is an expert bargainer. It always helps to have a Ugandan with you when bargaining because otherwise they just give you the Muzungu price (white price) which is like twice what they normally charge, haha. Anyway, I got like all the suveniers I could even need there. Anyway, after I was done shopping, we had some extra time so I grabbed Emily and we walked around giving tracks to a few of the shop owners who we had bought from. After I gave the first one out, the lady called me back as I was walking away and goes "are you a Chrisian? Praise God!" and then she gave me a hand shake and told me she was born again and was so thankful for the encouragment of meeting another sister! How cool is that!!! Praise the Lord!!! You can be praying for her and her growth with the Lord and also for the other tracks we gave out that day.
Then the good stuff started. It was a pretty chill day ministry wise up until dinner. At dinner, i got to sit with 4 of the girls from MUBS and I started asking them questions for my research paper and we got to have a great conversation about what living out your faith looks like. Three claim Christianity and the other is the Muslim girl but she actually told me that she reads the Bible every once in a while and believes that Jesus was the Son of God and that He was crucified for our sins and rose again! (she went to a Catholic school so that's where she learned everything but her family is Muslim so she says Muslim when someone asks her what she is. She said she didn't really have a reason for doing this). Plus we got to get semi-American food (I miss steak a lot, haha). Overall, a great dinner. Praise the Lord for the great conversation we had!
Once we got back to Red Chilli, Emily and I had a great conversation about convictions and it was really nice to be able to talk about my convictions with another Christian rather then someone who looked at me like I was crazy. But I guess if I'm getting weird looks it means I'm doing something right. I will not give into my flesh and turn back on my convictions no matter how many weird looks I get. They are planning on going to a club the next night so we talked about that a little bit.
Day 14
Today after breakfast we got to go listen to a speaker about human rights from the Foundation of Human Rights Institute. It was a really cool talk to listen to! It was wonderful seeing the Biblical values that were in the Ugandan constitution.
Next we headed to MUBS for lunch and on the long bus ride gave Michelle and I a ton of time to bond more. We've been spending pretty much all of the time we can together since we found out that we're both Christians and it's been awesome. God is so good. He has brought us so close already and she is very encouraging to talk to! It's great to have the chance to be used by God to help sharpen her and what a privilege it is to be sharpened and challenged by her life! Praise the Lord!
We next went to TASO (The Aids Support Organization) where we got to meet a bunch of people who have been infected with aids. They actually preformed a bunch of aids songs for us about hope and faith in hard times and about raising aids awareness and support. It was really cool to see and Michelle actually ran into her sister there because her sister is doing an internship but Michelle hasn't seen her sister for about 6 months so that was a huge blessing for them! Praise the Lord for that!
Then we headed to yet another American restaurant for dinner (i feel like we're getting spoiled, haha.) And I sat with the same 4 MUBS girls as I did yesterday plus one more and I got to bring up Christianity again when I asked the other girl some questions for my paper. This paper is giving such great opportunities for conversations with people, praise the Lord! He is really using it a lot and I'm so thankful and I feel so privileged to be used by Him to spread the good news and help build up Christians! And in the process of this conversation, I was very much encouraged when I asked the girls something like "what percent of people would you say live out their faith everyday (not just on the holy days)?" And all of their answers were between 40 and 60%. Michelle was then telling me that there are a ton (like 45% of the people probably she said) of born-again Christians! She was telling me again about how much the gospel goes out here. Man God is just so faithful!!!!! I mean of course the country still needs the gospel to be shared but I wasn't expecting so many people to already know it and have accepted it. God is amazing :)
It made me think of psalm 96:2-3 which I posted on the 1st blog (and they actually read it in church on sunday, how cool is that!).
Anyway, then came time for us to leave and head to Red Chilli so people can get ready to go to the club. I stayed when they left so they're all there right now. People kept asking me if I was going to go all day (it's all people could talk about). It was hard because everyone kept trying to convince me to come and it's only me and three other people that stayed behind (and they all retreated to their own cabins so I can't hang out with them). So I get to catch up this blog (thanks to Emily for letting me use her computer while she's gone), spend a little more time with God, and chill in the cabin til my roomies get back. Everytime I was being tempted to change my mind, I would remind myself of my reasons for not going:
-Is this going to advance the kingdom in any way? Well not, it'll probably just ruin my witness to people
-Is this going to help my relationship with God? Nope
-Will my going show the world that I am a child of God? Nope
-Why do I want to go? Well I actually dont have any desire to go but my people pleasing flesh is being insistant. but i dont want to give that darn flesh anything.
So I didn't go (and I'm very glad that I didn't).
So yeah, that was the day :)
PS. this morning I made a list of characteristics of God and it was so good to be able to just ponder God for a while. I highly suggest it (even if you already have list, start a new one and see what God reveals about Himself)!
Prayer Requests
-that we will stick out as children of God
-faithfulness
-love for the people we are with
-godly character
-more conversations and boldness!
I read the other day in that book that the Phillips gave me one of the devotionals and it was so convicting so here it is:
" 'I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways' Psalm 119:15
The psalmist said that he thought abour or meditated on the precepts of God. In other words, he spent a lot of time pondering and thinking on the ways of God, His instructions, and His teachings. The person who does this, according to Psalm 1:3 is 'like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].
The more time you spend meditating on God's Word, the more you will reap from it. The more Word you read and hear, the more power an dability you will have. You will get as much from the Word of God as the effort you put into it."
- Ending Your Day Right, Joyce Meyer
Love it :)
During my QT this morning, I read in John 7 and in verse 4, Jesus said "For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do thses things, show yourself to the world." I dont want to hide the fact that I am a child of God, I want to proclaim it to the world! So I've just been thinking a ton about whether my life truly reflects my relationship with God. What in my life obviously shows my relationship with God? What in my life needs to show it more? When people look at me, they should see God, so what needs to change for that to happen? How can I further decrease so He can further increase? These were great questions to have in my mind all day because it really made me think about whether each decision I made was really glorifying God or not.
Anyway, didn't get to post again yesterday cause the internet at the hotel was down (both wireless and plug in so there was no chance). And FYI so you know I'm not kidnapped or something, were going on a trip friday, saturday, and sunday to another national park and there will be no internet at all so don't freak out when I dont post (parents). hehe.
Yesterday the day started out with another breakfast at MUBS. (Side note - they have these things for breakfast called samosas. They're like a pizza roll thingy kind of and you can have veggie or meet and it's wrapped up in dough and fried in a triangle shape. I dont get why they have them for breakfast since they seem like a dinner food to me but oh well; they are the most delicious things ever. I got the recipe so I will be attempting to make them when I get home). Anyway, then we headed over to USE (Uganda Stock Market) to see how it works. There are only 12 publicly traded companies and they also sell bonds. But apparently this is good progress because they've been open 12 years and the New York Stock Exchange was open for 15 years with only 6 companies. Anyway, it was kind of interesting but everyone was still recovering from yesterday (our naps exhausted us, but really we were all very tired but I dont know why). Then we headed over for lunch and then we got to go to the Mulago Hospital.
We just listened to a talk about Aids in Africa and then they took some people on a tour of the hospital but I didn't go because they could only take a few people because of space so all the health sciences/pharmacy people went. They described it later to us and it's pretty crazy. Apparently there is just a big huge gym sized room open and a ton of beds cramed in there with no privacy at all. I'm not sure which ward they were describing but I saw a picture and there were so many people there (patients and visitors) that you couldn't even see the beds. The hospital requires that you bring a relative to take care of you while you're at the hospital. Why dont you read that sentence again and see if it makes sense cause it sure doesn't to me! I go to the hospital because I need to be taken care of not so my relatives can do it, haha. And I guess the pharmacy only has a few antibiotics in stock and thats it. Otherwise, your relative needs to go to the pharmacy down the street to get your medicine. Man am I thankful for American hospitals!
Then we headed over to a craft mallish area thing. It was 30 hut kind of craft shops set up in a circle and I went around with my new friend Michelle and she helped me bargain to get some awesome deals! She is an expert bargainer. It always helps to have a Ugandan with you when bargaining because otherwise they just give you the Muzungu price (white price) which is like twice what they normally charge, haha. Anyway, I got like all the suveniers I could even need there. Anyway, after I was done shopping, we had some extra time so I grabbed Emily and we walked around giving tracks to a few of the shop owners who we had bought from. After I gave the first one out, the lady called me back as I was walking away and goes "are you a Chrisian? Praise God!" and then she gave me a hand shake and told me she was born again and was so thankful for the encouragment of meeting another sister! How cool is that!!! Praise the Lord!!! You can be praying for her and her growth with the Lord and also for the other tracks we gave out that day.
Then the good stuff started. It was a pretty chill day ministry wise up until dinner. At dinner, i got to sit with 4 of the girls from MUBS and I started asking them questions for my research paper and we got to have a great conversation about what living out your faith looks like. Three claim Christianity and the other is the Muslim girl but she actually told me that she reads the Bible every once in a while and believes that Jesus was the Son of God and that He was crucified for our sins and rose again! (she went to a Catholic school so that's where she learned everything but her family is Muslim so she says Muslim when someone asks her what she is. She said she didn't really have a reason for doing this). Plus we got to get semi-American food (I miss steak a lot, haha). Overall, a great dinner. Praise the Lord for the great conversation we had!
Once we got back to Red Chilli, Emily and I had a great conversation about convictions and it was really nice to be able to talk about my convictions with another Christian rather then someone who looked at me like I was crazy. But I guess if I'm getting weird looks it means I'm doing something right. I will not give into my flesh and turn back on my convictions no matter how many weird looks I get. They are planning on going to a club the next night so we talked about that a little bit.
Day 14
Today after breakfast we got to go listen to a speaker about human rights from the Foundation of Human Rights Institute. It was a really cool talk to listen to! It was wonderful seeing the Biblical values that were in the Ugandan constitution.
Next we headed to MUBS for lunch and on the long bus ride gave Michelle and I a ton of time to bond more. We've been spending pretty much all of the time we can together since we found out that we're both Christians and it's been awesome. God is so good. He has brought us so close already and she is very encouraging to talk to! It's great to have the chance to be used by God to help sharpen her and what a privilege it is to be sharpened and challenged by her life! Praise the Lord!
We next went to TASO (The Aids Support Organization) where we got to meet a bunch of people who have been infected with aids. They actually preformed a bunch of aids songs for us about hope and faith in hard times and about raising aids awareness and support. It was really cool to see and Michelle actually ran into her sister there because her sister is doing an internship but Michelle hasn't seen her sister for about 6 months so that was a huge blessing for them! Praise the Lord for that!
Then we headed to yet another American restaurant for dinner (i feel like we're getting spoiled, haha.) And I sat with the same 4 MUBS girls as I did yesterday plus one more and I got to bring up Christianity again when I asked the other girl some questions for my paper. This paper is giving such great opportunities for conversations with people, praise the Lord! He is really using it a lot and I'm so thankful and I feel so privileged to be used by Him to spread the good news and help build up Christians! And in the process of this conversation, I was very much encouraged when I asked the girls something like "what percent of people would you say live out their faith everyday (not just on the holy days)?" And all of their answers were between 40 and 60%. Michelle was then telling me that there are a ton (like 45% of the people probably she said) of born-again Christians! She was telling me again about how much the gospel goes out here. Man God is just so faithful!!!!! I mean of course the country still needs the gospel to be shared but I wasn't expecting so many people to already know it and have accepted it. God is amazing :)
It made me think of psalm 96:2-3 which I posted on the 1st blog (and they actually read it in church on sunday, how cool is that!).
Anyway, then came time for us to leave and head to Red Chilli so people can get ready to go to the club. I stayed when they left so they're all there right now. People kept asking me if I was going to go all day (it's all people could talk about). It was hard because everyone kept trying to convince me to come and it's only me and three other people that stayed behind (and they all retreated to their own cabins so I can't hang out with them). So I get to catch up this blog (thanks to Emily for letting me use her computer while she's gone), spend a little more time with God, and chill in the cabin til my roomies get back. Everytime I was being tempted to change my mind, I would remind myself of my reasons for not going:
-Is this going to advance the kingdom in any way? Well not, it'll probably just ruin my witness to people
-Is this going to help my relationship with God? Nope
-Will my going show the world that I am a child of God? Nope
-Why do I want to go? Well I actually dont have any desire to go but my people pleasing flesh is being insistant. but i dont want to give that darn flesh anything.
So I didn't go (and I'm very glad that I didn't).
So yeah, that was the day :)
PS. this morning I made a list of characteristics of God and it was so good to be able to just ponder God for a while. I highly suggest it (even if you already have list, start a new one and see what God reveals about Himself)!
Prayer Requests
-that we will stick out as children of God
-faithfulness
-love for the people we are with
-godly character
-more conversations and boldness!
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