Perseverance

It has been a whirlwind since I last updated you all! The Lord has been working diligently!

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Backstory

A core group of us have been working in a trailer park–teaching English once a week, and I have been hosting a jewelry class once a week.

However, our April to May season was hard. Really hard. We would meet and plan lessons, and some weeks, we wouldn’t have a single person show up. Some weeks, we would have a child show up to play, but no one to learn English. There was inconsistency. We couldn’t gain momentum.

At the end of our sessions in mid-May, we questioned our purpose and impact in the community. We weren’t sure what they needed, how to meet those needs–especially if no one was showing up to discuss those with us. 

I felt dry. I felt like I was hitting a wall. How could the Lord lead us to this journey without fruit? (Self-righteous and prideful thought, I know). Why would he begin a work in this community and not see it through completion? (A testing of the Lord’s sovereignty, I know).  But the Lord can totally handle my sass and challenge. He can handle my doubt and close-mindedness. 

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 Fast forward

At the end of May, we transitioned from the community chapel to a trailer that Adventures in Missions owns in the community. This will eventually become our trailer in October, and we will fundraise for the expenses related to this space (around $8000 a year, more to come on this and how to partner with this journey later). Again, we didn’t understand why the Lord would allow such an amazing opportunity to have a larger space and more central location, if things weren’t going “well.”

 

As the core team met to focus back on our movement forward, we came together to realign ourselves as a group. Evaluating what we are passionate about and how we want to serve in the community. We brainstormed new ideas and ways to serve in the community. For the summer, we decided to keep English and Jewelry classes, and look into new opportunities for the beginning of the school year (August). 

So we moved forward in faith.

On June 6th and 7th, We passed out flyers to the 200 trailers over two days–praise the Lord for help from close friends to be hands and feet to help pass these out and answer questions as we distributed door to door. 

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June 8: First class of the summer

The Lord proved us wrong. He wasn’t done. He had a plan in mind. 

 

6 people: 1 man, 5 ladies

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June 15: Second week of class

The group was smaller, but Jennifer and I were excited. We felt unified and were able to connect with the ladies. 

 

4 ladies

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June 22: Third week of class

The Lord blew our minds. Even in the midst of 3 tornado warnings, He was good. He led a few ladies to open up about their testimonies and provided protection from the storms.

 

8 people: 1 male, 7 ladies

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June 29: Fourth week of class

The Father is good and kind. We had to add tables. The men and women are improving in their English skills, and most importantly, building trust with us. 

 

10 people: 2 men, 8 women

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 The children’s classes

Can we just talk about how there are 8-11 kids showing up each week? That they are in a safe place to learn about Jesus and the Bible while their parents are learning English?    It is basically a weekly vacation Bible school session! 

 Sisters

  10 kids!

   

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 What in the world? I don’t even know.

We don’t deserve this, and we sure didn’t earn it.

But He saw fit to bless us and bring the people. 

What have I learned in the past few weeks?

He has brought forth the spring and it is time to sing His praises. The winter and the rain are ending for now. (See the verse below–it was on my flip calendar for June 26th. It is fitting for this new season.)

He has taught us some perseverance and that is led to some character development. Perseverance means: steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Wow–having steadfastness is more difficult than I realized.

He has reunified our team under a vision and purpose.

The Lord has claimed this space and has opened up a space for some incredible opportunities to love on our neighbors. 

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What we ask of you?

Pray for us. Pray for the people of the Baker and Glover mobile home park. Feel free to select a specific name from the list below to pray for too.

Names of participants: 

Francisco

Maria R.

Rosa

Valentina

Maleni

Maria H. 

Angelica

Karina

Hiliaria

Magda

Blanca

Pedro

Margarita

Names of children: 

Daniela, Manuel, Hector (mother: Maria R)

Jennifer, Karen (mother: Rosa)

Melissa (mother: Valentina)

Ariany, Giselle, Woemy, Jazmin (mother: Angelica)

Angel, Axel (mother: Karina)

Names of teachers and volunteers:

Jennifer and Cesar Gonzalez

Andrew Parkin

Kelli Stewart

Libby Able

Brielle Becker

Other volunteers: Madison, Austin, Justin

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Thanks for joining with me in support, whether through finances or prayer. I appreciate you more than you will ever know. 

Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”   May the Gospel be made known in our Baker and Glover!