Girl's Night is Grooooowing!

      We have a Bible study and  evening meal for Deaf women every Friday night. We are currently using a study called A One-Year Guide to Growing in Christ-like Character.   The study is from CORE Discipleship, an online resource.

      Ours is a mixed group in many ways ...not only do we range in age from 56 (Martha) to 8 months (Joshue), at least 4 of the 10 people in our group never went to school, can't read, and use only "body language". Simple signs like "woman" or "man" aren't understood, so we have to try to experiment with gestures until the meaning of the verse or thought is conveyed. It's tough, but we are all getting better at it. 

 Yaniry is preggers with her second child.  She is 34.   I am praying the baby is healthy. Her baby is due Sept. 8.  It looks like August is going to be a long month for her.

 

After the Bible study and meal we always end up standing in a circle and just gabbing.   Often Alva is the center of the conversation.  Watching how groups work is interesting...but I think the reason Alva is usually the center is not only the power her persona commands, but also she is soooooo verbal.   She likes words...likes writing and reading... while many of the others find it hard to communicate their thoughts and ideas.

It's wonderful to see how God is encouraging this small group of believers.  They are trying to walk the narrow way and help each other.  I wonder sometimes where they would be if we did not have a Girl's Night. Maybe they would be alone at home and trying to walk the way of Jesus on their own.  It's good to have sisters on the journey.

Just OK?

 

This Chinese restaurant is in Orange Walk. It has been here about 7 years.  I always think it is kind of funny that they named it "OK Restaurant".  I mean, who wants to eat at an "ok" Chinese restaurant?

But honestly I think I understand...Living in Japan for a little while I learned that "OK" is sort of a submissive "at your service" kind of word.  "Ok, I will do it for you, no problem". Maybe that is what they were intending. ???

 Evidently some other Chinese family here decided to move in next to their competition.   What did they name their restaurant?

 Excellent Restaurant!

Ha!  It makes me laugh every time I pass it.  When I showed Sulmi the pictures she said, "Yeah, funny, but the "OK Restaurant" has better food."    True!  (smile)

How to Catch a Mango

 

My mango tree produces the most preferred kind of mango.  It's huge, and full of yellow/orange pulp.  Even though it really matures in August or even September while the other mangoes mature in May and June, people come to my gate in May, when they see them large and green, hanging from the tree.   They shout "Miss, Miss, can I pleaaaasssse have some mango?"  If I come out to the gate and say, "Oh really, they are quite hard.  It is better to wait until they are more ripe", the SAME children or men will be at my gate tomorrow saying "Miss, Miss, can I pleaaaasssse have some mango?"

For the first couple of years here in Belize I tried hard to say firmly "We will wait."  But that takes so much energy.  At least 8 times a day a different group of children or adults will repeat the same refrain. At which point my dog runs our to the gate and barks at them (thinking he is "defending the fort").   I can't allow him to  frighten children, so more than 8 times a day I go out to the gate and say "Not today."

And then what is worse is while I am in bed at about 11:00 at night my dog (who sleeps inside because he gets covered with mosquito bites outside) often goes into a frenzy because some boys or neighbors or young men have jumped my fence and are knocking down the mangoes and stealing them.

So now after 6 years of mango protection and trying to wait to let them get even larger and ripen, I gave up this year.  I figured that I would be in Maine in July for 10 days and during that time surely some boys or men would jump my fence and strip the tree.  So this morning, when a fruit seller came to my gate with his wife, granddaughter and son saying, "Miss, Miss, can I pleaaaasssse have some mango? "  I said, "Take as many as you want."

While the Dad took a long stick to hook the mango by the stem, the son and wife "caught the mango" to keep them from hitting the ground and breaking.  They will get between $1 and $2 in the market for each one.  Some of the mangoes will be sold as a snack.  They will peal the skin off, and cut them up into small strips.  The "green mango" which is really a light orange in color, will be sold in "dolla" bags with chile-sal and lime on them.

It feels somewhat of a relief to have them all down, but I will sure miss them in August. 

Just an Update

1st Row: Josue,, Raheem, Jahhed, Sulmi, Elizanie, Manuel, Misael, Alma.  2nd Row: Martha, Angelica, Yelitza, Alva, Kristel.   3rd Row: Yaniry, Edgar, Prudencio, Sherwin

 "I thank God for all of you because your faith is growing more and more.  The love you have for each other is increasing." (2Thes 1:3)

This Sunday we talked about what it means to grow in faith, and what it takes to grow.   I am seeing so much growth and want the whole gang to be open to letting God encourage them to mature in faith even more.

Edgar continues to resist the temptation to go drinking with another Deaf young man who tempted him last Friday.  (It was payday.)  He also has invited a homeless, orphaned, deaf young man (Prudencio, age 21) into his home.  They had met at Deaf Camp at CDI last summer. Edgar and Manuel are both sharing clothes and food with Prudencio, giving freely and generously.

Edgar's mother helped Prudencio sign up at the Town Council office to get a job cleaning the drainage ditches.  I thank God there was one available.  She said that Prudencio can continue to live at her house and pay a weekly sum from his earnings.  It looks like through the grace of God, Edgar and his mom, that Prudencio has found a "home".

Sherwin again confessed during church that he wants to walk the straight and narrow.  I think his confessions are honest, it's just very hard for him to re-make himself.  Jesus can help if Sherwin will let him.  But it is hard for Sherwin to let go of his "bad boy" attitude and behaviors. I am praying that he has the courage to listen to the Spirit of God.  I also remind him that God loves him even more than I do.  He's not beyond forgiveness.  It's good to see him come to church and "say the right things"...

Elizanie and Sulmi are praying at lunch in the school cafeteria.  They are the only ones who bow their heads and silently say a blessing before they eat. I asked them if the other people look at them and think they are weird or showing off.  Sulmi says she doesn't care what they think and tries to not draw attention to herself...she just pauses and closes her eyes for a few minutes.

At Girl's Night we had 10 women plus two babies! (A houseful!) We continue to study the Characteristics of God, so that we can learn specifically how to be like Him. This past week's focus was "Thankfulness".  The way it works is we pray, sing some songs, and then launch into the study. We close by praying for each person.  When the Bible study is over, we have a meal with beans as the mainstay (such as nachos).  After eating I start to clean up and  usually two or three of the women will help while the others try "not to help".  Hmmmm.  I usually give people jobs but they tend to feel "put upon".  I keep praying God will work this out and they will take responsibility without my telling them to.   SO.....this past Friday we were eating the nachos and most were finished when Alva handed her baby to Martha, got up and said "I'm doing dishes!"  In the 6 years that I have been leading Girl's Night, Alva has never helped without being asked.  A-maz-ing! 

So...all this growth is a good thing.  It gives me goosebumps to see how God is so present with us, but I'm also reminded that we ALL (me included)  have a long way to go.  Thanks for your continued prayers that we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.

Alva's Baptism

 It was a great day for the Kingdom of God!  

Alva made a confession of faith, telling how she was abandoned as a child when her parents did drugs and were in and out of jail.  She explained how she became rebellious and angry and turned to prostituting herself to earn money and "write her own rules".

She explained how God has been tugging at her heart for at least 7 years but she pushed him away.  In fact she pushed her mom, her dad,  me and many of her friends away.  She was afraid to surrender her heart to anyone.






 Alva explained that her mother, father and brothers all gave their hearts to the Lord in the past year or two...at all different times and attend different churches.  In January her twin brothers prayed for her.  They laid hands on her and they talked to her about the joy she would feel if she surrendered to the love of God.  I continued to see her at least twice a week and people from the US also prayed for her.

Her heavy sin weighed on her and public confession sounded so difficult to her.   But finally she said she was tired of fighting God.  She said she wants to follow Jesus.  She confessed her sins and was absolved in front of all of Deaf church and her family.  I shed a tear thinking, "God, what a miracle you have done in her life."

 

A hug from her mother.,

 Smiles of the peace that passes understanding.

God is faithful!

Teaching the Teacher

 Manuel preached on Sunday from Acts 12. This week he picked the scripture he wanted to teach.  He has a Deaf Missions Bible DVD and was watching the book of Acts last week and became interested in the story of Peter.  Peter was thrown in jail by Herod who had just killed James (brother of John) by chopping off his head. Peter was next.  But within hours of Peter's certain execution, the angel of the Lord came to Peter in jail, released the shackles, opened the door, and led him out while guards stood by unable to see anything that was happening.

It's a great story of God's power to do anything, even the impossible.  It's also a great story about God's faithfulness. While Peter was in jail, all of the believers in Jerusalem were praying for God to release him.  They prayed and fasted and were still praying in the middle of the night when Peter (now a freed man) came to the house where the Christians had gathered.

Manuel and I spent much of Saturday studying the chapter and listening to what God was teaching us. He practiced signing the story and pausing to ask questions to keep the Deaf congregation involved.

Manuel says it is the Spirit of God that helps him do the impossible: read the Bible since he did not learn to read in school.  God clearly has his hand on this young man, seeking his allegiance, encouraging him, and molding him into God's holy character.  Thank you for praying for Manuel.

Goodbye Colleen

This week we said goodbye to Colleen (in the middle, blue shirt).  She was a Peace Corps worker who spent the last two years at St. Peter's helping the special education teachers learn how to teach children who have autistic characteristics.  I loved working with her.  She taught me a lot about how to keep extremely distractible children on task. Most of all, I liked talking with her and sharing ideas and just bouncing questions off of her. I will miss her and wish her God's peace in the next chapter he has planned for her life.

Roses for Mother's Day

At our first team leadership meeting in April we were talking about how we would celebrate Mother's Day at Jesus' Deaf Church.  Angelica volunteered to make flowers to give to the mothers in congregation. Her sister, her mother and I helped to make these roses.  They turned out so nicely!  Angelica is really gifted with making crafts.  She likes to make things and learns new crafts quickly.

We followed a YouTube video.   It was wonderful because Angelica could learn just by watching.  Also when we got to a hard part,  we could rewind to the part we did not understand watch it over and over.