Sunday we will have to leave the country because we will have been here for 90 days. Our first trip will be to Panama to continue to practice our Spanish skills and visit the Panama Canal. Amazingly, Turrialba has become home already. Our friends live down the street, our backyard is a peaceful place for quiet time and a gathering place for games and laughter, we look forward to crawling into our bed at night. Now, if Publix and Chick-fil-A would open up we may not need to come back to Tallahassee. It's a small town so we often recognize people out and about and don't exactly feel like strangers anymore.
I am hoping the first 90 days was our trial period. It was filled with trial and error. Pat and I had a lot of growing and maturing to do that was painful at times. We are still uncertain where God wants us to worship or even what that place looks like. Will we be big fish or small fish there? Will it be our time of growth or our time to help others grow? We sort of gave God a deadline of October 19th ( when we return from Panama). That never works does it? He hasn't budged. I feel less peace today about any one direction than I did 3 weeks ago.
However, that does not mean God isn't working! Shea and I have online Bible Studies with friends back home. We have Christian friends here who speak English and we can encourage one another. We have built strong relationships in our community. Austin is being led to lead a youth group Bible study. There is a group of teens who attend a youth service on Saturday nights a few towns over and my kids have joined in. Movie night is still a go. We've even been invited to some friends and watched "Courageous." Our biggest ministry right now is that every Thursday we have a kid's club here. It starts at 3:00pm and goes until late in the evening. We play games, read a Bible story, make a craft, and have a snack. Week 1 we read the Good Samaratian and made a first aid kit. Week 2 was the fruit of the spirit. This will be week 3 and we will be memorizing Juan 3:16. I'm so proud of my kids for learning the language and being able to communicate with large crowds in Spanish glorifing the Lord. We usually end up with about 20 people.
If any of you are interested in putting together a mission team or joining one, please let me know.
