.a bit of an update ya..

soooo…. things are going well here. its different now that the fasting month (for the mus.) has begun. alot of the nonbelievers are acting differntly now. seemingly more serious about things.. but it has been a good door for some conversations. josh S. and i have gone out sharing a few times. we took our buddy andi once to expose him more to sharing. he did good and with a few questions here and there i was able to help him with the direction of the conversation with one particular guy. i also took andi to play soccer with some nonbeliever guys i play with some. he was able to talk to a few guys that didn't speak any english. this guy Ifan and i have have been able to talk a few times. and he wants me to come to his village one day to meet his whole family but i'm not sure if it is going to work out. due to fasting month.

honestly a lot of the nonbeliever guys have kinda gone MIA for the fasting month. we started a free english course at our house on tuesday mornings. first week we incorporated adam and eve's story. today we had abraham and isaac. had a few guys come to that. and we have some new nonbees. we just met that we are hanging out with tonight. so its kinda hit and miss with some people but i have plans to continue to meet with andi and with another brother charles. and talk with them about sharing. ..had a great talk with charles about the importance of having a quiet time and how to go about it some. it was good. we have plans to go to another city later this week for a lil rest and family time, so ya i'm excited of course. oh and i also met some other believers and have played pingpong and soccer with them. and had a few meals and talked to one of them intensely about some resistance that a sister ch*r*h has gone through recently. he was in near tears talking about it. its def been more quiet now that the other group of volunteers are gone. hard to believe i have only a few weeks left. I believe that situations like this just require patience with G. to trust that his timing is not mine.. but also to realize that its really important that i be unselfish and make sacrifices of time and energy to share and serve.. to really try to live it out.

thanks for your prys peeps. :)

love you all

josh

OH GIVE ME A HOME.... WHERE MOTORBIKES ROAM

hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long. We have been very busy. HE is doing a lot of things here. which is great! i have had several opportunities to meet some local people. and He has been faithful to bring me across the paths of those who are English speakers.

The other day Josh, Betty and I went to our friend Achi's (who, by the way, took me on a tour of the city on the back of his Motorbike... talk about exciting. If you haven't seen the traffic in these parts of the world, then you just can't understand the meaning of that word "exciting." For example.. 75% of vehicles we pass, I could easily touch with my elbow. and that is not an exaggeration) annnywayyyy... Achi took us to his english school.. to do a cultural exchange.. (sharing about life in the USA and hearing about them).. however when we got there we found out we were tutoring that night.. so I had my own class.. haha. They just brought me in there and sat me down.. and the kids were very shy, but their teacher began to ask me questions, and they all warmed up. Ya.. and I probably beatboxed and sang a little bit when we were talking about music.. Beatboxing - just as funny in SE Asia as USA. it was fun.. a lot of laughter. It seems as though we are often going somewhere without exact expectations because you learn to just expect that your expectations will be wrong. :) it's been fun.

Still has been great to spend sometime with Josh and Betty. we've really been able to just laugh at things and enjoy the good moments. amidst the frustrations.

I'm seeing more and more the separation between classes. most of the people that go to the malls/nicer restaurants/pools/etc. are very rich so we will often see things that would be very nice or expensive from an American perspective. I have been able to have some great conversations about the Truth. and hope to be able to continue building these relationships with nonbelievers. Also there are some brothers I've met and been able to spend some time with already.. to go through the word together and to share and pr*y together. Josh Stewart and I are working on a new class where we can share truth through English lessons and stories. We are excited about it.

We had a group of 7 volunteers leave about a week ago.. so things have been very quiet and a bit lonely at times.. but He is still providing opportunities. Thank you to all who are lifting us up and thinking of us. many of these locals are very excited about the hearing the English stories.. and it seems to be a newfound excitement in the area.. so we believe He is moving! I have seen the enemy hard at work too.. to block opportunities or provide distractions.. along with personal discouragement which would translate to lack of motivation. So be lifting those things. Internet is a cross you fingers situation here so we just never know. sorry again for taking so long to write. thank you for everything. I see more each day how blessed I truly am.

josh

my second full day is coming to a close. i'm very tired. hit the ground running.. and might need to take a small break. to actually sleep through the night. ha.

the volunteers are a great team. 3 guys and 4 girls. they each seem very focused on their purpose here, and are a lot of fun. i've been able to meet some locals already. some are believers and some are not. most are on their summer break which means they have a lot of hang out time.. one has already said that he will "have much time to be with me" haha. ahh language barriers... so i must rest now. betty and josh are doing well for those who have asked. they had to leave right when i got here... but are now back in town. thannnnkfully. more soon

thank you all for lifting me up. He has undoubtedly been my strength these last few days.

i am alive

welp... i am alive in the western world. after about 44 hours. its around 4pm at home. and 3 am here. so although i'm wide awake. i'm going to go to sleep now to begin changing my schedule. thank you all for your pryrs. He has already given me a few opportunities to share. once with a girl Katybree (i believe) in the charlotte airport. got to basically spell out the whole message for her and talk about why the word teaches things that are far from what we often see in the lives of those who proclaim it. it was neat to be able to explain what it means to actually be a follower of the son. and the things that i'm still learning about that. I aslo got to share with a taiwanese friend named jason, whom i met earlier today. a believer for about 10 years.. yet lives in an environment scarce of encouragment.

I meet the 8 volunteers tomorrow who have been helping betty and josh for the last several weeks. I'm excited. more later

much love,

josh

john 21:25

john 21: 25- Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

i was reading the resurrection stories in each of the gospels today, and i was just perplexed by a few things. It intrigued me how marymag and mary and the disciples were kept from understanding. Jesus said that he would die and be resurrected (matthew 16:21-23, 17:22-23, 20:17-19, mark 8:31, 9:31-32, 10:33-34, luke 9:22, 44-45, 18:31-34, etc.) three times in each book. almost every time he said it, it's recorded directly after how they didn't understand what he was telling them, and were afraid to ask about it. that the meaning of Jesus' words was hidden from them. My first thought would be ok.. well it's because it hasn't happened and they of course can't really imagine it happening. even though they had seen him raise lazarus from the dead. (john 11:38-44). but then, I would think that once he was taken and killed, that they would suddenly remember that He said He would be taken and killed, oh ya and resurrected. you gotta remember stuff like that right.

What intrigues me is that when the third day came and the tomb was empty, why were their first thoughts not "HE'S ALIVE" of course? why was it that even when he appeared to them, they still couldn't or didn't recognize him or what was happening. when they were told by other witnesses and even when Jesus came to them.. they often didn't realize it was Him. It wasn't until He opened their eyes to see and to remember in His words that foretold it all.

This to me just goes to show me how quickly we humans are to forget the blessings and promises God has given us. God does something astounding in our lives, and 5 minutes later we're breaking His heart because of our unbelief: whether its unbelief that his commands are more trustworthy than our earthly inclinations, or if it is the simple selfishness that is in us that tells us that we can fulfill ourselves better that God. It just amazes me how much patience is required of God to love a human. how often i would just SNAP and blow some stuff up if i were Him. but the patience of our Savior is unmatchable.

It also makes me think of what a gift the presence of the Holy Spirit is in our hearts. the HS brings understanding of things that don't make sense. If you are a believer then you know what it's like to make a decision that has no logical merit, apart from the pull of the HS in our heart. If at that time, they had already received the gift of the HS, i'm willing to bet that they would have been much quicker to recognize. and i love how the book of John doesn't even try to begin to record all that Jesus did before ascending into Heaven.(john 21:25 And to think, since that time 2000 years ago, how many more things God has done. I could never write all the blessings the Lord has given just me in my life, neverMIND the blessings of everyone everywhere.

and finally it's is just another beautiful example of how God reveals to us exactly what we need to know, exactly when we need to know it. His timing has its perfect purpose.

I'm praying for trust in his timing, and in his will.. and for open eyes to see the things he's ready to reveal.

ARE YOU READY??

Hello all!!

This is my blog, :) i'll be writing throughout the summer to share what the Lord is doing in and through me. I'm really excited about this by the way.