Mixed Emotions

I can’t believe I’m going to be back in the U.S. one week from today. I have very mixed emotions. On one hand I am excited to be back in the States and see my mom and my friends, go to my church, eat good food, and move into my house. On the other hand, God has been doing so many good things in my life and in the lives of others during our time here in Uruguay. I have learned so much about depending on God to use me, because I am completely incapable of leading apart from Him. Speaking in Spanish and not having much time to prepare for things have been huge challenges for me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Admiring God's creation

This last week was another great week. Monday we had our weekly staff meeting, and that night was the Vida Estudiantil outreach meeting. I was blessed to help prepare a drama for the meeting based on the song Everything by Lifehouse. We only had two days to prepare the drama, but God definitely worked through us and that is evident by how well the drama went. Also, 114 people came to Vida Estudiantil which I believe might be the highest number they have ever had!  

Tuesday was a holiday, so I wasn’t able to go to campus, but I had two great discipleship meetings with Stephen and Barrett and with both of them we talked more in depth on what it looks like to live like a Son of God rather than a slave or an orphan. That night we had date night with Jesus, which is always a great time to be refreshed and recharged spiritually. Wednesday we had our English Club special outreach and a group of us were blessed to be able to talk to two girls for probably 2 hours. They were extremely nice and open to talking, and we are hoping to be able to meet up with them again before we head back to the U.S. That night we had our bible study, and we talked about what gospel-centered ministry should look like. Gospel-centered ministry should be centered on the gospel, and centered on grace and truth rather than flattery. We talked in the study about not being leaders that want to be needed, but leaders that want their followers to grow up and mature as quickly as possible and how that process is painful for leaders. Paul compares this to a pregnant woman about to give birth. She doesn’t want the baby to continue to depend on her, but to be out on its own and able to grow and mature. I really enjoyed that time with my guys!  

The famous hand

Thursday I was blessed to go with Jesse and Erik to meet up with a new believer named Angel. Erik and I met him a couple weeks ago, and soon thereafter Jesse and Erik shared the gospel with him and he prayed to receive Christ! I was able to go with them to do follow-up with him. I really enjoyed that, because I don’t get to do that a lot as a student staff, so that was another highlight of my week! Afterwards, Erik and I met up for discipleship and talked through the book of Jude. Jude is a book I haven’t read much of, but Erik chose to go through that and so we did. I was surprised by how much I learned from studying such a small section of scripture! That night we had men’s time, which Tyler (a Cru staff) and I were able to plan most of. We did a photo scavenger hunt, and then ate pizza and played a funny game. Afterwards we went around and encouraged each other as men and pointed out what appreciated about each guy. It was a really fun night. Friday the women planned a creative date for the men. They called it "Manventure". We started with some challenges, then ate a delicious taco dinner, and ended with the women all pretending to be a different guy while playing Mafia (A game that we play a lot on our project). It was such a blast and I am so thankful for all the women on our project! Later that night we had our soccer outreach, which was a lot of fun. I finally got to play because I don’t have stitches anymore, so I was on a team with some of our hotel workers which was a blast!   Saturday our group had the day off so we traveled to Punta del Este, which is the main tourist destination in Uruguay. It is a peninsula filled with beautiful hills and beaches. We spent the day taking pictures and just relaxing. Punta del Este is probably the most beautiful part of Uruguay that I’ve seen, so it was so amazing to be able to enjoy God’s creation together as a project. We ended the evening by watching the sunset.

A beautiful sunset in Punta del Este

Today we had family time, and then I went to the market to buy some things to take back to the States. In a little while we will be heading to our last Sunday church service. I am excited to see what God does this last week here in Uruguay. Please keep us in your prayers!!

"Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them." Psalm 69:34