Naugy

Well, this week flew by quickly.

Seriously.

We got to enjoy the great city of Naugatuck, Connecticut! We did a lot of service projects throughout the week and enjoyed Friday night's Big Event. I got the opportunity to preach the Gospel. For whatever reason, I felt very disconnected from my sermon. I'm sure I said what God was leading me to say, but there was something odd to it. It just seemed as if it wasn't as powerful, or meaningful, or personal as any other time I've preached. Is this Foul Play, or God trying to speak to me about the way I presented it? Everyone I talked to said it was a great Gospel presentation. That it was very raw and unhindered. Maybe it was my nerves, or maybe it was something bigger. I'll be praying a good bit about this. It'd be great if you would, too!

On a less serious note, I discovered a wonderful game on Friday night, as well--Ga-Ga. Friends, you can bet that I'll be teaching you all how to play when I come back to Texas!

Prayer Requests:

Rest. I need it.

The people of New England.

The family and friends of the missionary who passed away in Maine.

Transformation to continue in my life. I feel that I've grown already!

Is this Brazil?

Greetings from Brazil!

Not really.

But it feels like it!

This week we're at work with a Brazilian church in Danbury, Connecticut called All Nations Igreja Batista (Portuguese for Baptist Church). There's so much to cover in this post. Yesterday (Sunday), we attended all three of their services. (Spanish, English and Portuguese). Each service had a different pastor and crowd. And all were great. We'll be working with Youth and Young Adults this week, visiting homes, inviting people to come to the Youth/Young Adult service that we get the pleasure of leading on Friday.

We've met great people here at the church. I've heard some great testimonies, some AWESOME preaching, and we've got to hang out with a lot of the Youth/Young Adults. I got the pleasure of giving my testimony at a birthday party, and I'll get to stand up and preach at the service on Friday.

God's been doing some great work here in New England. He's opening my eyes to many things, and I'm excited to get the pleasure of letting God work through me.

Prayer Requests:

All Nations Baptist Church. A lot of members (But they still have a bunch) have had to move back to Brazil for different reasons.

Spiritual growth.

A humble and learning heart.

New England in general.

God's will to be done.

Thursday

Wow. So I finally made my way to Connecticut on Tuesday. I thought the day would never come. I've learned quite a bit about myself and the people thus far. According to Craig, another Summer Missionary, NAMB has rated the New England area the third most difficult place in the world to be a missionary. It even tops a few of the hostile areas, and places where the Gospel is illegal. Yesterday (Wednesday), we were out promoting a concert that the church we are currently with is putting on, by merely asking businesses if we could hang our signs in their windows, or leave fliers on their tables. Almost all of the businesses agreed to let us have a spot, but we ran into a couple of them that didn't or couldn't allow us to do so. Along with businesses, we also visited churches, and asked them to promote our concert. One church we went to was under construction, and some of the workers were rather hostile toward us. They asked us if we were there from Texas to save their souls. Of course, they laughed it off, as did we, though rather nervously. One of our team members asked him if he had any spiritual beliefs (which he obviously didn't), and he made it quite obvious that he didn't want to talk about it. Just to give you an idea of the general consensus on faith, here.

Erwin McManus writes in his book "Chasing Daylight," that we have opportunities to seize our divine moments. That the spiritual leaders are the ones who plunge headfirst into doing the will of God. He also writes of Henry Blackaby's teaching, that we should look for what God is doing, then follow in suit, which has inspired tons of Christians to get into the work of the Lord. However, one thing this leaves out is, "What is God dreaming of doing?" Of course, this question should be taken loosely, as God can obviously do anything He wants. But how this question applies is that God may be calling us to do new things. We just need to take the initiative, step forward, and do so. I'm hoping to grow in this and apply it to my life. I'm ready to break out of the chains of this world.

One other thing that a LOT of people suffer from here, is the idea of Unitarian Christianity. It's sad that these people think that they're true Christians. We know that all roads do NOT lead to the same mountaintop. Nor do all roads lead to any mountaintop. We know that Christ is THE way, THE truth, and THE life.

Today, we will be out on the University of Connecticut evangelizing. Talk about getting out of the comfort zone.

Prayer Requests:

For God to revolutionize my life into doing His will and not my own.

For God's Spirit to move me to do what He wants.

That the people of New England would be open to Christ and the Gospel.

Boldness to challenge Unitarian beliefs and ideas.

Arrival

We made it to Boston!

Today I found out some interesting and vital pieces of information. Apparently, we are a part of an organization called "Mission Encounter New England." I guess that's what I get for not checking my e-mail. There are teams here from all over the States, going to different places in New England. We're staying in an EXTREMELY nice hotel (Hyatt), and we'll begin our orientation tonight at 6:30 with Boston pizza. (I'm curious to see how Bostonians make pizza.) I'm already noticing the difference in culture (Not to mention the accents! Wow!). People here are quick and pushy. I love it. The houses are tall and right next to each other. It's rather neat. Apparently tomorrow we're taking an extensive tour of Boston. It's kind of bittersweet. I'd much rather head on out to the mission field, but the sights ARE really cool. (Boston Tea Party, yo!)

Prayer requests:

God's will to be done.

The hearts of New Englanders. (Only 3% of the population is evangelical)

That I don't get too caught up in the sights of Boston--There's still ministry to be done here, regardless of the fact that I'm not in Connecticut, yet.

The 31 other student missionaries on their way to other parts of New England.

Quiet Time on Friday's Eve.

So, I installed Windows 7 on my computer today. And guess what... My Microsoft Office is incompatible with Windows 7. I look forward to buying Office 2010 someday. I was at a loss for where to take notes for my quiet time. "Why not post them here?" I thought to myself. Hopefully God will bless you guys through the ramblings of my brain.

Quiet Time 5/28/2010 (Two days prior to liftoff)

Mark 7:27 "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." (Those were Jesus' words.)

Hah. Serious business. Looking at the context, we find that he's referring to the gentiles as the dogs in the sentence, and the Jews as the children. Obviously, they are the children because they are the children of God. But why are the Gentiles portrayed as dogs?

In the culture of the day, dogs were viewed as nasty, vile creatures that hung around towns looking for scraps, and bringing about their stench.

Once again. Why ya gotta be callin' us dogs, Jesus?

Or was Jesus merely using the expression in light of the woman's next quip?

Mark 7:28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

Witty. I like it. Jesus liked it. Want proof? Read the next line and see for yourself.

And still, where's the application? Remember where I said read on, just a few pixels ago? Please do so. You'll need to for this next bit. I'm not going to spoon-feed you on this one. Just go ahead and read all of 7:24-30. It's best that way. :)

Refer to verse 29. Jesus saw that she knew her place. I think, out of many things that can be gathered from this passage, the key idea I'm seeing is persistence. What Jesus was getting at was that the gospel would go first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. It wasn't yet the woman's time. But because of her persistence and faith, Jesus had mercy on her. The woman understood her place as a gentile in the Jewish culture. It wasn't a good place. And she humbled herself and pleaded with Christ to at least let her lick the "crumbs" up from the ground. (v. 28) Jesus knew her faith was genuine. He never lets His followers down.

Go ahead and check Matthew's version of the story. Matthew 15:21-28.

This sheds a bit more light as to why Jesus calls the Gentiles, "dogs." Jesus' ministry was not to the Gentiles. He knew that was to be someone else's job someday. (Paul, duh.) This lady wasn't just being persistent. She was quite the pest. Was Jesus testing her patience? Was she testing Jesus' patience? Well, my friends, I regret to inform you that I have no seminary degree. I'll leave this one to those whom God has graced with the Spiritual gift of Knowledge. (Something I hope to acquire someday.)

Regardless, this lady was humble, persistent, and in need. How could Jesus say, "no?"

Remember Matthew 6:26. I'll be memorizing this one for the rest of the night.

T minus 6 days

It was a long(er) day at work. Went in at 11:45 and got out around 4:45. Not physically long, there just wasn't much to do. But that's beside the point. This week I'm fasting from my biggest distraction from the Kingdom of God--video games. So I've got a good bit of learning ahead of me this week. I've always known that I'm terrible with keeping a consistent quiet time. And God has consistently reminded me of that. So, hopefully I can develop a habit of delving into His Word. On today's list is Philippians 3. I also have a craving for a good Erwin McManus book. I may go pick up Chasing Daylight. I've heard it's a really good one. As a matter of fact, I'm going to have my quiet time and head to the local Christian bookstore right now.

Prayer requests:

See Below. Yes, they all still apply. :) Be praying for me, guys!

Also, pray for a good friend of mine. He's trying to get off of Academic Suspension, and I feel compelled to put this on my blog.

First Post.

It's mid-Sunday afternoon. I've got a lot to do, but here I am, starting up a blog, listening to Sufjan Stevens. Just got home from Go Now Orientation, which was fantastic. Headed to Connecticut on the 30th. Did you know it's THE most un-churched area in America? Neither did I. I'm that much more stoked about it because of that. Met a lot of cool people at the orientation, including my entire team. (That's a shout-out to Steph, Shelby, and Derrick. You guys are hardcore like parkour) I foresee great things happening this Summer.

Prayer requests right now include:

God breaking me and molding me into the man He wants me to be. This one will show up a LOT.

Staying true to my team, myself, and my God.

A safe ride.

The souls of those we'll be reaching.

God's will to be done more than my own. (Another one you'll see quite a bit.)