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| Rebecca flies to Trinidad in one of these bad boys. Aerocon's order of Airbus A380s is evidently taking its time to arrive. |
Since I last wrote, Amanda had her first Esther study with young women from church. Here she is now with a few words on what went down...
OK, so my first Esther study went really well. You know when you put a lot of work into something and then when you have to actually show it to people, you get really nervous because you're scared of how other people will react? Ya, that's how I kind of felt. I have led Bible Studies before, I have prepped study material before, and I am a lot more comfortable with my Spanish now than before, but somehow this was different. I have put so much work into preparing this study, and I think more than that, I have enjoyed it so much. I was scared that other people wouldn't. But, after all that, apparently they did.
I am using Beth Moore's study on Esther. I only have one copy of one of the workbooks that a friend gave me and it is obviously in English, so I do quite a lot of tweaking culturally and linguistically. We are meeting every other Sunday and we're aiming to cover one chapter every meeting. We almost finished chapter 1 this past Sunday. I had loads of notes and was wondering how I was going to get through it all, but I discovered that I could read and discuss them faster than it took me to write them. I have made it very discussion-based which is quite tricky here because participation can sometimes be like pulling teeth, but the study is with the older girls in the church, 18-23 years old, and these girls are a bit more accustomed to having to think for themselves. There were five of us in total, with two girls not being able to attend last Sunday, and they all really did participate and I think they all left having learnt or thought about something new. I think when you work with young people or new Christians all the time, you forget how deep a study can be because you have to give those people what they can handle. This study has allowed me, and the other young ladies, to really go deep, to read it really slowly and and really think about it. And it has been refreshing.
Let me just briefly mention a little about the very first women's meeting at the church, which took place on Tuesday evening. Claudia Holt has felt led to start and lead this ministry for women above 23 years old (I was the youngest person in attendance... before they announced the age limit, I was worried if I would make the cut. There are not so many people my age here). There were 10 of us in total, from missionaries, to church members, even to the mother of one of the youth group participants, which was really encouraging to see. We're going to be looking at a book called "How to Be a Woman of Excellence" by Cynthia Heard. But we also have the goals of supporting the church as a body of women in practical ways, and getting to know each other and, in the process, become a united group of women. It was really exciting and very encouraging. I have to remember to do my homework over the next week!
OK, so my first Esther study went really well. You know when you put a lot of work into something and then when you have to actually show it to people, you get really nervous because you're scared of how other people will react? Ya, that's how I kind of felt. I have led Bible Studies before, I have prepped study material before, and I am a lot more comfortable with my Spanish now than before, but somehow this was different. I have put so much work into preparing this study, and I think more than that, I have enjoyed it so much. I was scared that other people wouldn't. But, after all that, apparently they did.
I am using Beth Moore's study on Esther. I only have one copy of one of the workbooks that a friend gave me and it is obviously in English, so I do quite a lot of tweaking culturally and linguistically. We are meeting every other Sunday and we're aiming to cover one chapter every meeting. We almost finished chapter 1 this past Sunday. I had loads of notes and was wondering how I was going to get through it all, but I discovered that I could read and discuss them faster than it took me to write them. I have made it very discussion-based which is quite tricky here because participation can sometimes be like pulling teeth, but the study is with the older girls in the church, 18-23 years old, and these girls are a bit more accustomed to having to think for themselves. There were five of us in total, with two girls not being able to attend last Sunday, and they all really did participate and I think they all left having learnt or thought about something new. I think when you work with young people or new Christians all the time, you forget how deep a study can be because you have to give those people what they can handle. This study has allowed me, and the other young ladies, to really go deep, to read it really slowly and and really think about it. And it has been refreshing.
Let me just briefly mention a little about the very first women's meeting at the church, which took place on Tuesday evening. Claudia Holt has felt led to start and lead this ministry for women above 23 years old (I was the youngest person in attendance... before they announced the age limit, I was worried if I would make the cut. There are not so many people my age here). There were 10 of us in total, from missionaries, to church members, even to the mother of one of the youth group participants, which was really encouraging to see. We're going to be looking at a book called "How to Be a Woman of Excellence" by Cynthia Heard. But we also have the goals of supporting the church as a body of women in practical ways, and getting to know each other and, in the process, become a united group of women. It was really exciting and very encouraging. I have to remember to do my homework over the next week!
Prayer
- For Rebecca's safe arrival here in Trinidad. As I type, she's on the last leg of her international flight from Miami, having just left La Paz for Santa Cruz, from where she'll switch airports and catch a flight to Trinidad (the journey is almost as exhausting as writing about it).
- For a productive time for Rebecca professionally, relationally and spiritually.
Praise
- For a great first session of Amanda's study in Esther and a great start to the church's women's group.
- For the new English and R.E. classes, where we're already sensing a deepening of relationships. Having the English class twice a week is already making a big difference in that sense, while in the R.E. classes this week, I was able to clearly communicate the essence of the gospel message and its implications in the day-to-day lives of the students.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Craig & Amanda
Sounds great! Way to go Amanda! Keep up the good work!
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