// September 26th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Holy Random Batman!, Life, Prayer, Reflection
Ok, so they’re not running shorts, per se, but the possible title was too good to pass up. I’m either getting fat, way too hard on my clothing, or some combination of both, because my second pair of shorts split from the crotch down the leg this morning. Luckily, I noticed before we left for El Colli, so I had time to change into my sole remaining pair of shorts (Why is it a pair of pants and a pair of shorts? Does that make sense to anyone else? There’s one garment, right?). Fortunately for me, the remaining pair is my favorite for looks, so I’m at least safe there. I really need to get more soon though, because this climate is entirely too hot for jeans. Shoot, I’m the loon that wears shorts in -7 degrees at Costco, so I certainly would overheat here in jeans. I sometimes wish my body temperature was different, but then I remember everyone else complaining in cold weather all the time and I figure I’m ok.
The last 24 hours have been pretty amazing. I got a 95 on my Spanish Conversation exam, then an 84% on my New Testament Literature exam, then had some dynamite pizza for dinner. Then the fun began.
Richie and Jen were busy all afternoon making a cardboard ark for El Colli the next day. When they finished that, they decided to put the rest of the cardboard to use…as robot costumes. Once we finished taping them up and drawing faces on the masks and wrapping sections of them in aluminum foil, we found our portable speaker system and hopped on a bus to have them dance battle for spare change for Casa Hogar (our young boys’ home we work with). We took a few bus trips, took some video, danced at intersections, took more video, and finally headed home. They later went back out while I did some homework. In all, we made 118 pesos, which will almost buy two pizzas for the boys. We decided we’re going to split into two teams and do the same thing next week, with me being one of the robots. It should be hilarious.
Later Friday night, we went to the center of Zapopan (our city) to do some homeless ministry. I’d never been there before and I was exhausted before we left, so I didn’t want to go. Once we got there, we immediately ran into a guy asking for prayer. We prayed with him for about 10 powerful minutes. Talk about a wake up call. There’s no denying God was moving last night and doing amazing things. That man and about 5-7 others ended up either getting saved for the first time or rededicating their lives to Christ, and at least 20 people were healed of various infirmaries and serious illnesses. One man had a hernia and a serious shoulder injury. Both were healed. I was so humbled and convicted for wanting to stay home. I’m so thankful God used me last night and I can’t help but change the way I approach ministry from here on out. I also got the chance to use my Spanish a lot, and ended up doing way better than I thought I would.
We finally got home around 1:30 and stayed up laughing and posting pictures from the day and talking until about 2. I woke up in the middle of the night with a calf cramp that didn’t go away for over a half-hour. Finally, it subsided just in time for someone’s alarm to go off in the house and keep me from going back to sleep for a little while longer. I finally got back to bed and woke up for our 6am man-time. (We have made a covenant with all of the guys involved in the program to wake up at 6am for an hour of devotions and prayer every day, no matter when we have to get up. I’ve been taking the time to do my life journal and pray over the house and for all the girls/women involved. Everywhere we go, I’m keeping an eye on them to make sure they’re safe and never in situations where they’re feeling uncomfortable or threatened, so I feel I need to pray for them as well of course!) After my devotional time, I got back to sleep for a couple more hours before the cramp came back. It didn’t last as long this time, but I’ve felt it twinging all day (yes, I’m drinking a lot of water, so I have no idea why it’s cramping up).
El Colli this morning was a challenge to start, but ended up going really well once we got started. I learned how to play handball today and I’m ok at it. We had a couple kids making trouble nonstop (Please pray for Felix. He’s the one kid at El Colli that always makes me want to quit until I remember that God loves him and wants me to do the same), but everyone else was really well-behaved today. I was Noah in the puppet show, I helped with the dance, and Hannah and I put on the game (we made the kids spin around 10 times, then put a spoon in their mouth, put a lime on the spoon, and run to someone else and run around them and come back, then had three more kids on their team).
After El Colli, we drove over near our youth center, split up into three groups, and walked around praying together for the area. It was eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and inspirational. We saw so much and so many people that simply need love. I couldn’t help but hurt and cry for those people while I was praying for them. We ended up walking through a street-market and ran into a couple of our youth kids right next to a guy who was selling magazines, including pornography. I don’t know if anyone else noticed it, but I did and was praying for those kids the whole time. I now know exactly who I’m hanging out with every week at the youth center.
Now we’ve been home for a few hours to relax before one group heads to the youth center for the night and the rest of us go to our church’s youth group. In our relaxation time, Richie and Jen and Brittany had to clean the tarps. Instead of cleaning them and putting them away, they decided to clean them, make a slip and slide out of them, clean them again, and put them away. Definitely an entertaining day. Also, we have real milk for the first time. Like in a jug. I haven’t had milk from a jug for over a month, and boxed milk just tastes wrong. We made chocolate milk for a bunch of people, which was delicious. Richie and I also made a trip to Walmart to test out my new debit card (Bank of America let me draw out over $1,100 from the ATM and at school for classes, but freaked out over a $7 trip to Walmart, so I had to get a new card) and get some food. Unfortunately, we discovered that popcorn chicken from Walmart in Mexico is quite possibly the most disappointing thing ever cooked.
Well, now it’s time to head out to church and my calf just cramped up again. I need a banana.
