Him: "Si, yo se, blahblahblahblahblahblah...."
Jesus: "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Me: "Pero Senor, si no hay gas, no podemos comer..."
Him: "blahblahblahblahblahblah...."
Jesus: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry...it is written, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Me: "But Lord, everything is so dirty. How can I live like this? I am filthy, my home is filthy, it will not stay clean..."
Jesus: "Listen to me, Jenna, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean'."
Me: "But Lord, I can barely even understand these people and who knows if they can understand me? How will I ever survive?"
Jesus: "Dear child, don't you love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth...and make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourself. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict."
Me: "Are you sure Lord that this is what you want me to do?"
Jesus: "People do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.... In the same way, let your light shine before men...Afterall, how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?...Go...I am with you."
The "blahblahblahs" are all I hear when my landlord (Senor) tries to talk to me. He talks so fast I'd be impressed if a Guatemalan could understand. The answer always has something to with "later". The city is out of water, like no running water at all, and we have no means of heat. No microwave or gas for the stove. This city is in the clouds, literally. Glad it rains every night, we caught about 2 gallons to flush our toilet with:
Good thing the voice of the Lord is louder than any other voice and I can understand it clearly. I am thankful for His word. As I dove into it this morning, the troubles of this new and scary world began to fade away. As I checked the email for the Mision, I was even more encouraged. I am not alone, and when Geoffrey is gone, I won't be alone. People there, where you are, are being moved by God's goodness to work with me a world away. People I don't even know that well. It is your prayers, and your giving, and your encouraging comments that let me know I can walk out of this ugly old door and make a difference. While we were dealing with no water, no heat to cook food with last night, and all the bugs flying around, a brother in Christ was purchasing three cases of Spanish bibles for me to give to the people here who can't afford a copy of God's word.
That is exciting and that lets me know that we, as a body, work together to get the gospel to people who have yet to get it.
The most joyous moment happened yesterday afternoon as we were trying to beat the rain back to the apartment. We had been searching all day for the homeless, shoeless man that walks the streets with blistered and dirty feet all day, every day. Sure enough, as we were only moments away from the gate to our apartment, there he was. We took the brand new pair of sandals to him and I told him they were for him. We kept walking. I expected he might throw them on the ground or try to sell them on the street, but as we stopped and turned to look back and see his reaction, we saw as he pulled the new rubber sandals all the way to his face. He was examining their cleanliness, and catching the scent of the rubber. He dropped one to the ground and tried hard to wiggle his wide, brown foot into it. A shop owner across the street came out to watch as he dropped the second to the ground. Once both feet were in, we walked back to him and I asked him how he liked them. He grunted with satisfaction and I said God bless you. As we turned to go, I noticed he had put them on the wrong feet...but he was so happy and so was I.
We priced some lumber and other building materials today to gain knowledge and see what it will take to build Casa Gloria. We will see a tourist helping lady tomorrow who is gathering information on realtors and existing orphan ministries in the area for us.
Tonight we have a whole new opportunity. We invited some Elders from the mormon church to have dinner with us. They are very nice guys and also just arrived in Coban last week.
Pray that the Lord will send me a Titus. A Titus is someone who will come as a source of comfort and encouragement in the name of Jesus. The Titus will be like-minded as far as our mission goes and I pray that this person will speak Spanish and maybe even English. Geoffrey leaves September 20 and for 55 days following I will be here on my own. There are many simple things that I will need help with, even communicating at times.
"The prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
My apartment after we cleaned it the best we could:
The laundry room:
The guest room for any guests who want to come after Sep 20, before Nov 14 :)
My room:
The pictures make this already furnished apartment look livable and nice. Being here is quite a different story. But doesn't relying on the Lord and loving Him more than cleanliness and nice things help us to find contentment in any and every situation? He is. I am so thankful to have this place, even when there is no source of heat or water other than the sun and the rain. And all utilities included it is only about $240 a month. A prayer answered. The Lord will supply.
Because He is worthy,
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