Day Three August 5th, 2011

Day 3 8-5-11

I start this entry out by quoting some scripture that I hold very close to my heart. It's John 9:25, "He then answered, ""Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."" This was the blind beggar speaking. Who Jesus just healed and gave sight to. The Pharisees were grilling him with questions and condemnation saying that Jesus was a sinner. Doesn't the blind man's short testimony sound a lot like our testimony? We really cannot explain what in the world happened to make our eyes to see the glory and majesty of Christ. Be for some reason, WE SEE!!!! How exciting is that??!! For the blind beggar, that gave him the confidence and courage to stand up to the Pharisees risking his Judaism.That was a huge deal back then if you didn't know. Think about getting kicked out of your church and not being able to go to any other church for the rest of your lives! That still may not have the same weight on you as it did for the blind beggar.Either way this was huge. Another thing about this story that I find glorious and praise-worthy is verse 35. After being cast out of the synagogue, instead of the man going and looking for Jesus, Jesus went and found him. Another amazing example of rebellious sinners being unable to come to Jesus. He finds us. Still can't figure out the reason for that kind of love. Thank you Lord! Now with my day today. I woke up at 10:30 am. Giving me 18.5 hours of sleep since I went to sleep at 4 pm. So to say the least,I woke up recharged!! I guess I'll be going out to lunch every day during my stay here and today was no exception. We went to a buffet style restaurant that served some great food! One thing that is really unique about this place is that you pay according to the weight of your plate after you go through the buffet line. The more you eat, the more you pay. Then desert is free. After lunch we came back to the house and practiced our drama that the mission team and I will be performing this Sunday and Pastor Tom's church. I am not a good actor at all so I will for sure need a lot of grace from God to put on a performance worthy of being on stage! After practice it was free-time for the team. Not for Erik though! Since I am Tom and Penny's "son" while I here, I got the opportunity to wash all of the Lathem's vehicles. Two conversion vans and one small sedan inside and out. I'm lucky I love cleaning cars so it wasn't a chore for me. I was more of a getaway and some time to myself. That took a good three hours and after that there was time for about an hour of ping pong against the leaders of the mission team Jimmy and John. I got dominated and went 0-11 against them cumulatively. Pretty poor but they are really good.Once 7:30 pm came around it was off to a lady's house to have dinner. The lady has been attending Pastor Tom's church for four years now. She started coming to the church through the youth wrestling ministry that her son participates in. She was addicted to drugs and alcohol before coming to Christ. Now she brings hoards of unbelievers to the church trying to bring them to Jesus. What an amazing lady! Her house was very very small and run down. Probably the size of most people's living rooms. She doesn't have much material things but boy oh boy does she have joy in the Lord! She is a testament to counting everything as loss and Christ as gain. God doesn't promise riches, health, or a running toilet. Look at Romans 8:36. But Romans 8:35 says that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. No matter what, whether in this life or the next, we will be delivered. What a glorious and empowering thought! No matter what happens to Christians here on earth, we will be delivered. That should give us so much confidence in sharing God's glory through Christ in our everyday dealings. Anyways, I'm getting a little off course. We had a great meal at her house. Once we got back, Pastor Tom shared some of his testimony and how and why he became a missionary. He has a very moving story. I'll give you that story another time. I have a feeling over the next few months I'll have more to add. That pretty much brings us to me typing this blog entry. A few prayer requests: Language barrier is still pressing heavily on my heart. Pray for an understanding. Even a small one. Last, I'm still a bit emotional from leaving the States and missing my girlfriend and family. Skype will most likely not work the whole time down here due to the connection speed. So I will have limited ways of communication. I know God provides all needs according to His divine knowledge. So prayer for joy in whatever He provides is needed. Pray for my girlfriend and family as well for I do not know exactly what emotions they have running through their veins. Thank you all so much! God bless!