Update - Aug 6

Juan:

Hi all! Things are getting so much better here. I had this idea in my head that all the servants shared most of their time together – eating, praying, movies, games, Bible study, etc. But this is not the way it is unfortunately. I expressed to the group that we need to start thinking of each other as family and doing things together. Apparently all the servants are feeling this way, so we’ve started it by having dinner at each one’s house 3 or 4 times a week. Also, we’re going to start movie nights on Sundays. The Bishop wants us to start dreaming of new ideas so as to not let the mission go stale. We brainstormed a couple days ago and here’s what we’ve come up with so far:
· Make a slideshow of the children and show it to the children once a month – it’s always fun to see yourself on the big screen
· Visit the sick that are in our hospitals here in the compound – actually I did this today and LOVED it. I did some magic tricks and some robot which made them laugh. Also, I told them I’d be back everyday and read them some stories from the Bible or just listen to them or play them some guitar. They seemed so happy to have a visitor.
· Make a ‘welcome to the world basket’ for every baby born in our hospital
· Make daytime visitations to the slums and spend time with the street kids who aren’t in school and don’t have a job – currently all our visitations are after 5 because we wait for people to come home from work
· Have washings daily for the poor – wash their hands, feet and face
· Once a month, give clean socks and underwear to the street kids

We went to visit Lenana on Monday. I have become friends with one of the boys there. His name is Joseph. He is 25 years old and a super nice guy. He came over to our house last Thursday and taught us some Swahili Christian songs. He even gave me a picture of himself so I would always remember him. By the way, these Kenyans really know how to sing. I mean SING, with all their hearts and voices and hands. It moves me. The Church comes alive when it’s time to sing.

Christine and I went to the grocery store near to us called Uchumi. Along the way, a poor man asked us to buy him a few things at Uchumi. His name is Wilfred. He came with us and wanted to load up with all the goodies, but we had to control him. It was a bit unsettling because he seemed to want to take advantage of us, but in the end, all was fine and I gave him a hug and he went on his way.

We had a really nice Bible study today with Abouna Moses. He spoke about those who honor Christ with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. He was referring to anything we do for God. For example, if we are in Church and we’re saying responses like ‘Lord have mercy’, but in the back of our minds we’re thinking what we’re going to eat for lunch, this is bad. Another example was communion. In the Orhtodox Church, you have to attend the Bible reading in order to receive communion. He said he really doesn’t like it when someone says to him ‘I missed the Bible reading today, but can I have communion?’ because that says to him that they don’t understand communion – they only know the rules. He said to us that if we really believe that if we make it to Church in time for the Bible reading, then we are ready to receive Christ, then we are the next generation of pharisees. Why? Because we are abusing the traditions, turning them into black and white rules, and removing the spirituality out of them. Let us all be careful not to do anything Holy without having our hearts prepared. He said that the goal of doing anything Holy is to MEET GOD. You can do all the prayers, all the quiet time, all the Church, all the communion, but if you don’t MEET GOD, it’s pointless. I asked him how we meet God. He gave an example. He said that when Christine and I were first getting to know each other, and we had a date, would I not prepare for it? Dress nice, some cologne, comb my hair, maybe even a shower, you know, look hot. He gave another example – say you had to be at the embassy tomorrow at 6:00am to renew your visa, you would probably get up at 4:30am to get ready to go. Why? Because you NEED it. He encouraged us all to prepare our hearts before we receive anything Holy. The Bishop said something similar a couple days ago in our servants meeting. He said that if we, as servants, don’t seek God and pray and read our Bible all week, then please don’t teach Sunday school or share at visitations. He warns us not to merely blab the word God, but to sing it so that others believe that you believe what you are saying. He also spoke about us being weak, which we are, but he said that only a fool would look at the little he has and believe it. We always have to put the little we have before God, offer it to Him, and he will complement it, and make it great.

Bobby, thx for commenting bud. I was glad to hear from you. I can’t believe the JDC is still up. Mike, let me know if I have to start up the BFMC again :) Thanks for writing guys. Mike, thanks for liking my stable joke – no one likes that one. I don’t know why – it’s GOLD!

Miryam, thanks for reading our blog! I can’t believe you read the whole thing – it’s getting pretty long. Congrats on being the first Church member to comment on the blog – you rock sister. Please keep us in your prayers. How are the youth doing? How is Rebecca? Give her a kiss for us.

Carm, have you given any thought to Zanzibar?

Bossa, thank you for all your comments and for reading our blog. You’re our most loyal customer. Miss u lots.

Nadine! thanks for reading and commenting and liking my jokes. You have a terrific sense of humor :) Congrats on the engagement! That's awesome! How did he propose? Mexico is the way to go! Please keep us in your prayers :)

God bless you all.