Youth Weekend
I have to say, that the SIL Encounter weekend was a wonderful experience. First of all, it was so GREAT to have a bunch of people on campus. (Could I BE any more of a "people-person"?!) I was so excited to be around youth again, but I'd forgotten how long it takes for kids to accept and trust you. I'm so used to my TLC kids back at Open Door coming up to talk to me, that I was a little disappointed at how hard it was to get these kids to open up. It made me miss my TLCers a TON! (I ♥ you guys!)
Anyway, on Sunday morning, one of the boys from the retreat decided that he wanted to get baptized. He went to the leaders to ask about it, and they started to tell him when the next "corporate" baptism was at church and he said "No no, I don't want to wait for that... I want to do it here, now!" The first thing I thought of was that when I got baptized, it was so important to me to have my family and friends all there... but that's not how it was done in the Bible. This situation reminded me of the eunuch in Acts, and it was so inspiring! He was just burning for Jesus! We don't have the facilities at ITF for baptizing, and the closest river is about a 35 minute drive. So we put a tarp in the back of a truck, filled it with water, and Izzy was baptized right there! WOW, it was so cool!
On Monday evening, at about 9:30pm, I got a call "Nicky, we have another guy who wants to get baptized... can we use Emma's kiddie pool?" By the time they were all ready to go, a few more had decided they wanted to take the plunge as well. A dad who'd come along on the trip to help with security baptized both of his sons.
In the end, 16 kids got baptized that night, for a total of 17 during their retreat! What a beautiful and exciting thing to see God at work in the lives of these teens!
In other, much less exciting news, things here have returned to normal. It is officially rainy season, so it rains every day - but not all day long - usually just in the afternoons. This is a very good thing for the villagers, who are thankful to have their gardens watered after an exceptionally long dry season. Everything has already become even more green... more lush and wild and beautiful.
Our ITF family continues to grow, and then shrink, and then change. We have 2 more Germans arriving on Tuesday - Tobi & Jonathan - who will be here for the next year.
Life continues to be an adventure. It's amazing how different my daily activities are here... how much my "routines" have changed. It still feels like a dream. I know that I will be changed forever because of this experience.
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd
On Monday evening, at about 9:30pm, I got a call "Nicky, we have another guy who wants to get baptized... can we use Emma's kiddie pool?" By the time they were all ready to go, a few more had decided they wanted to take the plunge as well. A dad who'd come along on the trip to help with security baptized both of his sons.
In the end, 16 kids got baptized that night, for a total of 17 during their retreat! What a beautiful and exciting thing to see God at work in the lives of these teens!
In other, much less exciting news, things here have returned to normal. It is officially rainy season, so it rains every day - but not all day long - usually just in the afternoons. This is a very good thing for the villagers, who are thankful to have their gardens watered after an exceptionally long dry season. Everything has already become even more green... more lush and wild and beautiful.
Our ITF family continues to grow, and then shrink, and then change. We have 2 more Germans arriving on Tuesday - Tobi & Jonathan - who will be here for the next year.
Life continues to be an adventure. It's amazing how different my daily activities are here... how much my "routines" have changed. It still feels like a dream. I know that I will be changed forever because of this experience.
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd
2 comments:
That is AWESOME!!!! It's sooo encouraging seeing how the Lord is using you over there :)
Hi Nicky!!
So sorry I have not written yet, but I have been thinking of you!
Happy (Belated) Birthday! :)
I am glad to see and read that things are going well for you.....even in the sometimes difficult days when you miss home, etc. God is certainly using you and your gifts to do His work. You are a shining example to all who know you.
It is October 1- You have been gone 3 months already! Thanks for blogging and keeping us up to date on how you are doing.
Love,
Wanda
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