I got up a bit after 5:00 to start my day. I needed to get several things done, including recording a sermon for back home. I was all alone in the truck, preaching about the meaning of Romans 8:28. I worked at sending the message off to the WhatsApp group while we had breakfast and got ready for church.
I’m not sure why, but my phone service here has been pretty poor. It took an incredibly long time to even send the sermon, for example. So, I guess I can exercise patience.
I really enjoyed the church service. I was surprised to see Jesse Myers from Sparta, Tennessee in church with his family. He had the message. He didn’t remember me, but it was nice to see a familiar face anyway.
The locals said there were more people at church than in a very long time. The count was something over 120 people, I heard. The singing was a joy to my heart.
The seating was by families. I sat next to China and translated everything for her. I found it is easier to translate from native speakers than American speakers of Spanish though there were a few Americans who sounded like they had flawless Spanish. That’s what I want to have when I grow up.
I went on a walk with a friend, so I missed the youth singing. It made my eyes get a little wet when I came in to catch the last song. What a joy to see young folks desiring to follow Jesus! Such great potential for the Kingdom!
Steph and the children napped while the rest of us sat around and watched Randy eat a tremendous amount of fruit while wishing for popcorn. Then we went over to Daniel Rhiel’s for the evening.
Daniel’s family lives above the school. We had a lovely evening with them despite our boys acting like children. Daniel’s were gracious and comfortable. They raised nine children for the Lord, so I asked Daniel what advice he could give us.
He said just as love is the overarching truth of Christianity, so the fear of the Lord is the overarching truth of the home. Everything must work out from and toward a proper fear of the Lord in order to have a successful Christian home. (I think I quoted him closely.)
That is such a powerful thought. I want to chew on it and see how to put it into shoe leather.
Juan David 