Easter Celebrations

Easter preparations began last week Wednesday, when us as a TREK team were asked to make a backdrop for Easter Sunday. The kids in Massama would be doing a little drama of sorts and they needed a backdrop. We put our artistic skills to use and the result was this:

We were pretty impressed with how the whole thing turned out. I mean, check out that roll away tomb!

One of my teammates, Heidi, has left us for a week. She is currently en route to Abbotsford, BC as we speak to take part in Spring Adventure. We had planned to do a little team Easter Egg Hunt on Easter, but because Heidi left us this morning, we had it last night. Some Easter traditions are just not meant to be broken :)

Easter Sunday consisted of us remaining girls joining Doug, Myra and their granddaughter (who is here visiting for a week) for lunch and the regular 2 church services in Massama and Loures.

Myra's very special and traditional Easter cake she makes.

The kids in Massama took part in a little drama of sorts for today's Easter service. They were very cute with their costumes and their songs. 

After both services today, we had a little snack of sorts. Lots of yummy goodies to indulge in, but no paska to eat unfortunately. Next year, I will eat paska again!

Just as a little side note and praise, our neighbour came to church with us for the first time today. Us girls have had the opportunity to connect with Pina more regularly over the course of the last few weeks, which has been really good. He's definitely an interesting character, but one we feel God is continually placing in our path, so we invited him to church, half expecting he would bail out at the last minute, but he proved us wrong and showed up for the service in Massama today. He seemed to enjoy himself and actually re-connected with a few people he already knew, which was even cooler. Hopefully some seeds were planted in his heart today as he heard the message of the cross and of the resurrection. Please pray for Pina and for us girls as we continue to have conversation with him and as God continues to soften his heart.

Happy Easter!

Christ has Risen Indeed!!!

Journey to the Cross

Today is Good Friday. It is a day meant for reflection and contemplation and it seems as though the weather is aware of it too. It is a quiet day - solemn if you will. The sky is grey and rain comes and goes periodically. The outside world matches the sorrow and the angst in our hearts as we remember what Christ accomplished on the Cross all those years ago. Today we are invited to take opportunity to stop, sit and absorb the Passion Week story. 

For me, the story this week started in Mark 14, where Jesus is anointed for burial by an unnamed woman. I find this story fascinating. Jesus is sitting in a room, eating with His disciples and in walks this woman, no one knows. She enters, bringing with her, a beautiful jar of perfume, which she breaks open and pours over Jesus' head. A couple things stand out to me about this story:

• The jar is made out of alabaster and contains expensive perfume. There is a level of extravagance in her gift and she chooses to break it. 
• She is accused of wasting the perfume. After all, it would have cost her about a year's wage. This may have in fact been some inheritance she received. The cost was high, yet she sacrificed it in order to anoint Jesus for burial.
• Jesus comes to her defense and praises her for doing such a selfless act. Jesus even goes as far to tell the bystanders in the room that what she has done will be discussed and talked about in years to come. That is how significant this act was and it was performed by a woman. A woman would be remembered for what she did for centuries.
• The act of breaking open the jar and pouring out the perfume on Christ's head foreshadows what Christ does only a few days later on the cross. And, we practice this through communion.

I was doing some reading from a book we received from TREK entitled, "Trained by Jesus", and we read,

"The woman in our story provides an inspiration to all who would follow Jesus with sacrificial and extravagant love that values relationships above things, people above money. With this lofty declaration that this woman's story would go with the gospel around the world, Jesus made it clear that her example would be relevant to many through the ages."

In Mark 14:32, we see the story of Jesus in Gethsemane. It is through this scene where we see the pain and the tension of Christ as He knows full well what lies ahead of Him. There is tension between obedience to God's will and plan and the human instinct to avoid suffering. Jesus repeats the line, "Please take this cup of suffering from me, yet I want your will, not mine" (v.36).
Jesus knew the path ahead of Him - the tension he experienced  was indeed agonizing, but the choice for Him was a no-brainer. Right from the moment He set foot on this earth, Jesus' life was one of obedience and submission to His Father's plan. A life headed in the direction of the Cross is indeed one of self-denial and submission. In the shadow of the cross we discover our identity and who we are in Christ. We are called in Mark 8:34 to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Christ. A life of obedience to Christ is not an easy one - it is full of tension - even Jesus himself experienced that tension. 

At the end of Chapter 14 of Mark, we have the account of Peter's denial of Christ. Again, we witness emotional and spiritual tension going on inside Peter. A few verses prior, Peter publicly declares, that he would never deny Christ (v. 31). Peter makes the statement pre-trial. It's an easy statement to make, saying that we would sooner die ourselves than deny Christ when life is going on as usual. Yet, as the tension and the trouble grows for Jesus, and for Peter, we see the struggle Peter has. Upon realizing what he has done, shame and anguish overcome Peter. Life as a disciple of Christ is not an easy one, even for a guy like Peter - a man who walked, talked and lived with Christ. Peter's experience of denial is one we have probably all faced at one time or another and we experience a similar tension as Peter did. Loving God extravagantly and relinquishing our plans for God's is no easy task, but one that promises life - life abundantly. 

Lastly, my journey takes me to the site of the cross. Growing up in the church, it is a scene that has become familiar to me, and yet, no matter how familiar the words are, the impact they have, continues to leave me in awe and in reverence. This is the climax of the story. Jesus upon the cross - with blood falling down his face and pain raging through his body, has no anger or bitterness in him. . Instead He continues to seek the face of God. He pleads on our behalf, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do". Minutes later, Jesus breathes his last and the words the Roman soldier says, "Surely, this was the Son of God", get to me. Can you imagine the realization after it was too late? Imagine the tension occurring in that man. What a powerful scene. It is the moment where we become reconciled with God. Our sins have been washed away by the broken body of Christ and His blood has been poured out on our behalf.

Jesus has given us the most extravagant gift anyone could ever give us - Life - just like the unnamed woman from Bethany. Only in our case, we are undeserving of such a costly gift.
The story does not end on the Cross. We experience more tension in the next two days as we wait with hopeful anticipation for the empty tomb.

Such is Life

It's been a long week. My head has been most uncooperative, which has been extremely discouraging most days. I hate having to miss out on ministry opportunities, so I have pushed through the pain many days, but there were days when all I could do was lay in bed. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but I will admit, it can be easier said than done. 


Enough of that, despite my throbbing head, there were moments this past week that were simply lovely. It was another busy week for us. It's amazing how fast the week passes by - many days I find myself confused about what day it actually is. The days seem to just blur together.


The sun has provided much enjoyment for me this past week. I am actually getting some colour - nowhere near the same amount of colour other teammates are getting, but for me, it's colour. On our day off last Monday, with the 29 degree weather, I took my journal and sat in the park and soaked up all the sun I could - which really only lasted an hour tops because I was already turning quite pink. I resumed my journaling on our balcony, which is conveniently shaded after 11:30am.

Us girls have been running into our neighbor Pina a lot over the last 2 weeks. God has placed this unique character in our path, so we have taken the opportunity to get to know him and invest a little more into his life. He is definitely an interesting guy and although we have no idea what he is talking about most of the time, we continue to smile and listen to him talk. We continue to build relationship with Pina and we are hoping that an invitation to our Easter service on Sunday might bring him into the church. We continue to pray that God would orchestrate divine conversations and interactions with Pina and that his heart would continue to be prepared to hear more about Jesus. 


This past week, a large part of our focus was evangelism. We are working with Marques in this area and spent a number of hours handing out tracts with the youth (which was a good time getting to know the youth better), for the 3 churches, giving more information about what Easter is about and inviting them to join us for our Easter services. It is our hope that these tracts will be well received and that they would speak into people's hearts - that the Holy Spirit would be moving and transforming lives as we speak.


The rest of our week consisted of our regular routine sort of things like ESL, bible studies, bazar clothes sorting (where I scored a pretty awesome cardigan and scarf), youth, worship team practice, basketball and Portuguese classes. The following pictures have captured some of the usual going-ons of life here in Portugal.

Our team with the lovely Doug & Myra - we had them over for dinner this past week, which is always a good time. 

With the weather being so nice, we enjoyed our first meal out on the patio this week. We wondered what people must have been thinking as they saw us because this is not done here - or at least not until it gets really hot. Such North Americans we are!

Me doing Portuguese homework - which I need to be more disciplined in. One of my regrets of being here is not getting a better handle on the language. That has definitely been discouraging at times, which is no fault but my own. 

And lastly, us in our Portuguese class with our teacher Eunice.

There is a thunderstorm going on outside as I write this, which makes me happy. There is something so comforting about a thunderstorm - especially when you get to be inside, on the couch, watching Alias and updating the blog :) Temperatures will be cooler this week, but it's shaping up to be another busy week as we prepare for the Easter services this coming weekend. It is my hope that this week also brings me a pain-free head. 

Happy Easter Week!!!

Music Performances and All-Nighters

Summer has officially arrived here in Portugal (according to my standards - the Portuguese still believe it's spring and continue to wear long pants and jackets). The temperatures this past week have ranged from 23-32 degrees celcius, which has found me in shorts, tank tops and flip flops. Love it!! I have enjoyed some moments in the morning, sitting on our balcony with my coffee while I do my life journaling. Us girls have enjoyed sipping something cool to drink while we chat. We are just trying to enjoy the Portugal sun while we can. This next week is looking like temperatures will continue to be like they were this past week. I anticipate a lovely day off on Monday enjoying the sunshine at a local cafe while I journal and drink the perfect cup of coffee. Total bliss!!

Now for a little of what I have been up to this past week:

The majority of the week was full of our usual activities: ESL, Portuguese language classes, bible studies and prep time. But the last 2 days in particular have been full of activity.

Friday morning we had the opportunity to go to a local elementary school to sing some songs for the kids over the lunch hour. The purpose as we knew it, was to sing some worship songs with the kids. Due to a great deal of miscommunication, this did not exactly go according to plan. Prior to Friday, we had very few details about what was expected of us, but what we did know, was that we would be singing some worship songs to 6-10 year olds for an hour, that we would have mics and that we would be singing outside by the playground.

Well....we showed up and discovered we would be singing in a tiled wall enclosure, not exactly by the playground (which makes the sound just bounce like crazy so any noise made was a million times louder than it needed to be). The mics were not working, so not only could you not hear 7 people sing, but we also were unable to communicate with us. Lastly, these kids were not interested in listening to worship music - they needed "get up and move" kinda songs. The pure level of gong show activity was at its highest, but it was a prime opportunity for learning.

Rumor has it they want us to come and do this again, so we will be modifying our songs and our approach. My head may have been ringing after Friday morning's performance, but memories were definitely made. We were all able to laugh about the whole experience :)

Eventually we got overtaken by all the kids. My music ended up being taken away from me.

7pm Friday night, the youth lock-in commenced. Despite the tiredness and exhaustion that plagued my body, it was a really good time with the youth. There was a really good turnout - there were about 26 people in attendance and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was good to chat with the youth and get to know them better and it was even cooler to see the youth getting to know each other better.

Celma, Josephina & Mila

Tatyana

Celma and Sofia

And no youth event is complete without a rousing game of Spoons. Who would have thought the game Spoons would be so demanding???

I have spent the last day and a half catching up on some much needed sleep after the all-nighter in order to take on another week. Bring on more coffee and lots more sunshine!

The Beginning of Goodbyes

Last night we said the first of many goodbyes. The Vander Heiden family are en route to Washington D.C to visit some family before making their final destination for 4 months to Australia. We, as a Trek team are going to be missing this particular family a whole bunch. 

In only 5 months, we have become close with this family. We came here to serve them and to bless them, but I think I came away from our time with them, feeling more blessed. I have experienced so much joy serving this family - babysitting their awesome 3 kids, cooking and cleaning and just hanging out with them as a whole. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in numbers - the number of people you don't see coming to know Christ, but I am learning that if I have the opportunity to bless, encourage and help energize the long term missionaries here so that they can better serve and do what they have been called here to do, then that is awesome. That brings me joy.


As a farewell, we got together for a delicious pizza dinner at Otto and Marjorie's. I'm not gonna lie though, saying goodbye to these guys was hard. Thankfully we live in an age of technology where skype and facebook rule.

Man, I'm gonna miss these kids!

Picture Time with the Trekkers!

With the Mieka, Sofia and Josh, being gone for the next 4 months, Sunday School at the Loures church is over. Heidi and I had a lot of fun with these 3 kids. Now we just have to pray for more families with young children to start attending the church so that Heidi and I can have our "job" back and so that when these 3 kids return to Portugal in August, they can have some friends in their class to join them. This continues to be our prayer anyway.

Travel safe Matt and Kiri. May you return to Portugal, refreshed and energized and ready to hit the ground running again. Enjoy your time with friends and family as well. We love you lots!

Thoughts at 2am

It is 2am right now and I cannot sleep. My roommates are sound asleep and I have to admit I am jealous. So, in my sleepless state, I thought I would do some writing and share what has been on my heart as of late.

"If you are being obedient, you will find yourself in situations where you feel humanly inadequate of achievement. We are not living in the Spirit if we can manage everything."

~ Beth Moore

I'm not sure what you think of that particular quote. It's a bold statement. I actually quite like it and if I'm honest with myself and with God, I would have to admit that this statement is true. I can't seem to get it out of my head either. I heard it said last week and I have been thinking about it ever since!
I often have this illusion that when things are going well in my life - when there is order and comfortableness - it is because God has perhaps gifted me with organizational and time management skills. Yes, God has gifted me with some of those things, but I fail to recognize that when I am in control - when things are going according to my plans, I am working independently of God.


This is something I have been learning over the course of the last 7 months in particular. In many ways, my life has been turned upside down. I'm living in a country half way across the world from all that I consider comfortable and safe. I have had important relationships in my life change. My perspective on what I consider important in life has been altered. I am living beyond my comfort zone and it turns out, this is exactly where God wants me. I am left to rely solely on the grace and the strength of the Living God.


It is in seasons like this, where God takes the reigns from my hands. It is a time where I am opened to experience more of God's fullness and transforming power in my life. It is through these seasons where I feel inadequate that God is able to bring total order into complete chaos. There is opportunity for growth. There is opportunity for God to use my chaos and the mistakes I have made, redeem them and transform them into something Holy and for His Glory.

A Whirlwind of a Week

It feels like this week that has passed has been the fastest week here on record. Here is a little glimpse into the life of a Trekker in Portugal:

Monday: Heidi and I spent the night at Doug and Myra's on Sunday night to cut back on transportation time because we had to be in Loures to spend the day with Josh (Matt & Kiri's youngest) while Kiri had some doctor's appointments. We ended up spending the whole day in Loures with Matt and Kiri and family. It was a long day, but I continued to be surprised by the joy I get when I have the chance to bless people around me. I had the privilege of being able to help make Mieka's birthday cake. Making a cake with a 7, 4 and 2 year old definitely has its challenges, but it's a lot of fun too!

Tuesday: Mieka (Matt & Kiri's oldest) celebrated her 7th birthday. We all went over to their place for a pizza lunch, headed out to Portuguese language class and then returned to Matt & Kiri's to continue with the birthday celebrations. Aleah put together an awesome piniata for the kids and we ate a ton of cake and candy. 

Me and my buddy Josh.

At 8pm as per usual, Donovan, Heidi and I taught ESL in Loures and then headed back over to Doug and Myra's for our weekly girls sleepover. Seeing as we have bible study first thing in the morning on Wednesdays, it works out that us girls just spend the night on Tuesdays. 


Wednesday: Us girls have bible study at 9:30am. We are studying the Beth Moore series, "The Patriarchs", which has completely blown me away. I have learned so much. It is one of the most life giving times of my week. This week happened to be the week of the Loures Bazar, so there was prep work that needed to be done. Heidi and I went with Otto and Doug to load bags of clothes into vans to take to the church and then helped unpack the bags and get the clothes set up on tables. Unpacking the bags are so much fun because you never know what you might find in them. Items can range from the ugliest 8o's outfit to a set of fox pelts. Laughs are always had.
As a little side-note, the government of Portugal fell this week. This country is an economic crisis and it definitely takes its toll on the churches. In the past, when the economy has taken a turn for the worst, the numbers in the churches decline. People are in search of greener pastures, so they relocate to France or elsewhere in Europe. We are praying that despite the difficulties in Portugal's economy these days, that the members of our churches here would remain and that they would continue to grow.


Thursday: On a weekly basis, we try to have a team meeting with the Massama leaders, which include Otto and Marjorie and Jose and Paula. It's a sweet time of sharing a devotional and enjoying some worship time together. It's a good morning of refreshment. For the rest of the day, Heidi and I enjoyed a day off since we missed our scheduled day off on Monday. It was a blissful afternoon full of naps, journaling and coffee shops. It was exactly what my head, heart and body needed. 


Friday: All 6 of us headed out to Loures to play basketball with our friend Celcu for the afternoon. We try to play on a regular basis - usually every Friday we play. Heidi, Donovan and I had worship team practice and a meeting at the church and then all 6 of us headed back to Massama to spend the evening with the youth. For the last few months, the youth group has consisted of only guys, but a few weeks ago we had our first girl come and then this last week, we had 2 girls come. This has been an answer to prayer. Most of the guys in the group have girlfriends and we have been encouraging them to bring the girls right from the beginning, but it's only now that they are starting to come. Please pray for more of the girls to come.


Saturday: It was definitely a slower day. We took the morning and early afternoon easy. Half the team went to babysit at Matt & Kiri's, while Donovan, Heidi and I went to youth in Loures. The Loures youth group has been struggling with attendance the last little while, but last night there were 8 youth in attendance and what was even cooler was hearing their discussion about what it means to live a life of faith. Discipleship is lacking in the younger generations here. We continue to pray that God would raise up leaders in the churches and that there would be discipleship happening among the believers.


Sunday: We went to the usual 2 church services, Massama and Loures. It was sadly our last week teaching sunday school in Loures as our only 3 students (Mieka, Sofia and Josh) are leaving for Australia next Sunday. We are so sad to see them leave - they have become a big part of our lives here. The Loures church is in need of young families to attend on a regular basis. Please pray that there would be families that would led to the church. There is a joy that fills a building when there are kids around. Matt and Kiri's kids do a pretty good job in bringing life to church, but we need more. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me". Well, we need those little children in this church.


*Update - Kiri's health has remained much the same since last week. We continue to lift her up to God for healing but trust that God has a plan for Kiri. I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers, especially as she is getting ready to travel next week.

So, tomorrow our week starts all over again and it's shaping up to be a good one.

The Benfica Game

The Portuguese are passionate about their Futebol. Last week, with Luke being here, we had the opportunity to go to see one of the local teams play. Benfica is a our friend Jose's favorite team. We hear him talk about the team all the time, so we figured we better take in a game and witness a bit of the futebol culture we hear so much about. 
The game did not disappoint. Not only did Benfica win, but it was an exciting game.

Games such as these, it's better to be safe rather than sorry, so you need the full swat team in place :) Apparently games can get out of hand on occasion.

WARM-UP

What a cute cheering section!

Jose and Otto

They Scored!!!!!!

The Final Score, Benfica 2, France 1

Benfica has now advanced to the quarter-finals, so we are hoping that in mid-March we can go to another game.