Time keeps Ticking

I'm not sure where this last week and a half went since my last post. It's as though time seems to go faster the longer I am here. Funny how that works. Things here in Portugal continue to be amazing, despite the fact that in the last 2 weeks, everyone except 2 people on our team have been sick with the flu. This morning our apartment finally received a good clean and sterilization. It was long overdue, but hopefully now, this flu bug that has been looming around has gone.

We are still in major prep mode for the Vision Team from California, BC and Ontario coming in February, so we have been spending our time at the Loures church doing TONS of painting, fixing up, organizing and cleaning. I love to organize and clean, so it's been fun. We are now officially finished with the painting, but we still have some cleaning and organizing to do and we still have to do some things in the Massama church - that will be next week!
We are now into week 3 of ESL teaching. It's going well, but I continue to be affirmed that I am not a teacher. I am thankful I learned this lesson many years ago in my first year of University because I would be extremely unhappy had that been my job. Anyway, God is giving me incredible patience and joy despite my lack of natural ability in this area. I am teaching the Beginner's class with Donovan, while Heidi, Doug & Myra are leading a coffee and conversation class at the same time for intermediate/advanced people who want to practice their english. My class is made up of 8 students, ranging from 30-53 and they come from Russia, Bulgaria, Germany and Brazil. Talk about diversity. All but one of these students attend either the Russian or Mennonite church here in Loures, but one gentleman who lives in the neighbourhood, saw our sign in the window about the classes and just came in. That was pretty exciting. I'm really excited to see the relationships unfold between me and my students.
Rachael, Aleah and Jacob are involved in the Massama church, doing ESL lessons and tutoring 3 days a week, which is also going really well. Between our 2 churches, we have about 22-24 studetnts taking part in ESL. This is very exciting.



Our first ESL class - since then we have had 3 new people join!

The English coffee and conversation group.

Portuguese classes are still going well. We continue to have classes 2 days a week for an hour each. My Portuguese is not where I want it to be yet, but I continue to be challenged to do a little bit of studying everyday. I desire to be able to communicate more with the nationals here, so that is what is driving me to know more. We only have a few more weeks of classes left, so I'm hoping that once classes are over, I will have the drive and motivation to keep learning on my own. I am at a place where I can understand what people are saying or get the gist of what they are saying, but my trouble lies in my speaking. That needs work. I know I won't leave here in a few months fluent in Portuguese, but I hope to know and speak enough to converse a little.

Heidi, Donovan and I (Team Loures) are getting more and more involved with the youth in the Loures church. In fact, tommorrow, we are having our monthly Evangelical service, which is a time to encourage and equip the youth here to be bold in their faith, so they can tell their friends and families about what Jesus has done in their life. Faith is not easily talked about here. It's very much a personal thing, considering most of the country has grown up Catholic. Following this Evangelical evening, we are eating a spaghetti supper with the youth and then enjoying a movie and popcorn night with them. It should be a good time.

For the last 2 weeks, us girls have been taking part in a bible study with other missonaries from other churches and seminaries. We have studying "The Patriarchs, encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", by Beth Moore. So far it's been really neat and it's nice to get some spiritual filling by studying scripture together. And let's face it, it's also a time of good conversation and good food. There are some remarkable ladies in this group and I am blessed to get to know them.

God continues to be moving in this place and in people's lives. It's encouraging and exciting to see. Thank you for your continued prayers and support and words of encouragement. They are extremely appreciated.

Prayer Requests:

• For the leaders in the churches here - Otto & Marjorie, Jose & Paula, Christian & Camille, Marques.
• The Vision team from North America comes in a few weeks. This is a very important time for the leaders here. They need to present Portugal in such a way that encourages younger couples and families to consider serving here long term.
• The flu is hitting a lot of people hard here, even members of our own team. Please pray for health and energy as the activites and work do not stop when we are sick.
• For the church communities - The Amadora church, Loures Church and Massama. Please pray for the people in these communities - that they would grow in their faith and be passionate about discipling each other and new Christians. We need leaders to rise up in these churches.
• We praise God for continued growth in relationships between us and the nationals. It is our hope that some of these relationships will continue long term.