Hey there.
Sunday morning began with a four hour prayer meeting a Pete and Sarah's with the leaders and members of Gateway church. The week before I went exasperated to Bobby about the prayer meeting as I was uncertain of what one could pray about for four hours. And, much to my surprise and glee, God has worked in me! The meeting went wonderfully, and I am so glad I was a part. Not once did I feel bored or aggravated that I was in prayer for four hours.
When I was younger I often awed at the fact that people like Calvin and Luther would spend hours each day simply in meditation and prayer. I never grasped how you could talk to God for so long! I often thought I would run out of things to say. However, God is truly doing a great work in me. I am simply in awe t this church, their love for the Lord, and how important prayer is to them. I often felt like we could have sat their longer and prayed about a certain subject, however we were on a time crunch, so we didn't have any more time to do so as a collective body.
I am learning so much about prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. I am slowly learning what it means to depend on God in prayer and how important it is to come together as a group and pray. When I was first talking to Claire she was telling me about my responsibilities for the week. Every thursday is a prayer meeting. Every other Tuesday is a prayer meeting. Then once a month on Sunday they get together and pray for four hours. Sinfully I was not looking forward to those times. Yet God has grown me. I am, honestly, looking forward to my time of prayer on Thursday when before I was somewhat dreading it. Thanks be to God for his work in me! I only hope and pray that this fervor for prayer continues when I return home. I want to be a woman of prayer.
Please be in prayer that I will continue and grow in this way. Prayer is so important, and I want to be a prayer warrior. I want to be one who immediately turns to prayer when something goes wrong rather than one who complains or gets frustrated. "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God!"
After the prayer meeting (we were essentially kicked out because the host family had to be somewhere for lunch), I was dropped off at Tim and Sarah's for lunch. The church of Rhydfelin has organized our sunday lunches, so we will be eating with a different family every week! They fed us a delicious lunch, and then they took us to the park with their two little ones Emma and William. This girl from the estate named Elly Marie showed up, so she and I swung and talked about life. It was a wonderful time of just talking and I really enjoyed meeting her. I hope that she shows up later in the summer, but I'm not exactly sure. Seeing as we were in Rhydfelin territory, I hadn't a clue of what events to invite her to seeing as I know Gateway's schedule and not Rhydfelin's. Either way it was a good time of talking. We talked about divorce, school, transitions (she's about to leave Primary and go to Secondary school while I'm getting married and have to get a big-kid job soon), family, friends, etc. It was just good.
We then walked around Rhydfelin and put flyers in people's letterboxes. The town of Rhydfelin really does feel like Appalachia. As I walked and prayed over the town, there seemed to be just this darkness. I can't really explain it, but there just seems to be a lack of hope in that town which I could feel and see without even talking to the people. Some houses were up kept while the one right next to it was overgrown and poorly taken care of. There were only a few children and those I glimpsed were out of sight and tucked away from the streets. The town just seemed sad. Especially with Brian explaining the family situations of those we were giving the flyers to.
Afterward was the service at Gateway. I went upstairs with the little ones (Children's Church) while Bobby went with the older ones. How Sunday services are set up is that the adults stay together to listen to an exhortation by the week's speaker (it generally changes every week, I think) while those 16 and younger leave and go in two different groups. We had a long talk on monday with Dottie and Jake about how this can be somewhat problematic because the older ones (14-16) don't really feel a part of the church although soon they are expected to be leaders. Pray for them in this. While it is important to teach according to their spiritual level, it is also important to inspire them to grow and learn what it means to be a part of the church. Pray that they will have discernment in this area.
Children's church went well, and the woman I was working with (Jane) presented them with the Gospel: we were separated because of sin without the ability to get to God but Jesus came, died, and rose again so that we may be with him again. They decorated a cross as their craft, and the children were so good! They shared their supplies and didn't make a fuss if something ran out. They were good listeners (for the most part), and it was just good. It was really exciting and encouraging to me (especially since there was a girl named Emily whose family is not part of church attended).
We had KFC for dinner then went to Brian and Elizabeth's (Bobby's host family) to just hang out and enjoy their company. We watched some TV, talked, and worked on some of our wedding things which was good. That's pretty much the end of Sunday! (:
Sunday morning began with a four hour prayer meeting a Pete and Sarah's with the leaders and members of Gateway church. The week before I went exasperated to Bobby about the prayer meeting as I was uncertain of what one could pray about for four hours. And, much to my surprise and glee, God has worked in me! The meeting went wonderfully, and I am so glad I was a part. Not once did I feel bored or aggravated that I was in prayer for four hours.
When I was younger I often awed at the fact that people like Calvin and Luther would spend hours each day simply in meditation and prayer. I never grasped how you could talk to God for so long! I often thought I would run out of things to say. However, God is truly doing a great work in me. I am simply in awe t this church, their love for the Lord, and how important prayer is to them. I often felt like we could have sat their longer and prayed about a certain subject, however we were on a time crunch, so we didn't have any more time to do so as a collective body.
I am learning so much about prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. I am slowly learning what it means to depend on God in prayer and how important it is to come together as a group and pray. When I was first talking to Claire she was telling me about my responsibilities for the week. Every thursday is a prayer meeting. Every other Tuesday is a prayer meeting. Then once a month on Sunday they get together and pray for four hours. Sinfully I was not looking forward to those times. Yet God has grown me. I am, honestly, looking forward to my time of prayer on Thursday when before I was somewhat dreading it. Thanks be to God for his work in me! I only hope and pray that this fervor for prayer continues when I return home. I want to be a woman of prayer.
Please be in prayer that I will continue and grow in this way. Prayer is so important, and I want to be a prayer warrior. I want to be one who immediately turns to prayer when something goes wrong rather than one who complains or gets frustrated. "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God!"
After the prayer meeting (we were essentially kicked out because the host family had to be somewhere for lunch), I was dropped off at Tim and Sarah's for lunch. The church of Rhydfelin has organized our sunday lunches, so we will be eating with a different family every week! They fed us a delicious lunch, and then they took us to the park with their two little ones Emma and William. This girl from the estate named Elly Marie showed up, so she and I swung and talked about life. It was a wonderful time of just talking and I really enjoyed meeting her. I hope that she shows up later in the summer, but I'm not exactly sure. Seeing as we were in Rhydfelin territory, I hadn't a clue of what events to invite her to seeing as I know Gateway's schedule and not Rhydfelin's. Either way it was a good time of talking. We talked about divorce, school, transitions (she's about to leave Primary and go to Secondary school while I'm getting married and have to get a big-kid job soon), family, friends, etc. It was just good.
We then walked around Rhydfelin and put flyers in people's letterboxes. The town of Rhydfelin really does feel like Appalachia. As I walked and prayed over the town, there seemed to be just this darkness. I can't really explain it, but there just seems to be a lack of hope in that town which I could feel and see without even talking to the people. Some houses were up kept while the one right next to it was overgrown and poorly taken care of. There were only a few children and those I glimpsed were out of sight and tucked away from the streets. The town just seemed sad. Especially with Brian explaining the family situations of those we were giving the flyers to.
Afterward was the service at Gateway. I went upstairs with the little ones (Children's Church) while Bobby went with the older ones. How Sunday services are set up is that the adults stay together to listen to an exhortation by the week's speaker (it generally changes every week, I think) while those 16 and younger leave and go in two different groups. We had a long talk on monday with Dottie and Jake about how this can be somewhat problematic because the older ones (14-16) don't really feel a part of the church although soon they are expected to be leaders. Pray for them in this. While it is important to teach according to their spiritual level, it is also important to inspire them to grow and learn what it means to be a part of the church. Pray that they will have discernment in this area.
Children's church went well, and the woman I was working with (Jane) presented them with the Gospel: we were separated because of sin without the ability to get to God but Jesus came, died, and rose again so that we may be with him again. They decorated a cross as their craft, and the children were so good! They shared their supplies and didn't make a fuss if something ran out. They were good listeners (for the most part), and it was just good. It was really exciting and encouraging to me (especially since there was a girl named Emily whose family is not part of church attended).
We had KFC for dinner then went to Brian and Elizabeth's (Bobby's host family) to just hang out and enjoy their company. We watched some TV, talked, and worked on some of our wedding things which was good. That's pretty much the end of Sunday! (:
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