This is Pastor Jaime, one of John's older pastors. Jaime's wife has been very sick all year, and just before the teaching began he had to drop her off at the hospital because she was getting worse. Throughout the week, Jaime has not been able to reach her, and cannot get a hold of anybody to help him know how his wife is doing. In light of this, he'll be missing the teaching tomorrow in order to find a way to his village and make sure his wife is okay.
Please, pray for Pastor Jaime...his wife...his children...his church.
Welp, today....started off much like all the other days! Go figure! Wanne made omelets this morning, and I told her I couldn't remember the last time I had one. It was very good :p
John's truck was having some issues, so it is currently in the shop which meant Billy picked us up. We got to the center, set up, and quickly began the day.
I began with the book of Job, and started by sharing some experiences from my life...this was also the day that I learned much about Pastor Orlando's struggles, which I didn't learn about until the end of the day. Pretty sure God had that worked out. I got a little over half-way done with Job, when we needed to take our "bread brake". I spent most of the time getting to know Jim Otter better...heard his testimony, how he came to Royal Palms, and we talked about things that drew him closer to God. He's a such a great guy; I very much look up to him and everybody should spend time with him to benefit from his wisdom, his humor, and his caring heart.
Rick was up next, and completely finished his major teaching on "the Role of a Pastor". There was a lot of really good discussion over the things he brought up.
However, during his lesson...a freaking HUGE spider crawled out from the roof, down onto the white boards, and then over by the corner next to me. The ENTIRE time, I was resisting the urge to catch it. I wanted to soooooooooo badly. Anyways, here he is...he had got near some instruments so I ended up killing it.
Lunch was great...maza, beans, fish. I spent some time and got all the remaining pictures of the pastors that I needed...I had to learn some new Portuguese phrases in order to get this accomplished though, because John is often off at "meetings" with some of the pastors. I also want to not be so interdependent on the other missionaries, and try to show the pastors that I care. Anyways, at these lunches the pastors often share stories about their congregations (which all pastors do)...here is one that John told me a few days ago, about two men who are neighbors:
One day, this man's dog enters his neighbor's home and kills the neighbor's chicken. Enraged, the neighbor kills and dog and returns it to the man's home. When this guy gets home, he finds his dog dead and is sad. He takes the dog, digs a hole, and buries it not too far from his home. However, once the guy buries his dog...he is struck blind, and dies instantly.
This happened, like, two days ago.
I don't know about you, but that's stinkin' miraculous right there. John was telling me, and I agree, that he gets annoyed at people that try to scientifically explain these things...we are always trying to find a way to explain away the miraculous. How true, huh?
After lunch, we met outside for the first time which I was delighted for. I was soo much cooler outside in the shade with a breeze. We taught through almost all of Psalms, and will hopefully finish up Proverbs tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we'll only be able to teach for half of the day since it is Saturday and many of the pastors need to return to their villages to preach on Sunday. Wanne will be treating us to the market, and we might even get to see the beach. We'll see!Things to remember:
* Joâo gave me a legit test (paper and everything) for my Portuguese.
* I super impressed Joâo when I busted out some Chawbo that I had learned from my previous trip.
* "Mormons cheat" -Rick Butterworth
* "Does John often make up words?" -Me
The answer by-the-way is yes.
* African sunsets
* Pastor Olympio's mini-sermons, which always convict me
Favorite picture...
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