First of all- I just want to praise God for all He has done this week! This week has went by a bit slower- because everything happened at the beginning of this week. AH where to start!
I guess i shall start with last Friday :) I went to church and it was fabulous. I experienced some worship songs in Spanish, a speaker, then we broke up into smaller groups- i was with a group of girls and i was so nervous. They asked questions in Spanish and i just sat there thinking "Jesus, please help me understand.. i'm so nervous they'll ask me to speak." The girls were really nice and there was lots of pouring out of many heartaches. Even though, i didn't understand everything- i was with my sisters in Christ,and we all focused on Jesus. After church, we went to Wendy's which is a tradition every Friday but we ended up at another restaurant. Melanie and i ordered ice cream while the boys ordered food ha ha. We had lots of laughs and i felt joy!
Saturday was quite a day! We traveled to Aibonito which is in the center of Puerto Rico (up into the mountains). We had a worship service at 3pm in Cayey but we didn't even start until 5ish. We had to drive to pick up the Deaf up in the mountains. Let me tell YOU- those are some mountains to travel. We went up about 3,000 ft high driving, but the view was incredible. All i could do was stick my face to the window- i love God's creation- He is by far my favorite artist. It was beautiful- i was so excited and ready to meet some CODAs, but come to find out some of the CODAs i was suppose to be with were taken away by social services- i was so disappointed and i could imagine how the parents felt when we asked them, "are you children coming?" Pray for this family as they fight hard to get their children back. Most of the Deaf we picked up from the mountains- really had no language, they only had "home signs" signs they use with each other to communicate- but us "outsiders" really don't' understand them. So there was a lot of gesture between us- and it made me realize how much NEED there is- especially in the mountains. There are about 40 Deaf people in that family WOW!!! We brought everyone back and started worship. I only had one kid in my class, a little boy about 2 years old- a hearing CODA. He was so sweet and spoke tons of spanish- so we played together and i taught him, how GOD is so great! Finally on the way back- we ate dinner around 11pm- we bought the Deaf family dinner and they were so JOYFUL!!! God really opened my eyes that night- Deaf in Puerto Rico and in America are different. i look at my parents- they are successful- they are super smart, and are looked up to by many people, they are such role models but i look at these Deaf i met in the mountains and it broke my heart. They have SO MUCH potential- they CAN learn sign language, they CAN know who Jesus is, they can break away from this bondage they experience. When, i go back up into the mountains- and i have no kids to work with- i will take these Deaf and have a sign language class based off of Bible stories and teach them. They are beautiful. God break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Saturday was quite a day! We traveled to Aibonito which is in the center of Puerto Rico (up into the mountains). We had a worship service at 3pm in Cayey but we didn't even start until 5ish. We had to drive to pick up the Deaf up in the mountains. Let me tell YOU- those are some mountains to travel. We went up about 3,000 ft high driving, but the view was incredible. All i could do was stick my face to the window- i love God's creation- He is by far my favorite artist. It was beautiful- i was so excited and ready to meet some CODAs, but come to find out some of the CODAs i was suppose to be with were taken away by social services- i was so disappointed and i could imagine how the parents felt when we asked them, "are you children coming?" Pray for this family as they fight hard to get their children back. Most of the Deaf we picked up from the mountains- really had no language, they only had "home signs" signs they use with each other to communicate- but us "outsiders" really don't' understand them. So there was a lot of gesture between us- and it made me realize how much NEED there is- especially in the mountains. There are about 40 Deaf people in that family WOW!!! We brought everyone back and started worship. I only had one kid in my class, a little boy about 2 years old- a hearing CODA. He was so sweet and spoke tons of spanish- so we played together and i taught him, how GOD is so great! Finally on the way back- we ate dinner around 11pm- we bought the Deaf family dinner and they were so JOYFUL!!! God really opened my eyes that night- Deaf in Puerto Rico and in America are different. i look at my parents- they are successful- they are super smart, and are looked up to by many people, they are such role models but i look at these Deaf i met in the mountains and it broke my heart. They have SO MUCH potential- they CAN learn sign language, they CAN know who Jesus is, they can break away from this bondage they experience. When, i go back up into the mountains- and i have no kids to work with- i will take these Deaf and have a sign language class based off of Bible stories and teach them. They are beautiful. God break my heart for what breaks Yours.
HOW COULD I FORGET- a 10 year old Deaf girl, which i was bummed she wasn't in my class because she went up with all the Deaf in the worship service, GOT SAVED!!!! So now, i am excited she decided to sit in the Deaf class. Her mom has been struggling with the decision to become a Christian because her husband is a strong catholic- she is scared to receive Jesus. BUT since her daughter is saved now, pray that i will have chances to disciple her and teach her how to grow in God. Pray she will bear fruit so her family can see Jesus and let all fear surpass.
Sunday- went to church in Hormigueros (the two missionaries from Tenn joined us). I interpreted part of the Deaf worship and when one of the CODA girls( i mentioned earlier in my blog named "M" who would never talk to ANYONE- because she is so shy) got out of her Sunday school- we had class together. I taught her how Jesus walked on water and He asked Peter to step out into the boat and join Him on the water. Peter had to have TRUST in Jesus to know He was going to be okay when he stepped out into that water. We acted out this story by making play dough people haha- it was pretty great. This little girl was talking to me, laughed with me, and we really had a fun time learning about this story. Her little brother, wasn't in class with us because his class was still going on. This time with her was really important to me, because she is going through some hard times. Her mom is depressed and is on a new medicine. Her mom has been acting so different and will wake up in the middle of the night and eat everything, then she would wake up in the morning and not remember what she had done. Her kids see this and i know it hurts. Their dad is not in their lives- their grandmother passed away not too long ago. There is so much pain and i pray through building a relationship with M will help her see Jesus. To trust Jesus with her life- i asked her if she trusted Jesus and she said, no. So pray for her to really understand what it means to trust Jesus.
So guess what? I did it- finally on Monday i joined that Zumba, salsa dance class on the boardwalk. La Guncha is so beautiful and to look out into the ocean and do exercise..i mean *psh* how awesome!!! After the exercises which were intense but GOOD- we all got together in a huddle (which made me miss working camp haha) we prayed together. I was so shocked- i had no idea this was coming. Constantly in the prayer was, God you are so good, thank you so much for this lovely night. I was so excited... doing exercises with believers who praise God.. OH YEA!
Again on Tuesday we went back to Aibonito- there is a class they have there ( i think once a month) called Buscan a Jesus. So once again- off into the mountains picking up more deaf people from the mountains :) Suppose to start the bible study at 5pm, but you know Puerto Rican/Deaf culture, we started at 7pm haha! No kids showed up for me to teach so i got to be involved in the bible study. I signed songs and everyone LOVED IT. When i started signing- their faces lite up with JOY. I have never seen anyone so excited haha, when i signed a song. They were so into it which made me more excited while signing these songs haha. :) David, the missionary, preached and using basic sign language- lots of visual teaching, and it was all worth it because one of the Deaf men from the mountains decided HE wanted JESUS CHRIST!!! what what :) That was so exciting to see!!! Riding back, to drop the people back home (which takes about 3 hours in total) i just looked up into the sky- saw the stars and how bright they were in the mountains and just praised HIM for how GREAT, HE IS! Praise be to God. Finally got home at 2am but it was worth it.
I'm still trying to catch up on all my lack of sleep and get things organized for HOLY week in a few weeks. Some great news is that one of my friends, Brittany Carey, is coming to visit me April 9-13 :) I am so excited to have a friend visit!! This will be such an encouragement to me while i am here :) OH how i have missed people back home. BUT i am so thankful that i have made some friends in Puerto Rico.
Okay- hahaha, sorry for such a long blog!! Keep praying for this ministry and these Deaf & CODAs.
Keep praying that support will come in for me- nothing has came... but i know without a doubt God provides.
Sonrisa (smile) :)
Sunday- went to church in Hormigueros (the two missionaries from Tenn joined us). I interpreted part of the Deaf worship and when one of the CODA girls( i mentioned earlier in my blog named "M" who would never talk to ANYONE- because she is so shy) got out of her Sunday school- we had class together. I taught her how Jesus walked on water and He asked Peter to step out into the boat and join Him on the water. Peter had to have TRUST in Jesus to know He was going to be okay when he stepped out into that water. We acted out this story by making play dough people haha- it was pretty great. This little girl was talking to me, laughed with me, and we really had a fun time learning about this story. Her little brother, wasn't in class with us because his class was still going on. This time with her was really important to me, because she is going through some hard times. Her mom is depressed and is on a new medicine. Her mom has been acting so different and will wake up in the middle of the night and eat everything, then she would wake up in the morning and not remember what she had done. Her kids see this and i know it hurts. Their dad is not in their lives- their grandmother passed away not too long ago. There is so much pain and i pray through building a relationship with M will help her see Jesus. To trust Jesus with her life- i asked her if she trusted Jesus and she said, no. So pray for her to really understand what it means to trust Jesus.
So guess what? I did it- finally on Monday i joined that Zumba, salsa dance class on the boardwalk. La Guncha is so beautiful and to look out into the ocean and do exercise..i mean *psh* how awesome!!! After the exercises which were intense but GOOD- we all got together in a huddle (which made me miss working camp haha) we prayed together. I was so shocked- i had no idea this was coming. Constantly in the prayer was, God you are so good, thank you so much for this lovely night. I was so excited... doing exercises with believers who praise God.. OH YEA!
Again on Tuesday we went back to Aibonito- there is a class they have there ( i think once a month) called Buscan a Jesus. So once again- off into the mountains picking up more deaf people from the mountains :) Suppose to start the bible study at 5pm, but you know Puerto Rican/Deaf culture, we started at 7pm haha! No kids showed up for me to teach so i got to be involved in the bible study. I signed songs and everyone LOVED IT. When i started signing- their faces lite up with JOY. I have never seen anyone so excited haha, when i signed a song. They were so into it which made me more excited while signing these songs haha. :) David, the missionary, preached and using basic sign language- lots of visual teaching, and it was all worth it because one of the Deaf men from the mountains decided HE wanted JESUS CHRIST!!! what what :) That was so exciting to see!!! Riding back, to drop the people back home (which takes about 3 hours in total) i just looked up into the sky- saw the stars and how bright they were in the mountains and just praised HIM for how GREAT, HE IS! Praise be to God. Finally got home at 2am but it was worth it.
I'm still trying to catch up on all my lack of sleep and get things organized for HOLY week in a few weeks. Some great news is that one of my friends, Brittany Carey, is coming to visit me April 9-13 :) I am so excited to have a friend visit!! This will be such an encouragement to me while i am here :) OH how i have missed people back home. BUT i am so thankful that i have made some friends in Puerto Rico.
Okay- hahaha, sorry for such a long blog!! Keep praying for this ministry and these Deaf & CODAs.
Keep praying that support will come in for me- nothing has came... but i know without a doubt God provides.
Sonrisa (smile) :)
Ezelis, it's awesome to hear what God is doing through you and through the ministry in Puerto Rico. I pray ustedes never grow content with what He's doing but always strive to know Him more closely and more obediently seek Him.
ReplyDelete<>< Katie
zumba + believers = FLIPPING AWESOME!!! haha! yay! I am so GLAD you could be enocouraged!!! I think of you often and pray because I believe in the ministry you are doing! It warms my heart (makes it glow) to see how you continue to be an open and willing vessel for God's work! He is SO Good!!!
ReplyDeletesure looked scarey driving on that winding road all alone in the rain oh girl you are too brave ,God will take care of us but he said we need to help ourselves too ,you better be careful.It was good to see your beautiful smiling face .I love you Grandma
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