A lot has happened since last I blogged about the happenings here in La Palma.
I mentioned in a post last week that I had been asked to speak in one of the local schools. It is quite a different feeling to basically give a Bible lesson on parenting at a public school function. I guess coming from Webb City I am more used to biblical foundations in the public schools than some, but it is still a strange concept to go into a school and give a lesson on what God wants from parents. I gave my only credentials for being qualified to teach on the subject to start, "Hi. I'm Monte. I've been married for eighteen years and have a teenage daughter and a son who is almost ten. I am a parent, but not a perfect one. What I am going to talk you about is some of the same things I'm still trying to get right."
It was met with a very good reception. Two teachers who also were to speak and the school director during her speech all referred back to what I had said. The director went a little more hard-nosed than I and told them they really needed to listen to what I had said because it was muy importante. One more opportunity for God to humble me and show me just how much my example is being watched while I am here.
I also discovered why Jose asked me to speak instead of doing it himself. He said, "You are a foreigner. They will want to hear you talk and so you will keep their attention."
I preached Sunday morning again. Jose asked me Late Friday afternoon if I would be willing to preach since he had found out the previous day Marvin would not be there. I began furiously working on what to talk about (I need a good three days of prep time to get my thoughts together to at least be coherent when I preach). Thankfully I had asked Dad to send me his sermon from the previous week, so I wound up adapting it to this audience. I guess they could tell because I got several more compliments about it than the sermon I preached the previous week.
Class was once again a great experience Sunday afternoon. There were eleven in class and the guys are starting to warm up to me. They have always listened intently (or least have incredible poker faces), but now they are starting to give feedback and quite a few take copious amounts of notes. The biggest barrier is my lack of Spanish skills. I get my questions mixed up. I'm just as likely to ask "where" as I am "when" when I am trying to ask "who"! And when I rely on Jose to translate everything, he states the answers to my questions instead of asking the students the question. I'm picking up much more, but I still get flustered when I try to speak it myself.
This afternoon Jose and I went to visit Arnoldo. Arnoldo has been our driver on multiple occasions. He is a good driver and very friendly. He speaks about as much English as I do Spanish, so we can have some conversations. Last night he woke with a fever and mild chest pain. He is a young guy with a wife and two young children. We have been trying to get them to come to church. He went to his doctor this afternoon where the doctor told him it was not his kidneys. --cause that's the first place I think about with a fever-- The chest pain was probably ancillary as there has been no more pain pr pressure there, but the fever is still there. Anyway, he had asked if we were having a church service tonight so he could come and have us pray for him. And wouldn't you know it - Tuesdays and Saturdays are the two nights each week we don't have a church service. So he asked if we could go to visit him and pray for him there. We did. He has two adorable little children. The five year old girl (oldest) was quite happy to count to six for me in English. Then she kept trying and got all the way up to sixteen (of course she skipped fourteen and fifteen along the way). It was a good visit.
Tonight was the second installment of the English service. Jose, Norma and Marlon were here and Jose invited Victor and Lillian to join us, which they did. It went well, I think. We accomplished our goal: God was praised and we were encouraged.
Tomorrow night should be quite interesting. As I have mentioned before, the Wednesday night services are held in family residences. This time it will be held in our living room. There are usually around 30 or 35 in attendance at these meetings. However, the curiosity factor is spreading. A little girl from the school asked Lori to make sure it was at our house Wednesday at 6:00. Lori couldn't remember ever having met the girl before. Word is spreading. These meetings always end with the host serving some sort of refreshments. Usually coffee and some type of food. Lori decided to make no-bake cookies. Which is why I smell chocolate. There are 94 cookies on our kitchen table right now, and that is actually only the first batch she will be making. We are going to cheat on the coffee though. We will use our coffee maker and borrow Teresa's as well. We just don't have a place for the open fire to cook it on.
For everyone still concerned, my leg is much better, at least the pain is mostly gone.
Tomorrow promises to be another good day.
I mentioned in a post last week that I had been asked to speak in one of the local schools. It is quite a different feeling to basically give a Bible lesson on parenting at a public school function. I guess coming from Webb City I am more used to biblical foundations in the public schools than some, but it is still a strange concept to go into a school and give a lesson on what God wants from parents. I gave my only credentials for being qualified to teach on the subject to start, "Hi. I'm Monte. I've been married for eighteen years and have a teenage daughter and a son who is almost ten. I am a parent, but not a perfect one. What I am going to talk you about is some of the same things I'm still trying to get right."
It was met with a very good reception. Two teachers who also were to speak and the school director during her speech all referred back to what I had said. The director went a little more hard-nosed than I and told them they really needed to listen to what I had said because it was muy importante. One more opportunity for God to humble me and show me just how much my example is being watched while I am here.
I also discovered why Jose asked me to speak instead of doing it himself. He said, "You are a foreigner. They will want to hear you talk and so you will keep their attention."
I preached Sunday morning again. Jose asked me Late Friday afternoon if I would be willing to preach since he had found out the previous day Marvin would not be there. I began furiously working on what to talk about (I need a good three days of prep time to get my thoughts together to at least be coherent when I preach). Thankfully I had asked Dad to send me his sermon from the previous week, so I wound up adapting it to this audience. I guess they could tell because I got several more compliments about it than the sermon I preached the previous week.
Class was once again a great experience Sunday afternoon. There were eleven in class and the guys are starting to warm up to me. They have always listened intently (or least have incredible poker faces), but now they are starting to give feedback and quite a few take copious amounts of notes. The biggest barrier is my lack of Spanish skills. I get my questions mixed up. I'm just as likely to ask "where" as I am "when" when I am trying to ask "who"! And when I rely on Jose to translate everything, he states the answers to my questions instead of asking the students the question. I'm picking up much more, but I still get flustered when I try to speak it myself.
This afternoon Jose and I went to visit Arnoldo. Arnoldo has been our driver on multiple occasions. He is a good driver and very friendly. He speaks about as much English as I do Spanish, so we can have some conversations. Last night he woke with a fever and mild chest pain. He is a young guy with a wife and two young children. We have been trying to get them to come to church. He went to his doctor this afternoon where the doctor told him it was not his kidneys. --cause that's the first place I think about with a fever-- The chest pain was probably ancillary as there has been no more pain pr pressure there, but the fever is still there. Anyway, he had asked if we were having a church service tonight so he could come and have us pray for him. And wouldn't you know it - Tuesdays and Saturdays are the two nights each week we don't have a church service. So he asked if we could go to visit him and pray for him there. We did. He has two adorable little children. The five year old girl (oldest) was quite happy to count to six for me in English. Then she kept trying and got all the way up to sixteen (of course she skipped fourteen and fifteen along the way). It was a good visit.
Tonight was the second installment of the English service. Jose, Norma and Marlon were here and Jose invited Victor and Lillian to join us, which they did. It went well, I think. We accomplished our goal: God was praised and we were encouraged.
Tomorrow night should be quite interesting. As I have mentioned before, the Wednesday night services are held in family residences. This time it will be held in our living room. There are usually around 30 or 35 in attendance at these meetings. However, the curiosity factor is spreading. A little girl from the school asked Lori to make sure it was at our house Wednesday at 6:00. Lori couldn't remember ever having met the girl before. Word is spreading. These meetings always end with the host serving some sort of refreshments. Usually coffee and some type of food. Lori decided to make no-bake cookies. Which is why I smell chocolate. There are 94 cookies on our kitchen table right now, and that is actually only the first batch she will be making. We are going to cheat on the coffee though. We will use our coffee maker and borrow Teresa's as well. We just don't have a place for the open fire to cook it on.
For everyone still concerned, my leg is much better, at least the pain is mostly gone.
Tomorrow promises to be another good day.
Hello Monte:
ReplyDeleteDiscovered your blog today. Thanks for taking the time to share your life in La Palma. Very uplifting to know that you and family are sharing your Christ filled lives. Take care and God Bless.
Jerry Blankinship