The Lord's Supper & Baby Dedication

The Lord's Supper

We enjoyed a special Sunday service this week as we celebrated the Lord's Supper together as a church. It was a unique time for our church members, to be reminded exactly what the Lord's Supper represents. They have been taught for so long by the Catholic church that they are eating and drinking the actual physical body of Christ. Most of our members, having been Christians for more than a year, understand that the Lord's Supper is something we do in remembrance of what Christ did for us, but others are still confused by many years of listening to false doctrine. It was a great service and I think Alejandro (interim preacher & my ministry partner at this church) did a great job of walking us through the Word and explaining things clearly. Sadly, we had several regular attenders who purposely did not attend church yesterday. Knowing that only baptized believers would be able to participate in the supper, I think they felt uncomfortable coming and not being able to partake with the rest of the church.

Getting ready for Evangelism

That's when visitation can be so helpful! We spent 2 hours after church walking the streets of this neighborhood, sharing the gospel and visiting members who were absent. This is such an important part of growth in the church. We need to be encouraging our brothers and sisters, taking the time to visit with them, letting them know they were missed and prayed for. I saw some great growth in our members after yesterday's experience. It was really an encouragement to me, and something I've been praying for, for a long time.

Cherry's dress was huge on her, but she looked so cute!

There are a few things I just can't seem to get used to. 1) They take "roll call" every week, asking you how many chapters in your bible you read (hm...I can't at all see how this might pressure people to exaggerate!), how many visitors you brought (which, annoyingly to me, they count their kids as visitors, even though they are there every week!) and then ask if you brought your bible. This is a DEEPLY rooted tradition for them, so I guess I'll have to learn to live with it, and pray the Lord will open their hearts to change. 2) When we go out to share the gospel they walk up to someone and say, "We are here to EVANGELIZE you" (oh sinner!...I added this part)...but I feel like we're walking in and knocking them upside the head...and then expecting them to give us a moment of their time, haha. I pray..."Father, help them to hear what YOU want them to hear, and not the words coming out of our mouths." Thankfully...we are called to be obedient to share God's word...and He's the one who takes care of the results!

Alejo w/ baby Caleb, Yolima & big brother Sebastian ("Gordito")

On a happy note, I arrived early enough to help Yolima get all 3 kids bathed and ready for church. Caleb Andres was introduced to the church, and they were asked to commit to pray for him as he grows. We prayed that he would grow up hearing the Word of God and that one day he would make the decision to follow Christ and serve Him. His name means "Loyal/Faithful Warrior" so we prayed that he would be a faithful warrior for the cause of Christ. I took their first family photos...and they turned out adorable, given the circumstances! I was rushing to take the pictures, so they're not the best lighting or framing. Cherry was screaming the whole time, so I bribed her with candy! haha...what can I say!

The "bribery photo" after I told her I had candy...can't you see it in her eyes! lol!

Every time I come over to visit Gordito says to me, "He's MY brother, he's mine!" and I just laugh and remind him that I know! I'm just here to visit!

Thank you all for your continued love and prayers! Have a wonderful week! ~Sarah :)

"I want to bring you a gift..."

I receive a phone call this week from the mother of one of my Colombian friends. Her son married one of our missionaries this summer and they now live in Texas. The mother, who lives here in CO, called me to see if she could come by my apt. this week. I assumed she wanted to use my Vonage phone to call her son in the States, but she said no, that she wanted to bring me a "gift." Surprised I said, "Is this gift alive?" (The kitten I now have was originally a gift from her brother and I thought she might want to give me another kitten) She just laughed. I wasn't sure if she had misunderstood me or if she just didn't want to spoil the surprise...

Since when does "I want to bring you a gift" imply that "I want to bring a strange man over to your house to introduce you"....???????

Yes....my gift was A PERSON!!!

Supposedly I had met this man at my friend's wedding. He began to explain to me that he had been having dreams and that I was in them. I was surrounded by lots of kids, but they were really angels, and that we were going up to the top of a rainbow. At the top of the rainbow was a door. I told him that I could go through the door, but that he could not, because not every soul can go through the door. He went on to explain to me that he didn't understand the dream but that he knew that it had something to do with God, and that I was the person who was going to explain it to him and teach him about God and His Word.

WOW!

Ok, so I was trying to be as serious as I could about this, but I couldn't help but think that this was the most elaborate scheme to pick up a "gringo girl" that I had ever encountered!...and then was wondering what in the world my friend's mom was thinking in bringing him to my house! haha!

(Please keep in mind, this is all happening in Spanish!)

I talked to him and found out that he is not a believer, so I talk to him about what it means to be a Christian, we read Eph. 2:8-10 and talked about how salvation comes by Faith and not through works.....but in the end He was still thinking I was the person who could enlighten him to the Word of God. I explained to him that if he was genuinely serious about learning about the Lord and understanding more about the Bible that I would talk to my boss about discipling him..but that I could not help him with that....because we encourage men to be discipled by other men!

So please PRAY....1) Because this could be completely true and the Lord really could be speaking to him through dreams...in one way it actually kind of makes sense to me (Matt. 7:21 immediately came to my mind, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven...) 2) Please pray for this man, that if the Lord is speaking to him, that he would genuinely seek to know more about the Father 3) Please pray that I would be taken out of the equation and that he would be open to being discipled by a man on our team. :)

To make the night even more interesting...we went to a friend's birthday party later that night...and I got hit on AGAIN!....When a guy starts out a conversation saying "I heard you were single" and "I hear it's easier to get a visa to the US if a church invites to you come" he kind of blows all his chances at ever having a normal friendship with me, haha.

Do I have a sign on top of my head with flashing lights that says "Green Card Magnet" ?????

(I once had a guy at the movie theater (also here in Colombia) try to pick me up...He said, "Hello, I love your green eyes," and then went right in to say he'd like to have my number so he could start a relationship with me! I actually laughed out loud, regained composure, and then kindly told him no.... then hurried away to find my friends, haha!)

One day....Mr Right will come knocking on my door....but for right now I guess I'm just dodging bullets! :)

Eva...my little kitten has grown!

Here are some pictures of my little kitten who is now a big beautiful cat! Her name is Eva, based on the word Evangelico, which means Gospel.

The first night I had her...she cried all night!

Now she's almost fully grown!

Here's she's about to jump up to play with the camera....

She's annoyed with the flash and is trying to push the camera out of her face, haha!

Bienvenido Caleb Andres

First Night at the Hospital ~ 2 hours old

On Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 we welcomed baby Caleb Andres (pronounced Kah-leb), into the world!!! He is a healthy little boy, with all his fingers and toes, and just as cute as he can be! I'm going to have to guess on what time he was actually delivered....I'll say between 6:10-6:15 p.m. When a baby is delivered in the maternity ward, they push a buzzer which makes a sound something between a door bell and the firehouse alarm to indicate a new baby has been born. Five of these alarm sounds went off during that time period!

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I was given the privilege of naming him! (Don't worry...I haven't promised my life away, or committed to being his "godmother") I was a little uncertain about this, but after being told on several occasions that he would have no name until I decided, I gave in! Yolima had told me several times before that she like my brother's name, Caleb Andres (Caleb Andrew in English) so after triple-checking that she really like it...he now has a name! And a great one at that! :)

He is precious!

Thank you so much for your prayers for Yolima! I am very happy to report that her surgery went well and she is recovering with relatively little pain (which is an absolute miracle!) Please continue to lift her up, as she is recovering back in her little "house" pretty much by herself. Thankfully she has a very kind neighbor who has been bringing her meals every day, and she was able to leave the older children with their godmother for a few weeks. This is an added blessing! The father (Robinson) has showed up for 10 minute periods here and there, but has been pretty absent during the whole process. Please pray for his heart, that the Lord would draw him back into the Word and that he would be the husband and father the Lord desires him to be.

First Smile captured on camera!!

Let me tell ya....we are extremely BLESSED to have the kind of medical care we receive in the States. The clinic where Yolima was at is for the women who are extremely poor...that being said, they make their patients bring their own SHEETS for their beds, and even asked for other odd items like the nylon that's going to be used in the surgery! I was in shock. Americans are rich whether we think we are or not.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers!!

Pray for Yolima

(Yolima & two of her younger children (in our laps), with me and my little buddy Andres)

Hey guys...I just wanted to ask you for your collective prayers! I have a friend named Yolima who I have been discipling for a few months now. She has had a very difficult past and is living in a very hard current situation.

Tomorrow (Wed) she is going to have a scheduled cesarian to deliver her 4th child. She has had 3 previous c-sections, so this one is very dangerous. The don't use the same kinds of procedures we have in the states...they cut you vertically, making recovery very long and painful. She is very fearful and worried about the surgery and then what will happen when they come home. The father plays a passive/abusive role in the family, therefore her mind is focused on how she will feed & care for her children.

Please pray that she would put her Trust in her heavenly Father! That He would comfort her and bring to mind some of the scripture we have been studying. Pray that her surgery goes smoothly, and that she is able to recover quickly. Pray that the Lord would give me wisdom and discernment in how to minister to my new friend!

Thank you for your prayers! ~Sarah :)

Ministry Update! :)

Here are some long awaited updates on what's been happening! Ministry has changed pace a bit as we are in a short recess from having volunteer teams here every month. So now I have more time to focus on getting back into ministry in the communities. One praise is that I now have a co-teacher to help lead Children's Church. It was too much to try to handle 20-30 kids on my own! Please pray for me as I encourage this new leader in stepping up into her new role. I have started back my discipleship class with one of the ladies near my house church. I am really enjoying getting to know her and see her learn from God's Word. I'm also "trying" to re-learn how to play the guitar, haha, so that I can begin to help with worship during our Thursday groups. In one of our ministry sites, our house church groups have doubled...so we are in need of extra hands! It's so amazing to see the Lord work in the hearts of the people, and then as they grow in the Word to see their hearts begin to feel for the lostness around them. That is our hearts desire, not only bring them the Truth, but then to see them in turn burdened for the lost and join the mission to share with others!

Prayer Requests:

• Please continue to lift me up, along with both my teams (Refuge Team & VIC Team) We truly want to see Colombia changed by the love of Christ.
• Pray that the Lord would strengthen us to keep going in those moments when we are exhausted or overwhelmed with the work load.
• Pray that we would receive an extra dose of encouragement and resolve to be intentional about building relationships, especially with the people who aren't always easy to love.
• Pray for the maturity of our church leaders, that they would learn how to love unconditionally and walk in obedience to God's Word.
• Pray for me personally to continue to seek the Lord with a hunger and thirst for knowledge and understanding of His Word.

Thank you for your continued encouragement and prayers! :) ~Sarah

Check out our leader in the center.....our "Chief Indian"and the rest of the tribe, haha!

What would Bible Study be like without the cows?

Pam, this is for Brooke....this little girl didn't want her picture taken either! haha!

They came out in the masses when we had a free clinic...the needs are truly great. Please pray for healing in this land...physical and spiritual healing!

You know I can't resist pictures of these adorable children! Their hearts reflect in their eyes...

Three boys from my Sunday School class...patiently waiting in line to see the nurse.

This is a video of the kids from our "mother church". They came to my little house church to encourage our congregation and to lead a special service for the children. The song they are singing says this.....

I will praise Him from my Heart, I will praise Him with my Voice (2x) And if I am missing my Voice, I will praise Him with my Hands, And if I am missing my hands, I will praise Him with my Feet, And if I am missing my feet, I will praise Him with my Soul, And if I am missing my Soul...it's because I am with Him!

Good Stuff from Beth...

Ok, here's my update on what the Lord has used to impact my heart this week. I just finished up week 3 of Beth Moore's study of Daniel.

"For people with TRUE CONVICTIONS certain decisions have already been made. There's no need for discussion." When trials or temptations come that would threaten to "rock our world," what a difference it would make to already know where we stand.

Beth was also focusing on Loyalty. She said, "'Loyal' is not something we suddenly are at the flash-moment of testing. It's something we already were that surfaces in the test." She then went on to ask if we had personally made the decision to be loyal to Christ?

Both of these examples reminded me of a precious person in my life...my sweet cousin Amber. Amber has always had a strong faith and was never ashamed to declare that she believed her God is Good. When her husband Chad's accident happened and they began the long journey to recovery...she already knew her response: God is good, all the time. Even when the life she knew had been turned upside down, she was convinced that HE is still a good God.

Even when we don't understand Lord, you remind us of your Goodness and your Faithfulness! Of this I am certain...you are receiving Glory through these situations in our lives that we don't always understand. Build our faith and Refine it through the fire.