I sing for joy at the works of Your hands

God has just been awesome and wonderfully faithful to us this week!  We began new ministries starting Monday, and every day just burst with songs of God's might.

Men's Camp: On Monday we prepared for and waited for the men of the village to come to the camp that evening.  Our plan was to open the camp for recreational and relationship-building use on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings.  No one came any of those days, but after that first day and our initial disappointment, it was so encouraging to hear everyone remind each other that often times our plans and hopes are not carried out in the way God has planned for us.  Not only that, but God's way is always the best and most blessed way!  God gave us the strength that evening to keep trusting in Him, for His promises are always good.

ESL: Tuesday was our first day of English classes with the kids in El Téjaban.  We nervously prepared for a lesson on "la familia" -- I say nervously, because we had absolutely no idea what to expect -- ages, number of kids, level of English -- nada!  But this day was given to us to show us how small our faith was, how big it could really be, and how awesome God's faithfulness and might are.  We set up two tables and twelve chairs, and waited for the kids to come -- but not for long, because they started running in before it was actually time for class to begin.  And they kept coming, and kept coming... God sent us 50 children!!  I laugh at myself now when I think that I didn't think we could even fill up 12 chairs.  But God is so good.  The children were so energetic and very rowdy, and although we were now faced with bigger challenges of how to better organize and teach the children on Thursday, I was just so excited that so many came.
So I had (kind of) volunteered to lead the teaching on Tuesday, and thought I might get a "break" on Thursday, since we were all taking turns to lead.  Well, I was to lead again on Thursday (this time on "los deportes" -- sports), and for some reason, I was a lot more nervous this time than I was on Tuesday. But God is just too faithful to leave me alone in my doubts, and He reminded me through the book of Acts that His ministry is worked through not by my words or my strength, but on His alone.  God supplied me with so much strength and energy and the words to speak to the children that afternoon, and I can't claim anything to my own credit, for it was truly God working through me!  Honestly, I was using subjunctive clauses in Spanish without stumbling!  Haha, just kidding. :)  No, but really, as my wonderful papá once said - God doesn't choose the prepared, but He prepares His chosen.  God is so good.

English Club: I prayed that God would show us His might again like He did on Tuesday by bringing us 50 kids instead of the 12 we expected.  Yet again, He showed me how small my faith was, and how big He actually was.  It was well past 6pm, the time we set for English Club for the university students to start in La Plaza Mexiamora in GTO, and I kind of crumbled inside whenever we saw young people walk up only to walk past us.  But finally people did come, and we had just the most fun two hours ever, simply chatting away in a mix of English and Spanish with a group of about 7.  I am excited for future plans to grow our friendships through watching "Piratas del Caribe", playing soccer, and going to cafés together.  God is so good.

Stars: Sometimes we have to catch the late bus back from the city to El Téjaban.  That means the bus drops us off about a mile and a quarter from our camp, and we walk the rest of the way back.  That also means we get extra time to look up at the stars, and it's one of the most thrilling sights ever.  The stars are absolutely beautiful, and there are just so many.  Shooting stars are visible every night, and just knowing that there are billions more stars than my human eye can see makes me feel so small.  But knowing that we are held in God's hand, who is greater than all creation for He is the Creator, is also one of the most encouraging things to know - something that makes you feel safe... even when you know there are coyotes in the night nearby!

"It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man.  God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself." - John Piper

Extra Tidbits and Observations:
1. We have chickens in our camp, and Alex and Maggie challenged us to catch a chick.  If we can even touch one, we'll be rewarded with a gallon of ice cream.  Let's do it!
2. GTO has square trees.  We also saw some shaped like ducks.  They like to make art out of the trees here.  I like it.
3. Starbucks has become one of our havens.  I think I've drunk more Starbucks in the past two weeks than I have ever previously altogether.
4. Bakeries here are delicious, and every so often, we like to indulge a little bit and nibble on some treats.  Nom nom.
5. In the past two days, I have had four sightings of fellow Asians.  You may laugh, but it brings some sort of small comfort.  I was surprised to learn that there is a good-sized Chinese population in the state of Guanajuato, and there are quite a few Chinese restaurants around.  Who ever knew that my Spanish and Chinese major/minor would ever mix so nicely and advantageously?!

I wish I had pictures to post up, but I am afraid I didn't even pull out my camera when playing with the children!  There are some on facebook that are tagged of me, if you would like to see those.  I promise to be more dutiful to photo-taking in the future, though!

Things to pray about, if you would:
1. Our last teammate's travels (Laura Edwards) on Tuesday!
2. Our ministries: ESL with El Téjaban kids, English Club with university students in GTO, and English Club with the youth of a church in León called La Vid Verdadera, which will begin this coming Saturday
3. That all our strength and all our words and all our love come from God alone
4. Thanks and praise for all God's awesome works this past week!

I will update you again in about a week to tell you of all this coming week's adventures!

God is so good.

"For You make me glad by Your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands." - Psalm 92:4