heres an update

Okay so I have been a huge slacker and I have been really bad about keepin yall updated. So I have a lot to cover now. 

CLASSES:

There have been 2 weeks of classes so far. They have been pretty good for the most part.

Spanish:  I feel like Spanish has just been a lot of review and what not but its helped me to remember more Spanish. I am still by no means good but I can have a basic conversation with super bad grammar. I prolly sound like a three yr old but I guess that’s a start. How the classes work is we start homeroom at 8:15 and then from there we break up into our Spanish classes. My “classroom” is new this year. Its really just in the hall in front of all the guys bedrooms. But, it works. There are 9 students in my class and so far its been going really well. We have an hr of class and then everybody has a break for  10 minutes then we have another hour of class then a break. Then we switch teachers and have an hour of class then a 10 min break then one last hour of class then its lunch. After lunch we have time to relax until its time for bible at 2.

Bible: bible has been good but I am having trouble figuring out how to take stuff away from it. I have never really had bible classes and I don’t know how to learn from them. the easiest way I can come up with to explain this is i feel like being preached the bible and taught the bible are 2 different things and I am having trouble with this way of learning. Like john preaches on Sunday nights at the English church and I absolutely love it, the man is a bible genius. But in class its just been going way over my head and I cant seem to figure out what im supposed to be getting out of it. But overall the teaching has been solid and I cant wait to be able to really understand everything.

 

SATURDAY MINISTRY:

I love the ministry I have been put in. I was a little apprehensive since its based round soccer but I love everything about it. Well maybe not everything, we leave at like 7.30. so that kinda sucks haha but its so much fun and the kids are great. I feel like I am already building relationships even tho. The kids range from 7ish to 15ish. So it’s a pretty big age group. They haven’t been the exact same kids but for the most part they are. We are in a semi sketchy part of town but we haven’t had too many problems yet.  Although, this past week the van was broken into and a backpack stolen but Jairo and all the kids chased after him and they got it back. That’s the only trouble we’ve had. The first week was a little scary because all these neighbors come out and watch the kids play but im pretty sure that’s just because its some of the most excitement they get all week. I was just recently asked to do a second ministry immediately following my morning ministry. Im not entirely sure what all ill be doing but Ben, Matt and I will bbe going to another impoverished area to hang out with teens. Im really excited to see how it goes.

CHURCH:

            el lugar: Sunday morning church has been going okay so far. Its pretty boring because I cant tell what they are saying. I cant wait to be able to learn the Spanish language well enough to be able to follow it. i don’t think ive made it through one service yet without catching myself dozing off. I try to keep myself awake by reading my bible but it doesn’t always help haha. 

          guadalupe gathering: English church has been really good so far I absolutely love it. a few weeks ago John talked about hypocrisy and it was rather convicting and I just felt like I needed Mrs. Cooper so badly and I got kind of homesick but I was able to manage without her.

SMALL GROUPS:

My small group is on Thursdays so I have free time on Tuesdays which is nice. For s,all groups everyone is going through the book of john. Ik I said a different book last time but that’s cuz I was informed incorrectly apparently. So we just started that and im not too sure how I feel about it. ive never really done a directly from the bible bible study and so this is something new and I have to get used to it. I feel like my group doesn’t really have the trust we should have yet so thats kinda holding us back too I think.  

ODDS AND ENDS 

Okay so I feel like ive been here so much longer than 3 ½ weeks, its crazy how fast time has been going. I still absolutely love the staff, probably more so now than I did 2 weeks ago. It has been hard letting myself confide and letting myself be okay opening up to them. I felt like I was almost breaking a bond with my mentors back home in a way and it has been so hard not having them here. Not having Mrs. Cooper here who knows more about me and my thoughts than most people in this world. That’s been one of the hardest things and in all honesty it has brought me to tears a few times. Its been hard to be real with somebody I don’t really know. Yes Sonya is absolutely amazing and I love her dearly but she doesn’t know my history and hasn’t seen me in my highs and my lows (yet). But I have concluded that finding mentors wherever I am is going to be something im going to have to do the rest of my life. Im not always going to have the same person available to me and ive also realized that one person cannot give me everything I need spiritually.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Okay so im not going to get too detailed on here but message me if you want more details and ill let ya know whats up.
Okay so…
1)      Trust in my small group
2)      I am able to figure out how to learn in bible class
3)      My pride
4)      Distractions
5)      That im not a distraction
6)      My prayer life
7)      Self-discipline
8)      Ability to learn Spanish
9)      Friendships/patience
10)   (even though im scared to put it) opportunities for spiritual growth and that I see the opportunity and act on it.